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Today was beautiful so I went for a bike ride (to be honest I do that every day unless it is seriously nasty). I was in one of my city's oldest neighborhoods, with most of the houses built a century ago.
I saw two people walking toward me in the middle of the street. This wasn't a dangerous place to do that; it was a quiet residential area.
It was a man and a woman, both in their thirties, approximately the same in height and weight. The man had a small dog on a leash.
The woman was screaming -- no, shrieking -- at the top of her lungs.
"Get in the freaking car! I'm not kidding! Get in the freaking car!"
Except she didn't say freaking, of course.
The man said "I'm not going anywhere with you!"
This discussion continued as a I rode past. I stopped a block away and tried to decide whether this merited a 9-1-1 call. I hadn't seen any physical contact, or heard any true threats.
While I considered an auto drove past me and I realized it was the couple in question. The man had entered the freaking car. I knew it was them because the woman was still shrieking, although I couldn't hear what she was saying.
Okay, the man had made his decision. I rode on.
A block later I had another thought: What if the genders had been reversed?
People of similar age, height, and weight, but it was a man demanding that a woman get into a car. What would I have done then?
I had no doubt: I would have called 9-1-1 and then gone over and asked the woman if she was okay.
Why in that order? Because I haven't been in a fist fight in sixty years, and I lost the last one. Police backup would have been very useful.
Would I really have done that? I think so but it is very easy to be brave when the threat is gone.
Will this find its way into my fiction someday? Probably.
Anyway, that was my afternoon. How was yours?
Oh, and you might want to watch this video. What they show is real, and it has worked.
Yes, I know that gesture :) It's good of you to share that, Rob. And I am very glad that you would have called 911 if the genders had been reversed. I guess the statistics say it all, and we need men like you who understand. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYes, I've seen it. I'm also part of the Auntie club, an unofficial organization of older women who, if they see a young woman who looks like they're in danger or trouble, goes up and says, "Honey! I didn't expect to see you here. It's me, Aunt Evelyn! Let's go over here and sit down for a minute, I've got so much to catch up on with you..."
ReplyDeleteI learn something new every day. And yes, if the genders were reversed, I might have intervened unless I thought I'd only put myself as well as the woman in danger, ie we were alone and he was bigger and tougher looking than both of us put together. In that case, I could call 911.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question, Rob: What if the rôles were reveresed? I received a couple of YouTube feeds were women raise the same question.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't known where the hand signal came from but I've seen a couple of stories where it was used by kids to let a waitress know they needed help. Good to remember.
One long ago morning when I was riding the Staten Island Ferry into work, a clutch of 20 or so kids – black kids (sigh) – had taken over an upper deck seating area. They were picking on the smallest kid, hurting him. Not one damn passenger made a move and I grew disgusted. I don't have my brother's frightening ƒ-wtih-me-at-your-own-peril aura, but I'm big and ugly so people generally don't mess with me. I left my bench, moved to the center of the storm, and politely asked for a seat next to the bullied kid. We spent the next twenty five minutes chatting, "Gentlemen, how are you this fine morning?" Funny thing is my petite 5-foot-nothing mother would have done the same in a much more terrifying way.
Thank you, Rob. I can't speak for all but I would appreciate your intervention. And yes, people behaving badly in public should expect to see themselves on the page.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, folks. It is interesting what you see as you wander around this amazing world. Yesterday I was biking past my bank and saw a guy in business casual clothes being handcuffed by cops in the parking lot. I wonder what THAT was about.
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