Grover Worthington
8.1K posts
Anonymous: Anonymous: This week, I was at a water park with my family when a teenager untied the top of my bikini from behind, as a "prank." I turned around and slapped him hard. I'm 32 years old. I was in the shallow pool with my daughter, trying to teach her how to swim, when I suddenly felt someone yank sharply on the strings of my swimsuit. Before I could even understand what was happening, the fabric came loose. I turned around and saw this boy, about 16 or 17 years old, standing there. He had a disgusting smirk on his face, holding the strings of my bikini in his hand, and laughing with his buddies like he'd just pulled off the prank of the year. I didn't even think. My hand hit his cheek before my brain could catch up. It was a really hard slap. His smirk vanished instantly. He stumbled back, both hands on his face, while his friends went dead silent. And then the yelling started. His parents appeared out of nowhere. His mother started screaming that I'd "assaulted a child." His father threatened to call the police. He called me a "hysterical woman" and said I had no right to hit a minor. The security guards and lifeguards rushed over. The boy's parents demanded I be arrested for assault and battery. They said they were going to press charges and called me a "violent woman" who had "no right" to touch their son. I told them to check the surveillance cameras. The angle that shows how he grabbed the top of my swimsuit. They should go question the witnesses: my husband, Julien, saw it; another mother saw it too. I told the parents clearly: if they wanted to press charges against me for the slap, I'd press charges against their son for sexual harassment. For stripping me in front of my daughter and complete strangers, and for touching me without my consent. We were all asked to leave the pool. I was sitting in the car, shaking and humiliated, clutching my top tightly closed against me, while my husband drove home in silence. Then he finally said: "Did you really have to hit him that hard? He's just a kid. You probably could've just yelled. Now we might end up with charges against us." Just a kid. A kid who thought it was funny to half-strip a woman in public. A kid whose parents have clearly taught him that a woman's body is a playground for "stupid jokes." Am I wrong for reacting with my hands instead of words when a stranger yanked on my clothes to expose me? And for refusing to apologize for defending my dignity in front of my daughter?
