Rude Older Entitled Men

by Kate2424
(Toronto)

I was at the grocery store last night, this older man decided to chat up the young female cashiers, making both me and my husband stand in line an additional 10 minutes and wait while he stood and talked. The cashiers finally had to say, tap your card sir, you need to pay for your groceries before the machine times out again.

He finally paid, and I quickly cashed out our groceries and I started bagging them. This man was still bagging his groceries in the next lane, my husband was standing beside him. This man looks at me and says, "Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss, Miss." I am trying my best to ignore him as he is flirting with every girl he sees, I have just worked a 12 hour day and just trying to get groceries and quite frankly do not want to deal with the harassment. This man is not getting the hint, or knows exactly what he is doing because he thinks women owe him something and no this was not your friendly lonely elderly person, I won't get into more details about what he said to the cashiers.

So I eventually have to look directly at him and say, "I have just worked a 12 hour day, I do not want to talk to you. Please leave me alone." Clear as a bell right!!?? I guess I could have excluded the 12 hour day bit. Well he starts going on, "12 hours?? what do you do." I should not have engaged but I did, said with no emotion, "Communications." He keeps talking and I ignore him and bag my groceries as quickly as possible. He notices I am ignoring him again and says, " Miss, Miss, Miss...." I do not respond. My husband is standing there dumbfounded. He then looks directly at my plastic grocery bags and says, "You know those bags are destroying the planet." I looked up and gave him the look of death and he finally left.

In the same week an older man pointed at my ass and said, "You have a wrapper stuck to you and I had to point it out cause I know how you women get about your looks." In the same month, I have also been lectured by a boomer man, he asked if I am having kids after I helped a mother with a stroller while he just stood there. I said no and he decided to give me a lecture about it, even after I expressed I did not want to hear his opinion. Or, again earlier this month, when I just got out of a surgical procedure, I had to urber home and said to the person I am ill and do not want to talk, and again an older man, they start asking questions which I ignored.

I try to have faith that there are decent older men out there, who have manners, but good god, is there a code for women to communicate with these men. Why older men choose to talk over and ignore women?