Safe

I was walking to work yesterday morning, slogging along, listening to Madonna. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man who was walking rather oddly, sort of weaving as he walks down the sidewalk. As he moved in front of me, I got a better look at him and noticed that he was dressed rather oddly (way too much clothes for the hear) and looked quite dirty. I thought that he may be homeless. I didn’t give him much more thought until a block or so later, when he began to make barking noises and mutter to himself. I began to get a little nervous, because often in these situations, the person in question notices me and there is some form of confrontation (this happens to me a lot, although I never make eye contact with anyone in such situations). Then I looked around and thought, it’s 8:30 in the morning. There are tons of people on the street. What can possible happen? And then I thought, that’s probably what that poor woman who was stabbed near Logan Circle by a man on PCP thought, and it took 4 or 5 men to pull him off her. I slowed my pace down, trying to put as much distance between us as possible. The man turned around and looked in my direction and I looked away, trying to avoid any contact. He reached the corner and turned right, while I turned left. I sighed in relief but I was edgy for the rest of my walk, because I just don’t feel so safe anymore.