First of all, a Washington Post subscription is so inexpensive. You really should have one. It’s good reporting, amazing recipes, and excellent editorials, like this one.
I live in a primarily rural community. It is building up like crazy, but it is still rural.
And there are always white guys driving pick-up trucks aggressively when I am driving around in my car. The pickup trucks I see every day are almost always riding the bumper of the car in front of them, tearing around into the oncoming traffic lane even when the road does not allow passing. Always, apparently, unable to manage their schedules properly so that they’re not running late for everything. I find their driving behavior threatening when I am in front of them driving in my car . On foot, is is downright scary. And I am not saying they want to rape and murder. I don’t think that about any of them. I think they’re just all impatient with the rest of us. But I do think they could accidentally hit a runner, a biker, or a kid waiting for the bus. Everything and everyone is in their way. It’s just not good driving.
I run in my community. It’s not gated, but it is a community. And, sometimes, pickup trucks drive through, slowly, really early in the morning, and I don’t know why, and when I see them, I go the other way as they crawl along the streets. When I first started running I ran around the perimeter of the community, but the speeding trucks pushed me back inside, and there are no speeding trucks inside, but sometimes there are the very slow ones. Now, thankfully, my husband runs with me.
The fact that some people think they have a right to do things to other people is madness.
I bought one of these for myself, my sister, my daughter, my friend.
They’re inexpensive, and they could be the shock you need to give you time to run.
And, IMHO, every woman should be able to run, for safety.
I’m glad I started running, not for status, weight loss, better abs, or competing, but for safety.
If you want to run, but think you can’t, just start off walking quickly, even for only a block, and try to increase your speed to a fast shuffle over a week or so, and slowly get to bringing your knees up and down over a few weeks.
If not running, then have a plan
for a situation where, no matter how powerfully feminist you may feel, a man is physically stronger than you, or two men are, or someone hits you with his truck, like in the article. (IMHO cities are much safer, so many people. If you’re not in a city, you need a plan. The men who feel angry, left behind, ignored, they’re not in the city. They’re in the rural areas, in their pickups.)
Don’t worry about hurting someone’s feelings.
Always trust your gut.
Always trust your fear.
Carry an alarm.
Carry mace.
Run.
