Walking Alone at Night

 I believe all men and women have had such an experience.

 I am a man. So, I will start the story from the man’s point of view. A man walks on a street at night. A woman is also walking ahead in the distance in the same direction. The man is faster than the woman. The man approaches the woman slowly. The woman realizes it and runs away from the man. I have experienced that many times. I was always shocked about that. I am not a pervert.

 But from a woman’s perspective, it is natural. An approaching man at night might be scary.

 So, I decided on my rules for when I walk alone at night: Don’t approach a woman. If I see a woman walking alone, I must change the way I am going. Or I should cross the street, then pass her on the opposite side of the street. Otherwise, I rest on the street for a while. When she disappears from my sight, I start going in my direction again. I should not scare a woman. I don’t want to be suspected of being a pervert.

 One night, my wife and I were walking down a street. I had never suspected we could scare anyone. We were a couple. I think couples are harmless. We walked and chatted joyfully. There was a woman ahead at a distance. We slowly approached the woman. Then, the woman started to run away. Why?

 I had forgotten some important information. My wife always wears boyish styles. She looks like a male. Her voice is lower than a typical female’s. Her voice sounds male. From a long distance, we didn’t look like a husband and a wife. We looked like a pair of males. To the woman, we were scary.

 I told my wife that I was shocked. She said, “It is always happening.” She didn’t worry about it.

 My wife does not care, but I care.

 From now on, we need to keep to my rules when we walk together down a street at night.

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Picture by Shirata