There was an assault near my workplace the other night. A woman was attacked and robbed, and she has apparently suffered brain damage. I've only heard bits and pieces and can't find anything about it on the news for the area, but it sounds awful. I don't know when it happened, only that it was at night. It was on a night that I worked. When I heard it, naturally, I was concerned for the woman and hoped she'd recover fully.
But then I got some rest. This morning I woke up with the sudden (although obvious) realisation that I walk home almost every night that I work, fairly late each night in the very area where she was hurt. When the nice police officer took me home in the rain that one night, he stressed how dangerous it was, but I thought, well, it's not that bad of a neighbourhood, and the worst part is crossing two major roads in the dark. It's not like I have much of a choice; I can't work at the gas station in the daytime during the week. Then a few days later I met a man who had been drinking asking me for directions to Hooters and Richmond. He was a little disconcerting.
Given that I've had someone in my life recently assaulted, and now this, it's giving me pause. My friend was lucky. This woman has been hurt badly. I have a much better chance of a random assault than of being robbed at the gas station, I'm betting (although, granted, I probably am more likely to be hit by a car than either). And between the chance of robbery, the late hours, and the things standing for so long are doing for my feet, I should probably quit. But I can't really afford to. This little part-time job is keeping me afloat, and while my life is certainly worth more than $9,000 a year, this works with my hours, is about as near to my house as possible, and has served me well. So I'm torn. In the meantime I'm applying for full-time library positions when they come up, just as I have been. If you hear of any, let me know. This job was always meant as a band-aid, really, and never a permanent solution to a problem.
I have decided that I will go ahead and get that pepper spray, though. Monday I'm off for a doctor's appointment and can go out to Gall's on the bus. I need to go downtown, too, and officially junk the car with the county. And no more cutting across Richmond Road and walking behind Zaxby's, which is shorter. Although it is fairly well-lit, it's a little too far from the beaten path, too easy to be followed surreptitiously. I'll just have to stay in the bike lane up Richmond and cross at Eagle Creek, even though there's no sidewalk, and try to wear something light.
Wish me luck--and keep the woman who was hurt in your thoughts, too.
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