I had a bit of a scare on Saturday evening.

I had taken a walk/jog and got sidetracked at a BORDERS store for an hour or so. It had started to rain, and it had gotten dark too. I hadn't planned to stay out so late (by then it was close to 8:30pm.) I took the Metro home, and started jogging home because the sky threatened more rain.

There was a young man walking ahead of me on the inside sidewalk near a large federal building. The area was rather dark and there weren't any other people around, except across the street by the gas station. As I ran behind him, I saw him step towards my direction.

As I passed him, he grabbed my butt! I was so shocked and angry and turned around to face him. "HEY!" I yelled at him, thinking, What do you think you're doing?!?!?!!! He was also facing me and snarled back, "Shut up!" in a mean, intimidating way. He looked as if he was walking away in the opposite direction by this time.

I wanted to yell back and make him explain himself, apologize, whatever. But then I realized I was in this pretty dark and isolated area with a man who obviously didn't have any qualms about harassing women. I realized that the situation could definitely escalate if I made him angry, and so I decided it wasn't worth it. I felt disgusted with him and turned away to run home.

On the way home, I kept thinking, am I just going to let him get away with that? I felt violated, angry and a little afraid of the other pedestrians on the street. I thought perhaps I should call the police, but my first thought was to just get home to safety.

My roommate Lauren convinced me that I should report the incident, and cops came over to our house at around 1:00am. There was another incident of a woman groped a few blocks away from our house, and the police wondered whether it was the same perpetrator.

I'm thankful that it wasn't a more a serious or scary encounter. I think this guy was just looking for a cheap thrill, and thought it'd be funny to grab an unsuspecting female. Even though it was a relatively minor thing, I was surprised at how emotional and scary it was. It made physical violence towards women a much more real thing... that I can somehow identify a little bit with those women or children who have suffered at the hands of so much more.

To the women - please be careful and don't be naive in assuming that there will always be someone (e.g. spouse, boyfriend or whoever) to protect you. Take your own safety seriously and be sure to take measures to learn how to defend yourself.

To the men - although there are some exceptions, most of you will not be able to truly understand the fear women carry around (or that lurks in the back of their minds) on a daily basis. Please be sensitive to the experiences women face, and please do not ever belittle any abuse (physical, emotional, etc.) or violence they suffer. On the flip side, please go the extra step in protecting your sisters, female friends, and other women.... we all appreciate it!

I'm feeling fine, don't worry, and will take begin to take steps to become more like Sydney Bristow (i.e. butt-kicking, street-fighting heroine of ALIAS) in the near future.