We all get that weird, uncomfortable feeling inside sometimes when things just don’t feel right. It’s frightening the number of police reports we have read where a woman said, “it seemed a bit strange, BUT…”
There is no but. This one is particularly important for women and we have one very big message to send ladies and young girls today:
WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY, YOU NEED TO STOP CARING ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK
If you’re somewhere by yourself and some guy makes you feel uncomfortable for whatever reason, you need to listen to that little voice and remove yourself from the situation. You don’t owe anyone an apology or an explanation. If you want to, you can pretend you have to take a phone call and walk away, or you can just walk out.
It’s the same thing if you’re walking home at night and some guy comes up to you to ask for the time, or if you’re at a party and someone insists on standing uncomfortably close, or if someone knocks on the door when you are home alone.
Maybe an electrical repair guy comes to your door and says he needs to check the wiring. But you don’t remember calling the electricity company.
Maybe some guy with an arm cast asks you to help load his couch into his van. Or even if some woman pulls up alongside you to ask for directions or to help her find her dog who ran off into the forest. If you get the slightest feeling that something doesn’t feel right to you, even if you can’t quite put your finger on it, you need to pay attention to that voice and leave the situation.
If you still want to help them, you can offer to call 911 for them. Your job as a woman is NOT to make other people feel comfortable.
If some guy thinks it’s rude that you got out of the elevator, too bad. If someone thinks you are racist or sexist, that’s too bad. Too bad if the guy at the bus stop thinks it’s rude that you didn’t stop to tell them the time. Too bad! That’s not your job.
You’re not going out of your way to offend anyone. You’re not running around saying that everyone’s a rapist. You’re minding your own business. And when it comes to your personal safety, it’s better safe than sorry.
You also don’t ever need to feel embarrassed that you made a mistake, because 9 times out of 10, it’ll be a false alarm. It won’t be anything. But that one time out of 10, that feeling you feel is REAL. Maybe it’s a van that’s parked too close to your car in an otherwise empty parking lot. That’s odd. Or maybe you come home after work and your front door is unlocked. That’s odd. Maybe you forgot to lock it when you left for work this morning. But maybe there’s someone inside you don’t go inside. You call the cops, you call a friend. You wait until you’re safe before you check it out.
Because your instincts are never wrong, but sometimes situations are and you don’t want to be in one.
