Reply To: What kind of people verbally abuse us?

[Dana Munson]

Lauren, you have described the sort of embarrassing public encounter I keep expecting, but which (so far) has failed to materialize.  You’re right: the young girl was the one with the problem. She certainly wasn’t worth chasing down or making a big(ger) scene over.  Oddly enough, perhaps, I worry more about testosterone-fueled young males, who might see someone like you and I as a rejection of their “manly” ideal.  Young girls I’ve had to deal with so far (so far!) have been uniformly nice – if they read me (many probably did), they didn’t let on or make any big deal. I mean, when you’re in a restroom at Disneyland washing your hands, with a young mom and her kids one one side and a teenage girl on the other, you’re in the lion’s den — and nothing untoward happened. Hell, I even briefly shared a mirror with a teenager who was fussing with her hair. Kinda cool experience, actually!