Riding the bus to work this morning and happen to catch eyes with some dude. Immediately my mind is on high alert and I have a bad feeling in my chest...I made a mental note to see if he got off at the same stop as me, in which he did. The bad feeling is at an all high, so I walk to the side of the road to let him pass me. Instead he awkwardly loiters a few feet from me and says, “Hi”. When I see him clearly he is twitchy and has the appearance of a drug user.

I don’t say anything and we are just standing there looking at each other. Instead of leaving he stays standing there and I’m scared but I open the front pocket of my backpack and pull out my taser and pepper spray. Maybe 2 minutes pass. He says hi again to which I replied, “I have pepper spray.” He makes a face and then starts walking away, thank god. I then said, “Stay away from me or I will pepper spray you.”

I still feel really weird about the interaction and the fact that he loitered around me for a few minutes, when I wasn’t saying anything (before I threatened him).

This was definitely a reminder to carry my self-defense items in my pocket, but ALSO to listen to your intuition. Back when I had a bad feeling on the bus I should have reacted appropriately, whether it was pulling out my items then or staying on the bus until he got off.

Why can’t men just leave us alone?? How do you ladies keep yourselves safe? I carry a taser, pepper spray and a personal alarm.