Search the web:
Watch WZAR Live
Listen to Z96 Radio
Boyertown Weather
D&E Jazzd E-mail
Boyertown School Closings
Daytona Beach Live
Free Website Counters
Contact WZAR via AIM
WZAR Staff Login
WZAR Staff Webmail

Is Public Harassment Becoming a Problem in Our Area?
 
     Harassment - there are many kinds of harassment, whether it be among friends, couples, workers, or even people you do not know.  There is harassment that causes somebody to be upset about a subject for a few minutes and then forget about it.  There is harassment that could cause a person to be scarred for life.  There is sexual harassment, personality harassment, and even harassment because of something you own or possess.
     Here, though, I plan to speak about the public harassment that is taking place in our town of Boyertown and its surrounding areas.  This type of harassment that I speak of involves somebody outside in public, of whom you may or may not know.  I'll give you a few examples.
     I was walking down a less busy street of Boyertown with a female friend of mine.  She had to go to work and is unable to get a ride, so she must walk down a few streets to get there.  As we are walking and chatting, we start to approach of group of teen males, dressed in a "punk style" fashion.  They lay eyes on us, but keep to themselves as we walk past.  After we passed them and were out of site, my friend thanked me for walking with her, stating that those teens yell out sexual remarks to her every day when she walks past them.  I was appalled that this would actually be a problem in our town.
     Okay, so that's some troublesome teens.  I guess there is some of that everywhere.
     Another day, a few weeks later, I was walking east in front of Mama Maria's Italian Restaurant.  I approach the intersection and the way I need to cross is red, so therefore I shouldn't be blocking any vehicles.  As I'm about half-way through the intersection, the light turns green, so I start to hurry a little bit more so as not to block traffic.  Here is when somebody has the nerve to yell out the window of their vehicle, "You just couldn't wait, could you?"   A man in a truck, three vehicles back from the intersection, yelled that at me.  As he rips past me, he then yells out the window, "Stupid people!"  I can understand losing some patience in this traffic nightmare of a town, but having that much of a lack of patience to yell out the window at somebody?
     Among these occurrences are numerous reports through "the grapevine" of individuals I know and work with of people, mainly high school students, randomly yelling obscene and offensive remarks at others walking the sidewalks up or down the street.  It seems it doesn't matter what age or sex, this is affecting everyone.
     Now for my favorite one that intrigued me to finally bring this information together and write this.  I am pulling out of Weis Markets, in Gilbertsville.  I am attempting to pull out into the main exit, but traffic is heavy.  A woman in a dark green SUV, most likely a Ford Explorer, yells out the window at me, "Pull out in front of that car and I'll show you my ****s."  Not only did I turn my head around in shock, but so did the numerous bystanders in the parking lot.  I proceeded to ignore it and pulled into the exit to wait at the red light.  She pulls up next to me continues to yell out her window (I didn't hear what since I now had my windows up) and she proceeds to make a variety of sexual gestures.  I can still hear her yelling through my windows, picking up a word here and there - shall we just say, it wasn't friendly.
     I did nothing to this woman.  I did not pull out in front of her; I did not have a confrontation with her.  I have never seen this woman in my life.  But the thing that surprised me the most was that this woman had an "eighties style" hair cut and looked to be in her mid-thirties!
     I would expect this any time from any of the "teen folk" in this area, as they are not afraid to speak their mind in public, but a woman of this age!  This was just unacceptable.  I'll make sure I leave a special note to that woman:  *I did take down your whole plate number and you were reported.*
     Is there a specific line where this stops?  What are the people coming to around here?  I do understand that these are only a few "bad apples" from a basket of a very nice community.  However, one of our biggest goals in this town is to bring tourists here to enjoy our beautiful and historic town to not only stimulate our economy, but to also share our heritage and way of living.
     Perhaps the best way of thinking is to just have patience.  Understand that some people who may not look like you or act like you are valuable members of our town as much as you are.  If there is a problem or you don't get along with someone, find a better way to work it out instead of making yourself look stupid by acting out in public like that.  If you see something like this in public, don't let it go, if you can stand up for the person being harassed, then do so.  These harassers need to realize that what they are doing is wrong, inappropriate, and immature.  Let's work together to make Boyertown and its surrounding areas the best it can be.


If you have a comment about this article or would like to tell me about your experiences, please send me an e-mail at .  Thanks for reading!

Posted by Zachary Reinert on 08/26/06.