my interest in activism started when i was young. i was living a great life and i couldn't understand why everyone else was constantly complaining about things. i've always lived with a high standard of morality. and once i began intrigued with the world of social justice, equity, environmentalism, and ethics, i was hooked on all of these concepts. they fueled my desire to help others where i could and however i could -- because i always wanted what was the best choice (to each their own, of course) for everyone else.
and i guess you could say, that is what i did what i did last night.
i was on my way home from the bar and had decided to walk a fair hike for awhile to get some exercise, fresh air, clear my head, and just rock out to some tunes. a few streetcars passed me and i decided to hold off, at least for another few blocks. up ahead, i noticed what looked like a conflict going on between a dude and a girl. i was pretty far away, so i wasn't entirely sure if they were just lovingly hating each other or if something was about to go down.
when i got closer to them, i saw the dude forcefully throw the girl against a wall and really get in her face, yelling all kinds of profanity that i could hear from half a block away. i'm all for passion but this was just nonsense. i had three choices. i could have crossed the street and avoided the whole confrontation entirely. it wasn't my business to begin with. or, i could have walked past them and not said a word the entire time and continued on my way -- which seems to be a normal torontonian thing to do.
but instead, i walked up a few feet away from them and yelled. the dude reacted in the way i played it out in my head. he told me to keep on walking -- that what was going on didn't concern me. and again, i had a choice. i could keep on walking or i could do something. i told him straight up that what he was doing did concern me, as it concerned every girl on this planet. i told him she didn't look too happy with what was going on and that for the sake of his own good, he should probably stop what he's doing.
oh, this pissed him off. he walked up to me all tough and got inches away from my face, yelling and screaming at me to fuck off and so on. his breath smelled of beer. i didn't back down. i didn't flinch. i wasn't scared. i stared at him. i calmly told him that he was done here and that if he didn't leave her alone, things were not going to work out in his favour. i could see the look on his face change to a smirk. he didn't believe that i could do anything to stop him.
he went to grab my arm to push me away/down and i immediately went into self-defense mode. this dude was much bigger than i am (but that doesn't take much). i quickly grabbed his wrist, turned it around backwards, and dug my nails into the underside of his wrist, right on the vein. it's a painful area if you do it the way i've been taught and has been a useful tactic when i've been in numerous dangerous situations. but i wouldn't have done it if he didn't try to lay a hand on me. i told him that this was enough and he was going to leave us as soon as i let go. he nodded in agreement while his face was clenched with pain. i let go and pushed him away from me in the opposite direction. he walked off holding his wrist and screaming profanities.
when it was over, the girl told me that he was a friend of a friend walking her home after the bar. they had just met. she didn't live too far away from the bar but he insisted on walking her home. she got about a block from her place when he kept asking her to come up to her place and spend the night. she wasn't interested. and then things got ugly. he told her that he had a knife and was going to hurt her. we called her friend and told her what had happened, but it turns out it wasn't actually her friend's friend, more of her friend's acquaintance. they too, had only met once or twice before. i walked the girl to her place and we notified the police to file a report.
a lot of my life has been about the "wrong place, wrong time" curse. i've been in many situations when i was younger, throughout my teens, that were seriously dangerous. but i've always handled them in a graceful matter. parties that get out of control, being chased down by a couple of dudes over a misunderstanding, being followed by strange men on numerous occasions, getting drugged and taken advantage of against my will, or even minding my own business and going shopping for an evening are just a handful of the scenarios i've encountered in my short little life. seeing the darker side of the towns and people i grew up with made me realize that as a strong woman, i was capable of doing and handling whatever situation that was thrown at me.
so, maybe batman wasn't around last night to help somebody in need. but at least i was.
