I work inside of a pizzeria in a 24 hour gas station. It's actually very small, so we share a freezer, refrigerator, and back room with the gas station cashiers. The pizza place is a new addition (approx. 3 months) to the gas station, and so far my boss has only hired 3 college-age girls (including myself) to work here. So, I will begin this story from the time I was hired, and work my way up to the present day.
The first few days of my employment at the gas station, it was very nice. The gas station cashier who I usually worked with would frequently offer me free food and drinks from the soda fountain, which I often took home. He was an older guy, probably in his early to mid 40s, with a very thick accent and a loose grasp on English. He was also very tall compared to us girls (probably about a foot and a half of difference, 6'5"?). Another cashier told me that he was Persian. That's pretty neat, I thought, until things started getting weird.
One Saturday night, while him and I were alone there (common occurrence due to the small size of the station), he asked me to come to his house party. I politely declined. He clearly was upset, but didn't say much else until the next day. "I want to get to knooow you." He would say throughout the day. He wrote down his phone number and awkwardly stuffed it into my backpack as I was leaving that night. I smiled politely and told him sorry, I'm very busy. I didn't stick around to talk.
Things escalated from there. Every few days, he would ask me to go out for coffee, or that he would buy me dinner, and every time I would decline saying that I was busy. He was getting more and more frustrated every time I would say no, but, honestly, he scared me. I wasn't going to outright tell him that NO, I'M NOT INTERESTED AND WON'T EVER BE, for some small fear in the back of my mind that he would hurt me. This went on for about a month, until the offers almost stopped completely.
By this point, I was avoiding absolutely all contact with him and I'm sure he picked up on it. When he and I were in the same room, I was completely tense, and refused to say anything. I even started consistently locking the door to the pizzeria for fear that he would come in. He tried to wander in once or twice, but, of course, couldn't. That made him angry. I still wouldn't let him in and handed him whatever he needed over the counter.
I drive a motorcycle, so there's no getting in and locking the doors when I leave at 12 AM. And he knew that. One night, about 2 months in, I was leaving for the night. He had already left, but I was still tense. I felt a little crazy at first for doing this, but, ever since I started reading LNM about 2 years ago I ALWAYS carry a knife on me. No exceptions. So, that night (like most nights), I had my knife open in my pocket with my hand on it. I looked around the rather empty, camera-less parking lot, and saw his car parked a few spaces away. I wasn't sure it was even his, so I wasn't worried and kind of laughed at myself for being so worked up. I started my bike to give it time to warm up.
At that moment, the door to his car opens and I am in 100% fear mode. I frantically, and awkwardly, shove on my helmet. "Hey" he calls. "HEY." I don't answer, I just start rolling my motorcycle out of the parking space. He strolls out from the shadows and stands a foot or so in front of me. "Give me a kisssss," he says, in a really unsettling tone. He also puts his hand on my handlebar (BIG no no) and I reach for my pocket. He takes slightly startled step back, probably thinking that I have pepper spray or something. In that second that he steps back my fight-or-flight kicks in and I TEAR out of that parking lot. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING???" He shouted, really angry.
I didn't say anything. I rationalized that, he didn't actually touch me, so, who would care? My bosses were all foreign as well, wouldn't they stick up for him?
After that, he stopped talking to me completely. There were no more awkward advances, and I finally felt like I could relax. Until, of course, when my co-worker was alone with him a few days ago. He had always called her the "fat girl" and the "ugly one" but I didn't say anything about that either. When she went into the refrigerator to get some milk from the shelf, he was in there. While her back was turned he grabbed her from behind, forcibly groped her and kissed her, and she was too scared to fight back.
I don't know much else about the event (she doesn't want to talk about it either), but, I know that if I had said something, that probably wouldn't have happened to her. He was immediately fired and is on his way back to Iran in the next week. I don't know what to do about it, or how to help her, but I'd like your advice. And, if all you want to say is that I'm an idiot, well, I deserve it. Sorry for the long post.
So, creepy gas station cashier, lets not meet. I am NOT afraid anymore.
Submitted September 22, 2015 at 03:27PM by roxydog101 http://ift.tt/1MGkYym LetsNotMeet
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