This will be a quick post.  I have so many of these stories but this one just happened so I should share. 

I was walking my dog when suddenly this creepy man comes up to me trying to strike up a conversation.  I could tell I should be skeptical of him so I did my best to not acknowledge his attempts and pretend like I didn't hear him.

But he kept following me, asking me questions like, "What are you doing today? Do you usually walk this path daily? Are you going home?" 

I felt cornered and was doing my best to assess my surroundings and roll around him.  My very friendly Pippi - whom I usually adore her loving, trusting heart - wasn't helping the situation at all as she tried to give her usual unconditional love to this stranger. I managed to wheel around him and ignore his comments as he kept lingering behind me. I saw a woman walking her dog so I rolled to her and started to play with her dog. She was a young, shy asian girl who seemed confused by me (because I was in a wheelchair and approaching her) but I stayed with her until the guy disappeared.

I didn't take the normal route home just to make sure he wasn't following me. As I crossed the street that was armed with a crosswalk and stop sign, a car didn't feel like stopping while I was crossing.

He suddenly pressed his brakes yelling, "...well, you shouldn't be in a wheelchair!".  

In which I responded with, "Well, you shouldn't be an asshole." and kept rolling.

I felt perfectly safe to be a sass in that situation because there was an army of people around me.  

There are so many stories like that guy telling me that I shouldn't be in a chair.  Don't be a jerk.

Being in a chair, or just disabled, creates a lot of vulnerability.  It's a little moreso if you're a female. If I happen to be alone and I feel awkward about my environment, I'm usually hyper aware. If I'm alone I'm careful and think ahead of how I would deal with a situation if it became dangerous.  

Fear won't keep me from doing things because it might be dangerous. I don't not go out because of fear because I don't want to be a crazy person about it, but I do like to be aware and think ahead.  Well, I don't like to be, I just don't have the luxury to be any other way.