Don't Talk To Strangers

"How come you never learned the golden rule:
Don't talk to strange men, don't be a fool?"

So, I got off work the other night and got in my car to drive home. I saw a female coworker on her way to her place . . . on foot. It was one of the last non-freezing nights of the year, but even I pulled over and asked if she was walking home. She said she was going to the bus stop.

I offered her a ride home, and she hesitated a moment before saying okay and getting in my car. Of course I murdered her and left her out in the desert. It's just my way.

No, actually, I took her a mile or so to her apartment complex and dropped her off, and that was it. But on the way home, I did think about what kind of a decision the girl had to make. She didn't really know me, but she sort of needed a ride. It wasn't cold out, but it wasn't balmy either. Maybe I have a trustworthy face, but maybe I liked to eat young women and wear their skin like a cape.

I couldn't help but think that the poor girl had to ask herself, in the second before she got in or told me to drive on, "Is this guy going to rape me if I get in his car? Or merely kill me? Do I have my pepper spray? What if this guy isn't a killer or a rapist, but is going to want something in return for giving me a ride? What if he asks me out at the end of our drive? What if he deliberately goes the wrong way; would I be able to get out of the car in time? What if he puts on an Air Supply tape and starts singing 'All Out of Love' as we drive?"

It bums me out that I live in a world where the girl might have thought any one of these things. Seems like it might be rough to be a young female on her own, especially one without a car.

But I still feel sorrier for myself, don't get me wrong.

Rish "I Sense A Topic For 'That Gets My Goat'" Outfield