Small Updates - Fresh Brie & More unfounded Expectations

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about a master’s student, who was studying in a different department at my college, who was harassing me. The daily debacle lasted for nearly 3weeks and there was no indication it would cease. In a last effort to end all daily communication, I asked one of my male friends to call him from my phone and firmly tell him to stop his behavior. I thought he got the message. Watcha. (“stop” in swahilli.)

Then one evening recently, I had to take the last campus bus to town in the evening. The vehicle was packed, but I was exhausted so secluded myself in a seat near the window and popped in an ear bud to listen to a podcast. It was a deliberate non-verbal attempt to seclude myself from the other activity on the ride.

En route, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed some movement in my aisle. It was him. It was obvious his intention was to begin a conversation with me as the bus arrived at its destination in town, but I pretended that I didn’t notice him and proceeded alone on my journey.

I entered the public transit bus taking another seat near the window. The bus had many available seats but he decided to sit directly next to me. With my ear bud firmly secured inside my ear, I did not make eye contact or any acknowledgement. I gazed out the window quietly. For the entire ride across town, we had no interaction.

A couple hours later, I received a text: “it hurts me tht we can sit 2gether but we can not talk, it hurts me more when we can not look into each other’s eyes. i wish u had given me opportunity 2 show u how caring and loving I am, but u did not take time 2 understand me. i wish u did!”

Clearly, he still does not understand how his behavior was and is very inappropriate—and as for the text message, I did not respond. 

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And as update,  today, I visited Zucchini for the first time since that curdled cheese incident. 

The friendly cheese vendor greeted me by name (I was surprised that she even remembered!) -- I was truly impressed by her professionalism and kindness. She is exemplary and I hope that management recognizes her solid ethic. 

She personally attended to me and organized my check-out at the cash register by providing 100g of the french brie (the precise amount I originally purchased) - all complimentary.  

I'm happy to report that good customer service can be found anywhere!