the usefulness of distance

[sistawendy]

I was waiting for the bus home last night at the usual time, and as so often there was a mentally disturbed individual yelling in random directions and shuffling on by. I thought I heard him say something about faggots. A few seconds later, unfortunately, I attracted his attention.

I mostly avoided eye contact in an attempt to convey to him that I wasn't interested in what he was trying to say to me. I couldn't understand it anyway. About twenty feet away, a man yelled, "Leave her alone!" I didn't see who it was.

Yelly Dude shuffled in his direction, eyeing people, but then he kept on shuffling. It was a relief to have him gone, but to be honest, I wasn't that worried. I guess I've lived in a big city for long enough to have encountered plenty of people like that, and they're mostly harmless.

I couldn't help wondering, though: what if my rescuer had been as close as Yelly Dude, close enough to see my face in detail? Would he have done what he did? Some questions are both unanswerable and best left unanswered, like this one, and how my father would have reacted to the new & improved me.

The stop in front of where I work is usually mellower than the ones just up and down the street; it's one of the many respects in which I've lucked out. (Seattle people can DM me if they want to know about bus stops. I'm the mass transit maven around here.)

Shallow fashion details: dark purple MAC lipstick but light eye makeup; dark purple turtle neck; black trench coat; lacy, black, calf-length skirt; black patent 20-eyelet Docs. It was pretty low key for me.

Comments

[novel_machinist]

I mean, it depends on where you are. Where I am now, a man who would say that would say that near or far. But, then I sort of am sad about that, like, there's never a middle ground. There's either a man who just defends people or a dickbag.