Harassment at Loblaws on Rideau street
I used to live in Lowertown, and I did most of my grocery shopping at the Loblaws on Rideau. One evening, I left for the grocery store at about 8 o’clock — it was still light out, but starting to dim. I was pretty sure I could get my shopping done and be back home before it got sketchy.
Once I arrived at the store and started browsing the shelves, a big guy in a baseball hat came up to me and asked me where the milk was. It seemed weird, but I pointed him to the milk and kept shopping. He disappeared for all of ten seconds, came back and said, “They didn’t have my brand”, and simply stood there, staring at me. I got creeped out, and walked away.
For the next half hour, he was unshakeable. I tried to dodge him by moving randomly between aisles, suddenly and without warning rushing to the other side of the store. Invariably, he would find me and walk up to stand very close to me, making awkward conversation about the food. He didn’t have a cart, and he never picked up an item. He just followed me around the store. Relentlessly.
Finally I thought I had lost him in the cereal aisle, and left quickly without buying my food, hoping he hadn’t seen me leave. I thought I was home clear when halfway home I saw him on the other side of the street, walking parallel to me.
At this point, I did probably the least brave thing of my entire life… I hid in the bushes. I stopped, with a large shrub between us, and watched his feet to see if he would continue walking. He didn’t. I doubled back, towards Rideau, very quickly — he continued to follow — but I lost him on Rideau (it’s always full of cop cars, he may have backed off when he saw them)
I did my shopping at the Metro for a long time after that.
2 Responses
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Often these types mistake our reluctance to be rude for encouragement. If something like this happens again and you are afraid to be blunt and tell him to leave you alone, go to the store manager and ask for help. The last thing any grocery store manager wants is for the single women shoppers to be harrassed in his/her store and not shop there anymore.
One question: why you do not asked the supermarket supervisor to help you ? Please, do not stay alone when it happens and tell the manager or supervisor. They know what to do.