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They Told Me I Was Too Ugly to be Followed
It’s not about looks. It’s about power.
It was a quick walk to the store, at least to me. I left my apartment at 3 A.M. to walk across the street as I often did to the Wawa for my usual sandwich. I didn’t even consider someone would follow me. It had never happened before and I grew too comfortable. In my head, others found me invisible, but this didn’t turn out to be the case.
The random man started talking to me at the crosswalk. He and I waited at the light together. I came up with an idea. I would speak to him in French and he’d leave me alone. This ended up being the first big lesson I learned: If someone wants an opening they will take any you give.
“I know you can understand me,” the man said, his friend stood a little too close to me on the other side.
“Quoi? Je peux pas vous comprendre,” I responded.
I hoped to God the little green walking man would illuminate and I could move on across the street.
When the little green man showed up, though, the other men didn’t stop. They followed me. At first I convinced myself they walked along with me like normal people would.
You’re freaking out for nothing.
