Hood Versus Bad

(I am a tom-boyish girl who prefers to wear jeans and a hoodie wherever I go, mainly because I have a certain body shape that most boys at my school like to… look at. My dad asks me to go to the store to buy a few things. I’m looking at the candy aisle because my dad asked for me to pick up some chocolate. I have just grabbed the chocolate when a woman suddenly comes up to me with an accusing look, grabs the chocolate from me, and starts yelling at me.)

Woman: “You wretch! Why are you grabbing that?! Are you planning to take that without paying?! To take things when you could be paying with normal money?!”

Me: *extremely confused* “Lady, what are you talking about? I’m going to pay for it!” *leaning down to pick up the chocolate*

Woman: “Take off that hoodie immediately, young man! You aren’t homeless! And what is that you’re hiding under there?!” *points at my chest* “Lettuce?!”

(I start to get that the woman thinks I’m stealing, just because I have a hoodie on. I start to get angry, embarrassed, and self-conscious because customers are starting to look at us.)

Me: “Lady, I’m wearing a hoodie because I want to! I’m not stealing anything! I’m going to pay for this stuff, including the chocolate!”

Woman: “BULLS***!”

(The woman then throws my things on the ground and stomps on them, then tries to empty my pockets to see if I stole anything else. I pull off my hoodie to reveal the “lettuce heads” I had been hiding under my shirt near my chest. I am crying now, and calling for help because I am now genuinely scared for my life. The woman is completely surprised to find that I don’t have lettuce under my hoodie, but instead, a certain body part that women have as they mature. The woman turns bright red as I start to yell at her.)

Me: “LADY! I’M A TEENAGE GIRL WHO WEARS HOODIES BECAUSE I HAVE BIG BOOBS THAT I AM SELF-CONSCIOUS OF! I AM NOT TRYING TO STEAL ANYTHING! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!”

(The woman was completely speechless and bright red. Just then, my dad and several employees came up and managed to pull the woman off of me. They locked her in the employee break room before calling the police. The woman was arrested, we pressed charges for assault and sexual assault, we got a discount on our items, and I started to wear even thicker and larger hoodies in hopes that this would never happen to me again.)