I am walking home minding my own business and I noticed a man in the distance. At first he looked like a typical middle-age guy walking up and down the streets with his cherry colored shirt with the blue and white stripe, but his stringy gray hair flapping around under his black baseball cap made him character right out of a movie. He scream at me unprovoked, "Go suck a ....you whore. The next time I see you I will split your lip."
I was freaked out and kept walking, and a bit disconcerted such an individual said this to me at six o'clock in broad daylight next to a major post office, and across the street from several restaurants. I refuse to let a drugged out homeless dude make me afraid to walk, and he went to wait at the bus stop after the barrage of words he poured upon me.
Honestly, I have never had an encounter that left me shaken before, and even walking in scarier parts of San Bernardino people never threatened me in this fashion. It snapped me out of my reverie of looking at the palm trees and the mountains, but I am glad I could run pretty fast if this man had tried to chase me. Today I am going to be hyper-aware of everything around me.
Some of us are pedestrians because we hate driving. Walking is a healthy and smart way to cut down on transportation costs and the gym bill. Take time to celebrate nature by walking through it! Now that I am also riding a bicycle, this blog will feature some of my thoughts on this new mode of transportation.
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Walking Everywhere, and Anywhere!
Every now and then I will update this blog with thoughts about walking, and being a pedestrian in Southern California. Between 2014-2017, this blog also featured several posts about my bicycle adventures around Southern California, but as of 2018 I am back to just being a pedestrian. Riding a bike was fun until someone through a water bottle in my chain one day late at night, so since that time I have just felt safer walking.
I'm sorry you had that experience. What he said had nothing to do with you and everything to do with him.
ReplyDeleteBeing in a public place can be unpleasant, because you never know who else will be there. When I go walking, nowadays, I walk on my own land, so there is no one there I didn't invite. It means less of a chance of making new friends, but it also assures me of peace and quiet.
Thanks, Aya. I am just going to be hyper-aware. I think this guy was on drugs and had other issues that were making him delusional. Usually I do not have weird experiences walking around here, but lately there has been some weird activity in town. I think some of the homeless people are migrating here because it is landscaped, and they can hide among the trees for the most part. Most of them are nice and mind their own business, but this guy was just irate.
DeleteWalking can be scary!
ReplyDelete