Yeah, things like forced hugs or whatever are... irritating. Like, ASK me for one. Dont just do it.
I've had worse though. Been groped before. Some doofus just grabbing my butt and so on.
I was in full-on girl mode at the time (well, always am while cosplaying, it's the only sort that I do), and I tend to attract a lot of, uh, "attention". It was a bit of a learning experience... I'd not had that before I'd started cosplaying (as I'd never been in girl mode in public before that).
The dumb part is, if it happens there aint too much you can do about it. Aside from like, yell at someone. Which rarely accomplishes anything.
Generally, yeah. Random physical contact or sometimes just really odd requests (like the carrying thing) do happen a good bit at US cons. It doesnt help that so many people are A: under the effects of alcohol or caffeine, and/or B: very sleep-deprived. Combine all that, and... yeah.
Yep.
I dont remember just where it took place... I *think* it was in Wisconsin. But it was at one of those ones where I hadnt managed to get a room at the main hotel, and instead had to walk between that and the side hotel where I was actually staying. While there, we met this girl, very friendly, and my friend got to talking with her a whole bunch, they hung out a good bit while at the con. I, of course, was far less talkative, but still did my best to be friendly and all.
So, come nighttime, a problem arises. This was starting into winter, and was the part of the season where it's not TOO bad when there's sunlight, but the temperature spikes downwards drastically at night. And my costume is... not designed for warmth. Bare arms / shoulders, bare legs (short skirt with equally short shorts underneath that). It was a tad too cold to get back (seriously it was freezing) and I hadnt planned for that. My friend also was just worn out, and it was quite a walk.
So how do we get back? In that girl's pickup. But her front seat was entirely loaded with random stuff, no room, so me and my friend both just sat in the back of the pickup (which was covered, so it blocked the wind and all) and she drove us back.
Back at our hotel, we got there and she makes a call to check on her friends back at their room. It turns out that their room had turned into a loud, drunken mess, and she was both fed up and tired.
So, instead of going back there, she stayed with us for the night. Fortunately this wasnt a cramped situation... by this point, my financial situation had changed drastically... I no longer had to pool with a bunch of people to afford a crappy room, and could instead just pay for a deluxe suite on my own with no trouble. So we had that sort of room, which had a bedroom separate from the main section (and I would sleep in the bedroom, as it was under my name and also I was the driver, so me getting sleep was important so we could, you know, make it home, so the bedroom was mine by default). We also pulled out the... er... whatever you call one of those couches that turns into a bed, the main section of the room had one, and my friend also then set up his backup air mattress thing (again, I always get the main bed by default, so on occasions when there's only one bed, he always just used his air mattress). So, one of them on the couch bed, the other on the weird air thing, while I then secluded myself in the separate section.
AKA, a night with some random person with us.
Which sounds a little scary but by this time I'd been going to cons for a good while and tended to just roll with unexpected weirdness. No trouble came of it. I dont recall what happened the next day.
So yeah that's that story. Just one of many.
