Last week I was on the other side of the country to work a children's entertainment job (this required me to wear a lot of make-up-this is relevant). After the job I went back to my hotel room to get changed, and then crossed the road to the local takeaway for food. As I was coming out of the takeaway, a car pulled up alongside me and the man inside tried to talk to me.
I look a lot younger than I really am, most people assume I'm in my teens. I was wearing a hat and rainjacket from Primark that I see on a lot of young girls and very bright make-up. I have reason to believe that this guy thought I was a teenager out late on a school night alone and thought 'easy pickings.' He tried to tell me he knew me, offered me a lift home, and when I went to leave he nearly cut me off. When I told him to fuck off he realized I was older than he thought and gave up.
I rang the Gardai, and it sounded like they'd had this complaint before. The next day I had a five-hour trip home and I didn't want to spend the whole journey dwelling on it, so I put it out of my head. It worked, I didn't think about it again until I came across a mention of the Rotherham grooming ring (the guy happened to be Asian). Needing a vent, I posted about it on facebook.
Most people were appropriately shocked and supportive, but my two 'best' friends said something I felt was a bit off. When someone asked if I'd gotten the reg and I said no because it was dark and the reg was behind me, my 'best' friend asked 'Did you at least make a complaint?' When I said I had, she just gave me a thumbs up. Nothing else.
My other 'best' friend kept on about why I'd waited a week to bring it up, and that I should have told her before that (she lives in the area but not near where it happened). She noted that usually the Gardai send around a notice to watch out for suspicious activity. To my mind, that's her casting doubt on my account of what happened.
I know it's stupid to be taking anything said on facebook seriously, but I live very far away from both of these girls and facebook is primarily how we communicate. I felt like they could have been a bit more supportive.