>>47195702>Tween girl goes to store to buy sanitary products>Salesclerk asks, "Would you like a bag for that? What would the neighbors think?"The former question could be dismissed as typical store script. But with the latter question, he was implying that others would mock, tease, and shame her just because she was buying a sanitary product for a natural body action that she had no control of. He was asking if she wanted to conceal her purchased product, and his asking could be interpreted as flirting or just being a jackass (given the context of her age and the product, both scenarios would be sexual harassment of a minor.)
Perhaps the girl wanted to buy the product in-person at the store so she would feel "grown-up". Or maybe her mother dragged her to the store with her, to buy the product, so she could familiarize herself with buying them herself later on. Regardless, the sales clerk induced unnecessary trauma for an experience that should have been routine. And rather than leaving the store feeling empowered and within control of her life situation, she left embarrassed and traumatized. The salesclerk made the girl feel ashamed of herself, not only for her bodily experience, but also as a human being. The responsibility of the salesclerk is to make feel patrons feel welcomed, not victimized.
Puberty is stressful enough without having creeps making it worse.
