ATTACKS BY STRANGERS

After hearing the sad story about a young woman on L.I. who was attacked after asking for directions from, and getting in the car, of a stranger, I remember a similar situation that happened to me a few blocks from the same place in 1978 or so. I was 15, and had just walked a drunk friend home, when a stranger in a car asked directions to a street on the other side of town. Being drunk myself, I got in his car, with the assurance that he would give me a ride back to my house, which was in between where we were and where he was going. Unfortunately, I directed him to the wrong street, and when I remembered which street to go to, he had other ideas. He offered me money to give me oral sex, which I declined. As I unlocked the door of his car (while moving), he reached over, locked it, and wrapped his arm around my neck. I punched him in the face, unlocked and opened the car door, and jumped out, safely skidding to a stop on the fresh snow in the street. I broke off the nearest street-level tree branch, and ran along side of the closest house, waiting for him to reappear. After a while, I started walking home, meeting some friends in a car who gave me a ride. I told them this story, because it wasn't anything more than something to talk about, having survived it unscathed. A few years later, I found another friend had been accosted by the same fat black guy with glasses, in the same white car. My friend used his large pocket knife to get out of his situation, without having to actually use it violently.

Serial rapists/pedophiles come in all sexual orientations, and have been around since before anyone reading this was born. Women aren't the only ones at risk. Everyone thinks about how bad the kids are today, but there is always some adult who is worse. Look at my anecdotal story. I, and one of my friends fought this guy off, but how many times was he successful? Where are those kids now? I'm scared of today's adult predators, which is an alarm worth ringing. Let's hope today's kids are as up to fighting them off as my friend and I were.