“아재들과의 최전선에서 알바를 해요.
당구장 알바를 하거든요. 전 거기선 그냥 아가씨예요. 그 사람들은 저한텐 당연히 반말이고.
제가 서빙 가면 ‘어 아가씨가 아주 예쁘네.’ 당구장에서 일하는 20대 여자애한테 한번쯤 던져보고 싶은 말들을 해요. 그런 일을 하루에 2-3번 정도는 꼭 겪고. 좀 심한 사람들은 품평을 겁나 하죠. ‘오늘은 옷이 어떻네. 저런 옷은 입지 말아야지. 저런 귀걸이는 차면 안 되지.’ 커피 시킬 때도 아가씨를 엄청 찾아요. ‘아가씨~ 커피~’ 이래요. 그럼 되게 기분 나빠요.
한 번은 손님들이 계산을 하는데 어떤 아저씨가 저를 보고 ‘이 아가씨 예쁘네.’ 그러면서 저한테 하이파이브를 건네는 거예요. 저걸 쳐야되나 말아야 되나 잠시 고민을 했는데, 그래 치고 빨리 보내자, 라는 판단이 들어서 딱 치는 순간 손 잡히고 그 아저씨가 제 손등에 뽀뽀를 했어요. 그래서 제가 당황해가지고 얼어있는데 그 사람은 그 사이에 나간 거죠. 지켜보던 단골손님들이 방금 그거 성희롱이라고 신고해야 된다고, 가만히 있으면 안 된다고 화를 내라고 그러는데, 저도 처음 겪는 일이라서 이게 성희롱인가 아닌가 판단하는 데 시간도 걸리고, 그 의식이 있기도 전에 그냥 얼음, 일시정지였어요 저는. 제 시간은 흐르지 않았다고요 그때. 정신 차리니까 그 사람은 나가있고. 그냥 너무 기분이 나빴어요.”
“I’m at the front line with older men at my part time job.
It’s because I work at a billiard hall. When I’m there I’m nothing more then a young woman. The people there don’t think anything of not using honorific Korean when they talk to me.
When I serve something they go, “Ah, what a pretty young lady.” They say whatever a man would usually want to say to a woman in her twenties working at a billiard hall. It always happens 2 or 3 times a day. The worser ones rate me thoroughly. ‘Your clothing today is so and so. You shouldn’t wear stuff like that. Not those kind of earrings.' When they ask for coffee they use the specific term for young women, and say “Agassi~coffee.” It’s awfully offending.
One time customers were paying and a older man among them went, “This one is pretty.” Then he wanted to give me a high five. I wondered for a moment if I should or not, and because I just wanted all of it to be over raised my hand. At the moment our palms met he took a hold of my hand and kissed the back. The men left while I was still frozen, taken aback. The regulars watching the whole scene told me to report the man and said it was sexual harassment. They told me to be angry. To stop being motionless. Because it was the first time anything like that had happened to me it took me a long period to decide whether or not the incident was sexual harassment. Before I was able to think or decide anything I was just motionless - like ice or a track on pause. I’m saying that my time didn’t flow at that moment. When I recovered my senses they were gone. I just felt terrible."