The Day I Grew Up

I think that everyone experiences that moment when you stop being young and you become an adult. For some it is war, for others some personal problem or disability. And for some of us the day we accept where we are in the pecking order, which was my crossover moment.

I was already 25, I am an academic, a professional student at the time. I was preparing my thesis for my Master's degree, I was finishing up my research at the library when this random guy approached me. He introduced himself, asked if I could help him. He walked behind me and I felt something pass over my butt. I dismissed it, it happened again, I saw him pull his hand away.

In between the bookshelves, in the semidarkness of the archives, he turned me around and gave me an option. Cooperate or not, my choice. I answered quickly, it wasn't really a choice, he did what he had taken me back there to do. It was over before it started. He knew his way around and disappeared. I put myself together and went back to my study cubicle, collected my things and left.

I teach at that University, and today much can be done remotely. I don't support what happened, but for me it was my moment of truth, pull up your big girl panties and get on with your life. Next time don't follow a man into a dark corner. There are all sorts of safeguards, all over the place, I had a whistle with me but I didn't use it. I didn't want to. Not when it was obvious why I had been lured back there.