I wasn’t chosen.
At the neighborhood shopping center, I saw a scruffy man glance at me. I thought nothing of it. I slowed for a plump middle-aged woman in front of me, who’d stopped to rummage through her grocery cart. Once past her, I resumed my long strides, shoulders back, arms swinging.
In the breeze behind me, I overheard the shabby man repeatedly ask the kind-looking woman for a handout in a soft cajoling voice. They stood near a store’s entry. With people going in and out, I knew the woman wasn’t in danger.
A few moments ago, when he’d looked me over, I realized the grubby guy had sized me up, and decided not to choose me. I felt triumph shiver in my bones. I wasn’t his victim.
In the past, I’ve been chosen as prey: to rob, to rape, to harass, to beat, to torture, one of forty percent of American women who report their abuse, as I learned to do ten years ago when law enforcement began to believe women. The number of unreported cases makes me cry. In the past, I’ve been among them.
Self-defense classes taught me to fight back, to stand straight and defiant, body language blaring, I’ll be the loudest and nastiest target you’ve ever met.
This time, I wasn’t chosen. Perhaps I’ve broken the old cycle.
Real Life – Real Laughs:
Humor When You Need It Most
Cate Burns’ thirty-eight non-fiction stories of heartfelt humor explore society’s foibles and personal snafus with insightful zingers that will delight readers. Burns casts an unstinting, cock-eyed look at personal change, friendship, sanity and courage.
“Absolutely LOVE the descriptions in this work. Very, very, very clever and, dare I say it? -unique. This is refreshing, funny, inventive and delightful.” -Sharon Whitehill, Ph. D.
