I’m obsessed with visiting little markets on the side of the road.

They’re selling fresh fruits, a few prepackaged snacks, etc.

It’s 7:30 pm on a Saturday, and I’m out to find dinner and stop at a few markets, of course.

The sun has set, so it’s dark out.

I walk into a market on a busy road in a touristy area.

It’s a 9-foot-long, 3-sided box with what would have been the fourth wall laid bare and facing the street making it easy for customers to take a step off the sidewalk into the store.

This market feels very typical with a few shelves on the back wall, attended by an old lady with two middle-aged men sitting outside. As I poke around, one of the men tries to engage with me.

“Do you remember me?”
“Do you remember my name?”

I ignore him.

“Do you remember my name from before?”

I haven’t met this man before.

I counter with, “Do you remember my name?”

He asks what my name is. I say Elizabeth. He again ask if I remember his name.

I tell him I’ve never met him before, so I can’t remember his name. He laughs. I ask, “What’s your name?” He says, “I love you.” I reply, “Ah, that’s a good one.”

He gets a call from his friend, points the camera at me, and says, “Say hello to my wife. Isn’t she beautiful?” I continue my shopping, ignoring him. He says a few words, then ends the call with his friend. He asks, “Where do you stay?” I say, “At a friend’s.”

Again he asks, “Where do you stay?”

Again I answer, “At a friend’s.”

“Why do you say ‘at a friend’s’?” he asks. I respond, “Because I am.” I go to check out. From where he sits on the curb, he says, “I’ll pay for you. It’s okay.”

I think he’s drunk. I laugh and say, “It’s okay.” I pay and walk away.

I hope that’s the end of it, and thankfully it is.

I never felt physically unsafe, but I did feel uncomfortable.

I felt poked at.

I felt like if I were a guy, I wouldn’t have experienced that.

I felt like if I had told my brothers about this story, they would be enraged but wouldn’t be surprised.

I felt like there are similar experiences happening all the time—experiences had by minorities walking into a store, trying to find a job, working at their job.

Experiences where there’s a skewed power dynamic.

Things like this happen all the time.