On Monday morning as I walked along the beautiful trail around Point Dume I had a shocking experience. A woman was approaching me on a narrow part of the trail and I stopped and put my mask on so we could pass each other safely. Since she wasn’t wearing a mask, I politely asked her if she would mind putting one on. Her answer was to aggressively slam into me, grab my arm and shove me out of her way while screaming obscenities at me. Naturally, I was shocked and horrified and I tried to get away from her as quickly as possible while she continued screaming at me to “not tell her what do.” Then she came after me, but luckily there were some other people ahead and I got away. But it was a frightening experience so I called 9-1-1 and reported it to the police, since she seemed dangerous. They told me that unless I wanted to prosecute her for assault they couldn’t do much. Since I wasn’t injured, it seemed wise to let it go and just be glad that she didn’t push me over the cliff, knife or shoot me.
I am now pondering what I learned this morning, which is: Never, ever, ever ask anyone, no matter how politely, if they would mind doing, or not doing, something. Never.
Name withheld by request