Not the Object of Your Affection

This morning, after a particularly difficult-for-no-good-reason run, I was fininshing my cool-down (which is really just walking for a few minutes until I get home) when a man drove past and whistled at me.  For the sake of the story, I will disclose that he was a fat, middle-aged man driving a rather large silver pick-up truck.  However, homeboy could have been Ryan Gosling and my reaction would have been the same.  I quickly turned around, stopped in the middle of the road and yelled, "Really?!   You want to start with me at 7:00 in the morning?  Really?!"  While it was actually 6:45, the time, like his appearance, had nothing to do with it.  As he slowed down, eyeing me in his mirrors, likely trying to figure out if I was about to chase after him, I continued to give him a death stare and then focused in as though I was memorizing his license plate despite not really being able to see it.  My hope is that he spends the entire day worried that the lady who yelled at him will somehow find him and destroy him. 

This is not the first time this has happened to me but it still fills me with rage.  I am dragging my ass out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to run, not to be sexualized and objectified!  Further, I never want to be sexualized and objectified while going about my business, running or otherwise.  I really don't understand how some men still think that whistling or calling out to women is an appropriate behavior.  Obviously some part of them knows it is wrong, otherwise it wouldn't be limited to when they are in the safety of their car or when I am sans a male companion.  Not once have I been whistled at while with a guy, be it my husband, brother, dad, or friend.  However, get me out alone mid-run all sweaty and red-faced, looking like a total mess, and the animals turn loose!  Do I need to starting running with a blow-up man doll?

And I know there are women who welcome this kind of barbaric behavior because it makes them feel good.  And I feel sorry for them.  And I know that there are men who will say to just ignore it or it isn't meant to be harmful or threatening.  And to this I say, Really?!  You really want to start with me?  Really?!

We All Fall Down

When my alarm went off this morning I used every ounce of will power to DRAG myself out of bed.  I should have slept in.  Barely half a mile into my run, I fell and landed on the T tracks.  This was not a trip and stumble kind of fall, this was a full body slamming into the gravel/concrete/asphalt/tracks kind of fall.  Every part of my body south of my shoulders hit the ground.  I quickly popped myself up and got off the tracks while assuring the 2 women who were standing at the train stop that I was indeed, OK.  Luckily I hadn't gone far and hobbled home to clean myself up.  I had briefly considered continuting my run but after surveying the damage, I realized that anyone who saw me running would think I had just escaped a some kind of brutal attack.  Also, I kept thinking about that girl who fell off her homemade zip line and gashed her leg and later lost said leg due to an infection from the wound.  I am not interested in losing any limbs and since I was bleeding from all 4, I decided that disinfection was priority #1.  The reason for my fall is unclear.  As I told Dutch, I have run over those tracks hundreds of times without a problem.  I was not distracted, I didn't feel myself trip over anything, I just felt the ground as my body slammed into it, proving once again that rock beats epidermis.  So now I am all bandaged up but event that was an issue.  We were out of regular size bandages at home but did have some large ones.  The large bandages worked out for most of the wounds because they are rather large.  However, I have a gash on my pink finger near the base of the finger that required a smaller sized remedy.  The only solution I could find was a bandage roll we bought in Ireland last summer.  It's basically one big strip that you can cut to size.  After several attempts, I finally got the right size and shape.  I'd like to think that after a start like that, the day can only go up.  However, I am going to put some band-aids in my pocket, just in case.