Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!hao!hplabs!intelca!qantel!dual!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot
From: chabot@amber.DEC (l s chabot)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: rape and streetwalking
Message-ID: <23@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Dec-84 14:51:24 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.23
Posted: Mon Dec 17 14:51:24 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Dec-84 06:27:08 EST
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: DEC Engineering Network
Lines: 53

The problem is not that "steetwalking" has unfortunate connotations, it's that
it means something different in English than what one might guess by combining
the definitions of the component words.  It's not a poor choice of words, it's
a wrong choice.

Approach the problem of crossing the street from the point of view of your 
grandmother, or another elderly friend or relative.  Do you like to think of
your grandmother being frightened by a large, strange, younger person with a
confident step approaching?  Remember, her bones are more fragile, she moves
slower, she may have more difficulty with curbs and icy patches and trying to
step sideways between parked cars.  And she's frightened and nervous.  You
don't have to be walking in a bad neighborhood to be jumped if you're old--the
thugs don't confine themselves to their own habitat.

Don't cross the street for me (unless you feel compelled for your own safety):
I'm young and healthy enough to feel (probably foolishly sometimes) confident.
But look, for a very small amount effort, we could all avoid scaring some 
older person, maybe somebody's grandparent, maybe somebody lonely.  Heck, even
I try to cross the street at night anyway for them, or at least put parked
cars between us.  It doesn't take much; if you catch their eyes and see the 
fear that I've glimpsed faintly, you may be compelled to cross anyway.  Those
of you who feel like smiling and waving, smile and wave as you cross; if they
need help negotiating some rough ground or something, they'll not be put off
by this but will ask anyway.

Frankly, I'm usually annoyed at this topic when no one does seem to bring up the
topic of going out of your way to help someone not as physically able as most 
of us are.  Learning courtesy isn't a frill--it's a social obligation, and if
you don't understand it that way, then you've been brought up improperly.
Self-reliance is an imcomplete picture of reality: most will acknowledge the
existence of obligations to family and friends, but there also exists a vast
set of rules about appropriate behavior to those not as close, and these rules
are in a sense obligations--and, if we follow them, they allow us to recognize
dangerous or deviant or outsider behavior.  The rules aren't strict, and they
change gradually due to pressures of societal change and even fashion.
By taking the initiative to cross the street, you are marking yourself as not
being a thug--remember, to so many senior citizens, anyone young and strong and
unfamiliar could be dangerous, since the elderly know they are considered to be
easy prey--which you might not be able to do by being recognized (since you're
a stranger) or by looking friendly (distracting attention by waving, & even
thugs can smile). 

If you get to go home for your holidays, listen to your grandparents.  Even
hale and hearty and fit ones get knocked down and rolled.  And they talk about
these kinds of things even if they haven't happened to them, because it's
common knowledge that the elderly are targets.  Wouldn't you like it if more
people, just people of good intentions and morals (yes, we'd all prefer if our
family could be protected from becoming victims of criminals), did your
grandparents the courtesy of not scaring them? 

L S Chabot
UUCP:	...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot
ARPA:	...chabot%amber.DEC@decwrl.ARPA