On fear and racism.. and not texting at night.

A thing happened to me tonight walking home.  In the grand scheme of horrible things it’s not that bad. I wasn’t beaten or raped or stabbed. But I’m sitting here shaking and shocked nonetheless. Because I couldn’t get through to my boyfriend to pick me up. So I started walking home in the dark. And there were footsteps behind me. And I didn’t look behind me because I work so hard to not be that person. To trust people. To see the good in strangers, first and foremost. So as I reached a quiet intersection, and he came up next to me, and he was a tall, young, black guy in a dark hoody, I didn’t put my phone away because fuck stereotyping people based on their age, or skin colour, or what side of town they grew up on. And then I was crossing the road, in my naïve goodwill, texting my mum, and then he was sprinting up behind me, and he was grabbing my phone, and he was running away. And I yelled out. And then I froze. And I started crying.

And then, like the mad Polish woman I am, I chased after him in the dark. And a couple in their car heard me scream “you fucking cunt” and chased him down. The kid, and his mate. And the kids stopped and dropped my phone. And then ran away.

And I’m sitting here crying, shaking, in shock, with a weird ache in my gut, and I say FUCK THIS SHIT. Fuck the fact that they were black and that I can see how racism worms its dirty way in to people. Because people attribute the act to the skin, rather than the person. And fuck those two punks for killing my bravery. And fuck the world for bringing those kids whatever set of circumstances led them to that decision tonight. Because with the shock and the anger is sadness for those numskulls and their own life experience.

And all I can do is hope that my resolve remains. And that I will feel ok walking alone at night again. Because above all I say fuck you to fear, and its destructiveness, and I will continue to fight to the death for my conviction in the goodness of people.