late night walks.

the city that I live in is rather safe. now, I know a person can be fooled into believing that everything is sunshine and rainbows all of the time here, but I try to be careful, as I know that that isn't always the case. tonight, I went for a walk/run, stuck some music in my ears and breathed in deeply of the wet, fresh, crisp smell. it was lovely and refreshing. when I'm walking by myself I try to be sort of smart and keep one earbud out so I would hear a car pull up, or someone else walking. I also try to stick to main roads where if someone tried to pull any funny business, they would surely be caught. and of course I have my cellphone handy. but, still... sometimes boys are dumb. and tonight a red truck pulled into a parking lot and was talking to me. well, not the truck.... um, the boys inside of the truck. they began to call to me, and I pretended not to hear (I have music in my ear after all!) and continued walking. but, after a few moments, they persisted. I remembered what I learned about sometimes giving someone the "warm-cold shoulder" like I imagine maybe Jesus would. if they're not being crude, there's no reason to be rude. usually. but maybe don't quote me on that. anyway, once there was ample distance between us (yelling distance in fact) I yelled, "pardon me?" they said, "you need a ride?".. I said, "thanks, but no thanks!"... "huh?" "NO THANK YOU!" I said. I turn to carry on my merry way. next question, "how old are you?" honestly? come on. older than you... but I just yelled "20!" and then began to walk away. next question. "are you a hooker?" are you kidding me?! and I got mad... but instead of doing something dumb.. I just walked faster... stewing. I'm wearing a knee-length wool coat over my hoodie and jeans. I have a toque on my head. and I thought about what I would have liked to have said to them. perhaps something along the lines of, "nope. I'm really not. But if I were.... you surely wouldn't be able to afford me." is that bad? maybe. probably. Mom, don't worry. I'll buy some pepper spray sometime.