Creepy
I picked up a hitchhiker the other night. Maybe not a big deal for some that do this on a regular but for me it is. Why? Because you are picking up a stranger that can turn violent and psycho in an instant, that's why. I was driving home from work and it was around 4 in the morning and it's cold at night here in Kenai now. My car was covered in frost when I started it I remember and the temperature hovered around 28 degrees. So I'm driving and I passed up a guy with his thumb out. I was not going to stop at first, the roads here are dark and at that early hour there is almost no traffic either. So you are basically on your own. But then something inside of me felt bad for him, it was cold and I did not want him to freeze. Before analyzing it anymore, I put my foot on the brakes and stopped the car. I think I have picked up two other hitchhikers in my life, while being alone in the car and a few more when having another person with me. Anyhow, I gave him a ride to where he needed to go with no incidents. It felt good to help somebody in need but I feel like picking up hitchhikers, especially male hitchhikers when you are a girl alone is risky. That's a real fact and nothing made up. Too risky for me. I mean, if something happened to me my Mom would probably die from grief and then I have Chhaya to think about. I did offer a girl walking alone on that same stretch of road a ride a while back, it was after work too for me and it was raining but she declined. She probably was scared of me. LOL. Because you never know so I do not blame her a bit. Better safe than sorry. I've been to Burning Man three times now and never had any creepy experiences with guys on the Playa until this last Burn. Sure, guys want to dance with me and stuff like that......and I usually turn them down because I don't want unwanted touching. My experiences with guys on the dance floor is that they will inch closer and closer until they basically have, or try to have their you know what against my body and no thanks on that. I call them dickthrusters. If I like you.....I don't mind being close. But that does not happen often. Anyhow.....so it was the last night of the Burn and I was at Planet Earth dancing. A few guys asked if I wanted to dance but I politely declined. I mean, we can all dance TOGETHER as a group at Planet Earth, that's how I feel. When Planet Earth closed down I decided to swing by Center Camp real quick before heading for another place to dance. I sat down at Center Camp and got busy with looking through my camera when one of the guys that asked if I wanted to dance with him at Planet Earth comes up to me and asks me if I knew what time it was. I told him I did not know and then he asked me if I were the girl from Planet Earth and I was like......ummmmm, yesssssss. So then I got up to leave but I noticed him still hanging around in the background. I got on my bike and after about a minute biking felt weird, it turned out my rear tire was flat. Now I had to walk with my bike across the WHOLE Playa from Center Camp to White Ocean. It was really cold and dark, not many people were out at all since it was like 5 am Monday morning and basically Burning Man was mostly over. So this guy followed me across the whole Playa but at a distance, I knew it was him because he wore a distinctive looking hat. So in my mind I am thinking......what should I say if he approaches me......what if he tries to touch me or do anything bad? Why is he following me? All these thoughts raced through my head, it took at least 20 minutes, if not longer, to walk that distance and he just kept following me. That is creepy! To clarify here, I have no problem talking to guys. I don't mind human interaction but when a stranger deliberately trails behind me in the dark and I am all alone.....yes, that made me feel weird. So I got to White Ocean and it was done, no more (ugh) but close by I heard some good beats and headed over there, sure enough the guy tagged along. I parked my bike and three people on a couch asked me if I wanted some Tequila and an olive. I sat down, had an olive and I started to tell them about the creepy guy. So the girl I talked to, her name was Amber by the way......asked me to describe him and right then he walked past us and just staaaaaaared. She (Amber) and I stared back at him and he ended up leaving. I sat and talked with these nice people for a while and then I got up and danced. Did not see the guy again. I can't help but wonder if he was the one that arranged the flat tire. My tire was fine from Planet Earth to Center Camp, he followed me to Center Camp, most likely saw where I parked my bike.....oh and that small black thing (valve cap?) that is on the tire was gone too and I knew it was there the day before because I checked. I don't know.....that was just weird. My Playa bike.
So while talking about this subject, getting weird vibes from guys and such, I want to mention the BLISS project. This year the third and last art project in this installation was featured at Burning Man. A statue of a woman standing called R-Evolution. The BLISS project is to raise awareness to the feminine and to respect women, to end violence against women, objectification etc. The person behind this (Marco Cochrane, yes a man) found out that his best friend when he was a child (a girl) had been raped. She was only nine. This horrible event stayed with him. I love the meaning of the BLISS project. I did not get to see the first statue in 2012, Bliss Dance but I saw Truth Is Beauty and this year's R-Evolution and they were both AMAZING. The meaning behind the BLISS project is something that I care a lot about. Women's rights to exist without having to fear for safety. Women's rights all over the world in general. No matter what we wear and where we are. Me a couple of years ago on the Playa with Truth Is Beauty behind me.
