• A guy followed me around the grocery store when I was around 20. I didn’t have a car and didn’t want to walk home with a stranger following me, so I just walked around the store for ages.

    At one point some guy asked me if I noticed anything strange about the guy following me. I don’t remember what I said. At another point, a friendly stranger started making small talk with me, and asked my name. I was nervous but that’s really common around here and I didn’t know how to leave the conversation.

    I saw both guys reporting back to the guy following me.

    Don’t know what they wanted. I ended up hiding in the women’s restroom for a few hours.

      • Unfortunately not. I left out some stuff because it’s an unpleasant memory but on my walk there I saw him driving, and he pulled over to beat a dog in the backseat. Animal cruelty isn’t really prosecuted here so it’s weird he’d be that bothered by a witness.

        I was nervous and keeping an eye on him after that and sometimes I wonder if he thought I was up to something and got his buddies on the defensive. Or maybe he was a garden-variety creep and saw a fem-presenting person walking alone.