When I was waiting for a bus with a group of people, an older man walked up to me and told me he liked the tattoos on the back of my legs. I said thanks, and noticed that everyone waiting for the bus backed away from me a little. The man said “they look even nicer on such lovely legs” and then said that he wanted to get a closer look at the tattoos. I froze, looked around for support (at this stage there was none) as the man got down on his knees, clearly to look up my skirt, and not to look at the tattoos on my legs.
At this point, one of the younger men waiting for the bus walked about to me, put his hand around my waist and said “come on babe, the bus is nearly here”. The man on the floor stood up, turned to the younger man and apologised to him, as if I were his property.
The older man left and the younger man apologised for touching my waist, and said he was trying to make our “relationship” look believable. It made me feel rather unwell that I needed to be in a relationship to avoid harassment. I was lucky the young man came to help, because everyone else looked away and ensured distance between me. I don’t know what would have happened next.