No Blood On The Knife

I am a woman. I am thankful I am a woman.  And for the most part I don’t think of ever wanting to be something different.  There are of course times during a woman’s life when it’s not so much fun and we might momentarily think, “Oh, to be a man!”  But for me and I’m guessing most other woman, we wouldn’t really trade if we could. Being a woman is rewarding and special and I really wouldn’t want to be anything else. We get to wear pretty clothes, wear makeup if we choose, smell good and for the most part avoid dirty work.  At least I do. Not all women do, or choose to.  But we are proud of who we are, girly girl, or tough broad.  We get to choose.  And if we choose to,  we can be both. There are some things we don’t get to choose however and no matter how much we don’t like it we’re stuck with it  We are the weaker sex.  Now when I say this, I don’t mean weaker character.  I think women can sometimes, or many times, do the heavy lifting when it comes to emotional strength.  We may cry about it, but we will endure.  What I’m talking about is physical strength.  We can’t help it.  We can train and build up our physical strength and endurance to be the best and most we can, but we will never be able to best a man who is also at the top of his physical game.  I simply don’t believe we can. God made us different. Anyway, I do think women are weaker, physically than men.  As a general rule. And because of that weakness, we are left vulnerable. Anywhere I go by myself, I always have to assess my safety factor.  If I go to the store in the middle of the day and there’s a crowded parking lot, my risk is very low.  I also live in a fairly safe town as far as crime goes.  It does occur however, and it always pays to be cautious.  So, I would be a little more cautious approaching that same store later at night and even more so in the middle of the night.  There are places in my town, that I wouldn’t go by myself.  Ever.  Even in broad daylight.  Why?  Because they are not safe places for a woman to be alone. Does a man consider this every time he leaves the house and goes out by himself? I don’t believe he does. However, for as long as I can remember I have always had to think about how safe I am. Today I went for a walk in one of our city parks.  They can be kind of secluded and while I don’t feel an imminent danger there, there is somewhat of a risk.  Walking there after dark is not something I would do.  There are places if someone wanted to hide and attack a lone woman, they could and risk of discovery would be small.  There were few people in the park and most were women so today I did feel safer.  I always take my phone with me and my car keys which could be used as a weapon in a pinch.  Today I also took along a pocket knife.  I happened to come across it as I was searching in a drawer for something else.  I thought, why not?  The blade is only about an inch and a half long, not very sharp and not a lot of protection.  But a little protection is better than none, right?  I figured if nothing else, it could slow them down a little. Sometimes though, the need to always have this stress with me, this worry about being someplace alone, makes me angry. That is the one thing I hate about being a woman.  This is not something men have to worry about. Walking in front of a crowd of women does he worry they could stop him and harass him or worse, assault him?  The worst they would probably do is make lewd comments.  But a woman does have to worry. Every time she goes somewhere on her own, she has to be aware of her surroundings.  Check her car and make sure it’s empty before she gets in it.  Be aware when she is walking to and from the car and store that no one is following her.  Even a walk in the park.  Because we are vulnerable to rape we must always be aware of the risk potential.  So if I could change one thing about being a woman, it would be to not have to worry about my safety everywhere I go. As for the walk in the park, I came home with No Blood On The Knife. It was a good day.