How dare you!

“Hey baby, what you got goin’ tonight?”

And with that, my sense of security flew out the window.

How dare you, you little prick.

You made me question and consider my personal safety in ways that I shouldn’t have to.

I continued to walk towards my destination wondering whether I should have engaged you. Would replying to you’re pathetic comment have provoked you in an unpleasant way? Had not replying to your pathetic comment provoked you? Was I now ‘at risk’ from you and your companion?

I chose not to think about you as I enjoyed dinner with my friends. You were not going to ruin my night, but there you were, front and centre in my mind, as I prepared to walk back to my car. Were you still loitering about with your mate, looking for trouble? Were you now alone waiting for a target?

My keys were firmly in my hand, one key protruding between my fingers as a weapon. I wondered whether I should be talking on my phone with a friend as I walked to my car, but decided against it as I wanted my ears to be on alert for your footsteps. I had already planned the route I was going to take so that I was in as much light as possible.

Fuck you!

I should not have to be on high alert as walk back to my car after a dinner with friends. I should not have to ask friends to walk me back to my car. I should not have to question whether I am going to be safe from assault at any time of the day or night based on the fact that I am a single person of the female gender.

I’M NOT GOING TO STOP LIVING THE LIFE YOU HAVE, WITH THE FREEDOMS YOU HAVE, BASED ON MY GENDER AND THE FACT THAT I AM ALONE!!!

I am NOT going to buy a can of mace. I am NOT going to decline invitations. I am NOT going to change a damned thing!

Why not?

Because I’m not the one who has to change.

I am not the one in the wrong.

It is NOT wrong for a single woman to go out on her own. No matter what time of day or night it is I, and every other single man or woman out there, has the right to freedom and safety.

You unnerved me you little twat, but you’re not going to make me change how I do things. I’m tougher than you think and I’ll tear you to pieces if I have to.