Serenity Now!!!!!!!

This is one of those stories that is still making me BOILING mad, but also makes me laugh so I thought I’d share it out here on cyber space.

So I’m walking home a few days ago, of course minding my own business and just doing my thing. I come around the corner to a street where there is no one else around except for a young kid (boy) about 15 or 16 years old who is walking towards me. As we get closer to each other, I notice that he is acting a bit strange, but there are lots of strange folks here and I am a blond headed tall gringa so that sometimes throws people off, so I didn’t take much notice of it.

As he passes me, I feel a light slap on my rear end. That’s right, that little shit slapped my ass. Fury rose up in me. Almost 2 years of constant sexual harassment (usually only verbal) on Honduran streets, and my complete resentment and dislike of it, came to a boiling point. I flipped around immediately. He looked at me and started run. Without thinking, I started to run after him!!! Now, get this, I had been carrying my sun umbrella, so I start chasing this kid, with an open umbrella yelling obscenities in English (Spanish had completely escaped me in my moment of fury!). I have to laugh now thinking what that must have looked like. Now, the umbrella was causing understandably a lot of wind resistance, so I wasn’t going to be able to catch up to the kid, also considering he was half my age and a faster runner than I am. (It never occurred to me to drop the umbrella the whole time!)

When I realized I was never going to catch him, I took the water bottle I had been carrying in my hand and hucked it at him. Somehow (and I am the worst shot ever), it got him in the back! Of course, an almost empty plastic bottle did nothing, but I sure hope it scared him. I’m sure it did, because the look on his face when I first started chasing him was of complete surprise!!!

Crazy, huh?! The fury and my reaction was a complete surprise to myself….I seriously just flipped out. I get SO tired of the treatment women get here, so tired of the machismo, that when this little kid went and took that extra step by physically touching me, I just lost it!!!! It’s just one of those times that makes me REALLY look forward to being back home.