It's a sad fact that waitresses are often on the receiving end of unwarranted sexual harassment and abuse. Indeed, most female servers will have at least one traumatic horror story about being groped or subjected to creepy behaviour while at work. It's a fate that nobody should be forced to suffer, and yet is all too common in a society that objectifies women and sees their bodies as commodities. Not only this, but many harassers and abusers manage to commit their crimes with stark impunity, and go on to perpetrate more and more vile acts.
It's for this reason that women taking a stand against their harassers is so powerful. Earlier this month, a 21-year-old waitress became something of a viral hero, after footage emerged of her effortlessly disarming a chauvinistic customer who took the opportunity to attempt to grab her by the buttocks while she was working a shift art a diner. The incident in question occurred just before 11pm on June 30 at Vinnie Van Go-Go's in Savannah, Georgia. CCTV footage shows waitress Emelia Holden was taking orders when the customer touched her backside. Almost immediately, Holden threw him against the wall and gave him a physical and verbal smackdown.
The perverted man was apparently Ryan Cherwinski, who was reportedly dining at the restaurant alongside his partner of 11 years and their two young daughters. Cherwinski was then arrested by local police the next day and jailed by the Chatham County Sheriff's Department. After spending two nights in a cell, he was released on July 2. Once the footage made it to social media it quickly accrued a lot of views, and a number of activists stepped forward to voice their admiration of Holden's indomitability. Now Holden herself has opened up about the incident in a candid interview.
Holden told Inside Edition that: "I honestly didn't even give it much thought. I just did it. I didn't even know I could do that. I don't care who you are. You have no right to disrespect me. I didn't even realise that I took him down the way I did until I saw the video afterwards ... to see [him] put in handcuffs, it was nice."
In a separate interview, Holden added: "I just did what I felt was best. I took the guy down and had my co-workers call the police. As soon as the cops saw the CCTV footage, they immediately arrested the man. He sat in jail until Monday so in my opinion, he got what he deserved ... All that I want from my experiences is for women to know that it's okay to stand up for yourself. You have every right to wear what you want and you most certainly have every right to defend yourself."
I have to say that I agree with her wholeheartedly. Don't let other people use such petty excuses to justify such abhorrent behaviour.
