Is it me?
Today when I was riding my bike home from BART, in the middle of the afternoon, a car pulled up next to me. Actually it was a truck, with a borderline sketchy dude in it. The truck was teal, which is itself a warning sign of borderline-ness. I mean seriously, teal?! Anyway said dude starts talking...
Lascivious Sketchy Dude in Teal Truck: How YOU doin'?
Me (pulling ipod from ear, I should not have been listening since I didn't have on a helmet, bad girl...): Oh sorry to block your way, I'll get out of the road.
LSDITT: No girl, I'm tryin' to TALK to you.
Me (slowing my pedalstroke, which does no good since he correspondingly lets off the gas): Oh.
LSDITT: You goin' for a ride this morning?
Ue: Um it's 2:30 in the afternoon?
LSDITT: Whatever. Morning, afternoon, same thing.
Me (yeah this conversation is going on WAY too long, in a direction that is WAY too wrong): Um there is a car behind us so I should get out of the middle of the road?
LSDITT: Can I call you sometime? You're niiice lookin'.
Me: Um I don't think my, um, boyfriend would like that?
At this point LSDITT drives off. Thank god. And I hide behind a car for a minute or two, to make sure he is long gone before going to my apartment building that's in an OK neighborhood but it's still the type of area where I am like "Whoa, there's a normal-looking couple walking down the street! And they don't even have a pit bull with them for protection!"
...How is it that I can simultaneously feel like such a bitchy white prudish chick jumping to conclusions about someone, and such a completely vulnerable and far too polite, even naive, girl?
Is there a line between protecting oneself and being rude?
Is that a question I should even be asking?
Lascivious Sketchy Dude in Teal Truck: How YOU doin'?
Me (pulling ipod from ear, I should not have been listening since I didn't have on a helmet, bad girl...): Oh sorry to block your way, I'll get out of the road.
LSDITT: No girl, I'm tryin' to TALK to you.
Me (slowing my pedalstroke, which does no good since he correspondingly lets off the gas): Oh.
LSDITT: You goin' for a ride this morning?
Ue: Um it's 2:30 in the afternoon?
LSDITT: Whatever. Morning, afternoon, same thing.
Me (yeah this conversation is going on WAY too long, in a direction that is WAY too wrong): Um there is a car behind us so I should get out of the middle of the road?
LSDITT: Can I call you sometime? You're niiice lookin'.
Me: Um I don't think my, um, boyfriend would like that?
At this point LSDITT drives off. Thank god. And I hide behind a car for a minute or two, to make sure he is long gone before going to my apartment building that's in an OK neighborhood but it's still the type of area where I am like "Whoa, there's a normal-looking couple walking down the street! And they don't even have a pit bull with them for protection!"
...How is it that I can simultaneously feel like such a bitchy white prudish chick jumping to conclusions about someone, and such a completely vulnerable and far too polite, even naive, girl?
Is there a line between protecting oneself and being rude?
Is that a question I should even be asking?
Labels: enjoy the blog, oakland, quotables
posted by Courtenay at 1/02/2007
3 Comments:
dude, you should never feel bad about protecting yourself!
p.s. are you sure the picture in your previous post is your sister?? it looks exactly like YOU.
Rude is secondary to safe. I had similar thoughts this morning as I hollered at a dog on a leash who wanted to eat me...did I upset his owner? Then I realized that it was probably just good to get the owner's attention so he would make sure to control the pooch.
yikes.
well, it doesn't sound like you were all that rude. i was rude to a guy yesterday over his driving and my riding. both of us were being stupid and i just wasn't in my happy place and went off on him.
bad boy.
... hey, wait ~ you're a bad girl for not wearing your helmet! be rude all you want as long as you were the skidlid, yo.
well, i recommend them anyway ... but it's a personal choice. but one thing i always think about is the 7 or 8 year old kid who sees the fancy bike rider whiz past, all decked out in superduper clothes on the shiny boss bike ... without a helmet.
then the kid thinks it's cool to not where a helmet. and that kid falls a hell of a lot more than i do. so, i'd prefer it if the kid thought it was cool to wear one. might save the noggin for a few more years ... at least until they start smoking the marijuana in high school.
mmm...
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