My husband works at a small store and recently had an older woman came in to buy some stuff. On her way out, he was holding the door open for her because she was using a walker. As they were in the doorway, she said something about "Oh no, we're not doing that today" suggesting that he was trying to make some type of move to sexually assault her.

He is really offended by her comment because he is not the type to harass or assault women. I'm having a hard time talking to him about it in a non-biased way, because I know what it's like to have to assume that men are going to try to pull something, especially if you're alone.

I'm hoping to get some advice on how to talk to him to make him feel better or more supported because both conversations we've had, I feel like I'm invalidating his feelings because of my bias.

  • itaOIAGJjkdslkgj@lemm.ee
    ·
    1 year ago

    That does not sound like a sexual harassment accusation to me at all and it sounds like he's taking a pretty minor interaction or miscommunication way too seriously. If that's exactly how things happened, he likely didn't do anything wrong or untoward and he shouldn't really dwell on it. It's also probable that she didn't mean it in a "sexually assault" way because that would be a crazy leap. Maybe she just didn't want the help and maybe she takes offense at everyone else trying to help her when she's able and that's how she worded it. We don't know, because your husband didn't ask for clarification. It's possible that she saw it as a come on, but opening a door for someone just isn't, so it's unlikely or she was wrong to think so.

    I've also worked retail and have dealt with handicapped people and I learned to ask if they'd like a hand or some assistance. I get that everyone assuming you can't open a door when you're in a wheelchair can get tiring, maybe that's what happened here.

    Either way it's small potatoes, maybe ask him if he's feeling alright. It's possible there's some other stressors or another unrelated thing that happened at work and he's processing this minor interaction in this way because of it.

    • tackykcat@lemm.ee
      ·
      1 year ago

      Agreed, it's a really odd leap to make and I wouldn't have thought about it in that way. I can certainly relate to anxiety about the situation though, as I'm the type to hold the door open for everyone