Location: Ohio
Context: Recently, I started a new job. It is a summer internship for school. I work at a metro park, I do landscaping, janitorial work, and dispose of dead animals. I am still underage, turned 17 in May. I am one of the only girls with a bunch of grown men fron ages 26 to 40s.
The reason I am making this post is because after telling my family stories about my work, they think it is work place harassment.
Concerns: I was working with a coworker and he had left my side to go do a job, I had decided to put away a couple things in storage and as I was unlocking the storage door this guy appeared behind me. He was deliberately waiting for my coworker to go walk away, because he was waiting by the sidewalk. He wouldn’t stop talking to me and being creepy, flirting with me and asking for my age. Asking me personal questions, asking me if I have a boyfriend. He started commenting on how cute he thinks I am. After this encounter which lasted for 5 minutes or maybe slightly longer, I made a comment about it to multiple coworkers. All of the guys that I work with just laughed it off and told me that I am “probably used to it” which just made me feel even more uneasy.
Another instance, this one just happened yesterday. I’d like to say that I am a competitive dancer (this is relevant to the story) and I have nationals coming up next week. I asked my boss if I could take some days off, he said yes and then started me asking questions about dance. I got really excited and started to explain it, I then mentioned the topic of professional dancing. This caused my boss to start making comments about stripping which made me stop talking completely because that isn’t at all what I do, what I plan on doing, and why would that be at a dance competition with underage children.
Question: Is this weird behavior workplace harassment? Am I just overreacting? I kind of want to quit and work somewhere else that will be better for the career I would like to have, but these things have made me want to quit even more. I also work in a shady area, so that doesn’t entirely make me feel any better.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention that my one coworker has been staring at my chest, which is creeping me out as well. I have been treated like I am incompetent as well and talked to like a toddler, and told some hurtful things based on my appearances [ugly, fat, etc.] but this I can handle.