So, I got flashed at the other day. Like full on, pervy man, flashed. It was so traumatic so obviously I’ve got to write it all down and make you read it.
Let me set the scene for you. Milly and I are sat on a bench at Montjuic (A mountain close to our accommodation), admiring the beautiful views of the city, reading our books and sipping tea from our flasks. A man cycled near to us and stopped about five feet away, also looking at the view. I briefly glanced up, but then went back to reading. I didn’t really think anything was amiss, as it’s a beautiful view. After a few minutes, I felt like he had been there too long, but didn’t look up again. He stayed there for a few more minutes. I didn’t look up again, but Milly did, and then I heard him cycle away. Milly turns to me with wide eyes.
“He didn’t have any trousers on!” She exclaimed, and I turned my head back to look at him, only to see a naked ass on the bike, bare legs pedalling into the distance.
“OH MY GOD!” I replied. We then commented how weird it was that we hadn’t noticed, and how weird it was for a man to be cycling around a public park with just a t-shirt, jumper, and trainers on. We went back to reading our books, but we were both visibly uncomfortable. A few minutes later we turn back to each other.
“That was really weird, wasn’t it.”
“Yeah, that really wasn’t normal.” I said, turning around to see if I could see him anywhere near. A group of people walked past us with a dog, I could see some children with their parents beneath us on the hill. I tried to go back to my book, but I was really distracted. A few minutes later I turned around, and could see him further up the hill, off his bike, hidden by the trees.
“Oh my god, Milly, he’s up there behind us.” Milly then turned to look, and quickly turned back around again.
“That’s disgusting, let’s just ignore him” she said. We sat uncomfortably for a few more minutes, attempting to read. Out of curiosity, I turned around and spotted him again, but this time –
“Oh my god, Milly, he’s touching himself.” She turned around sharply, and made a noise.
“Right let’s go.” She announced, and we gathered up our things and literally ran down the hill, powerwalking home as fast as we could. The whole walk home we were literally shaking with anger and revulsion that our nice afternoon had been ruined by some pervy man strutting around a public park.
I don’t really know how to finish off this blog post, as thinking about the encounter still makes me really uncomfortable. While yes, it is a funny story from my year abroad that I have told many of my friends (and now you, reader), it’s also something that will stay with me for a while and made me feel very helpless, especially as it happened in a foreign country.
