I had a bit of a grumpy moment this morning, when a new guard at the park clocked me as a tourist because of a) my skin, and b) the fact that I was taking photos (tourist shit). He came over to offer "friendly" advice against making myself a target for thieves, which tweaked the immigrant "I'm always going to be seen as an outsider" crankiness in me for a hot second.
But, this is why I'm super careful about taking in English in public! Lesson learned, and life goes on.
*talking
I got caught up in a *second* frustrating encounter, with an older neighbour who got hella handsy, first grabbing my hand, which he wouldn't let go of, then wrapping his arm around my waist and nuzzling my neck. It all happened fast and in plain view of others, so de-escalation was 100% on me, and that dude required me to navigate my escape route through "safe" people so that he wouldn't hound me all the way home.
Silly morning. But I'm not going to let this kill my return to routine.
@MLClark “get off my planet”🤣Gran Apollo
🤣 You're turning my suffering into a story prompt, and I LOVE it.
Earlier this year I let all the street harassment shake me from my health routines, because it is often super hard to be a feminized person *existing* in a world with tons of lonely people who can't think of any other way to build community for themselves, except by interacting with feminized persons as sex objects. (And the fact that I am very white makes me exotic, too.)
This is why I often feel like a grumpy old man inside, and channel ol' porch-sitting, scowling Clint Eastwood for strength.