Everyone has experienced some type of harassment, minimal or vast. Depending on the situation, different forms of harassment may occur, but when does an individual know when they are being harassed? Where does a person draw the line and differentiate between normal behavior and harassment? Jane Wily can testify against John Smith, replaying every incident that would be considered harassment according to Jane. Jane was approached by a tall dark guy one day while she was eating lunch and studying at the same time in the Memorial Union at ASU. John introduces himself as he sat down across from her. Jane recalls everything that happened and restated everything to the State Press in October of 2002: .
"Hi, can I sit here?" the guy says as he places himself across from me before I could answer, he asks, "So what's your name?".
"Umm, I'm sorry but I'm trying to study right now," I said, averting my eyes back to the textbook I was studying from.
"Well my name is John, what's yours? So you are studying right now, do you want my help? I am a business major, I'm pretty smart, I'm sure I can help you with what you"re studying," he persists.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you," I said, and placed a hand on my hand trying to tell him that I was occupied and did not have any desire for company.
"Oh, come on. What are you studying? Oh, is that sociology? I took that a while ago. Hey, I am going to go buy some food and come back to see if you need any help, ok?" Before I could make any complaints, he stood up and left. I thought that maybe he left for good since I did not say much to him. Within ten minutes, he returned with a tray of food. He offered me some food, but I declined.
"You know you need to eat right? Don't starve yourself like this," he continued as if he and I were good friends.
I once again tried to make it clear that I did not want him there, I said, "I'm really sorry, but I just need to be by myself right now so I could catch up on my studies.