OK I have just skimmed the first page, but I wanted to respond to a few things before I forgot.
WOOKINPANUB, how exactly do you know the area of town I was talking about? There are a lot of 7-11s in areas that are deserted after 11… just wondered. (It was on 9th Street near 30th past the 7-11 on 22nd, if you guessed that either I offered more clues as to its location than I thought or you’re extremely observant… Or you were the creepy guy. ;))
Like I said, it’s not a particularly bad neighborhood, mostly working class and lower middle class housing in the area, but not too far from some more upscale housing. It is dead at night, though, so foot traffic immediately strikes me as suspicious, unlike my old neighborhood where it’s likely as not to be frat boys or yuppies walking home from the bar or a concert. I wasn’t uncomfortable being there until this guy showed up.
Yeah, I have a lot of balls doing laundry late at night, but my threshhold for fear is probably a lot higher than others, having grown up in a less than idyllic part of town where my neighbors spoke more Vietnamese than English, and spending my teenage years drinking in alleys with my friends. I don’t want to have to live my life in fear, and generally don’t. I am very aware of my surroundings when alone at night. I am confident of my self-defense capabilities having gotten in more than my share of fights as a kid, and dabbled in boxing and wrestling. I’ve taken down guys a head taller than me and pinned them to break up bar fights before. I’m a big bitch, tall and broad-shouldered.
But I don’t want to have to use those skills, and that is why I got mad at this guy- realize that your presence will not be welcome to a young woman alone, dumbass. If he had been doing laundry and tried to chat me up and offered me pot, I would have still felt uncomfortable because I’m not a talkative person. His lack of a good reason to be there, in addition to his bad social skills, was the kicker though.
I’ve considered buying mace or some other self-defense item before, but I probably wouldn’t use it. I don’t spook easily, so I wouldn’t be walking around with it in my hands whenever I left the house after dark. So instead of fumbling in my purse for it when threatened, I’d rather just throw a good haymaker. I do have a “rape whistle” on my keychain, though. My mom gave it to me, but I just have it for laughs, I doubt it would ever be useful.
I would have called the cops, more out of anger than anything, if I had had the non-emergency number in my phone. I texted a friend to let him know what was up hoping that he might come keep me company, but he was busy with his ladyfriend.
And I don’t have a lot of clothes, but I’m able to slack occasionally and not do laundry for a month because I don’t normally wear anything besides jeans and tshirts, and I will wear a pair of jeans for a week or more if I’m really lazy. Laundry only becomes necessary in these situations when I run out of underwear.
