The Groper

I thought that the doctor had stopped bothering me already. But this afternoon, he dialed my numbers again. As usual, I did not answer his calls.

Why are there beings of these kind? They who make other people’s lives uncomforable and unbearable. Why are they allowed to exist? Why are they given the opportunity to harass others and in the process, destroy their victim’s concept of a world worth living?

I entered the world of sales and marketing because I wanted to meet different types of individuals. I wanted to build a network of friends and acquiantances and at the same time, get to know their lives and their view of just about anything.

I never expected to encounter monsters and sub-human creatures in this business field. Though I’ve heard stories and gossips about them being rampant in sales and marketing, I never thought that I would meet such entities.

Sadly, on my first major client visit, I met a groper.

I was a victim of sexual harassment. The groper was the culprit.

Gropers are those who came from the bowels of hell who maintain a certain level of “admirable and respectable” image in public but whenever the opportunities present themselves, they shift to their true forms when their hands begin to wander in places like elevators, empty rooms, and even in jampacked trains.

I’ve had two ugly experiences with gropers in the railway trains of Manila. The first one was in a northbound LRT several years ago. The car was a little bit crowded and I stood at one side near the exit door. As the train was moving, I felt something odd at my crotch. It felt like a finger was running up and down along the length of the zipper of my pants.

I looked down and saw the index finger doing several runs. With my eyes, I traced the finger up to the hands, then to the arms and finally to the torso which that groping arm belonged. I stared at the middle-aged man in a checkered shirt and denims with a black body bag.

When he realized that I was staring mad at him, he quickly shifted his left arm away from me. It took me some time to realize that I was harassed by the man. I shook my head in disbelief.

The second time that I’ve encountered a groper was at the MRT. It was a Monday morning. A lot of people took the train since it was the first working day of the week. I got in from the Boni Station. The car that I was in was jampacked.

I noticed this yuppie who was standing too close to me. I could actually hear his breathing. When the train moved from Boni to Guadalupe station, I felt his fingers touching the button fly of my pants. I moved back and stared at him. He took his fingers off my pants. Seconds after, he moved his hand up and started pressing my left pecs. I was alarmed when those fingers started to move up and down. My left nipple started to revolt against the odd gesture.

When the train stopped at Guadalupe  station, I decided to move to a different area in the car. This yuppie also shifted position and stood beside me. More people came in thus I was pressed closer to this monster. The train began to move.

As the MRT was approaching Buendia Station, the groper bent his head foreward and began to breathe heavily. It’s more like he was smelling me and inhaling my scent. His face was so near to my neck and ears that I could actually feel the air coming out of his nose.

When the train stopped at Buendia Station, I quickly got off the car and walked straight to the escalator. I managed to look back at the car and saw the groper’s face over his shoulders looking at me as I was about to go up to the exit. I shook my head and said “P*tang Ina”.

Gropers abound anywhere. In public places, in private places, they are everywhere. But Gropers are just one type of sexual harrasers. There are several kinds of monsters too. They could be a power player, a bully, a pest, an opportunist or a serial harasser. These monsters could also be a combination of these types.

Yet they are all the same. They terrorize people. Their victims fall into panic attacks and sleeplessness, depression and anxiety all rolled into one. They lead their victims to lose motivation and confidence and self-esteem causing them to withdraw from society and isolate themselves from people.

Their victims could generate anger towards the gropers, leading them to think about revenge and retaliation. In my case, I may not have lost my confidence and self-esteem but I was so angry about the doctor who harassed me. I’ve had sleepless nights because I tried to understand why those things happened to me.

At some point after the incident I thought about quitting my job and re-evaluate my options because such harassment could taint my integrity and my work ethics. But I decided to hold on with the job even though its not so remote that an event like such could possibly happen to me again.

There’s anger in me right now. I’m very angry of what the doctor had done to me. I wanted to file a case and sue him for his unwelcomed advances and requests for sexual favors. I also wanted to crush his balls and pull them out of his sacs and force him to eat them raw.

I wanted to retaliate by suing him and have his character placed under public scutiny and attack. I wanted to destroy his reputation and his “good” name as a revered pediatrician in Ozamis. I wanted to have him grilled for his wandering hands and his monstrous alter-ego.

But I have only with me the SMS he sent. These are not credible or solid evidences to support my case. I have friends who are lawyers and they told me that I have a very weak case.

The groper’s ass may have been saved from embarassment and shame. But I will not stop from writing about this groper from Ozamis. The groper must have to pay for his act.