Whether women like to admit it or not getting compliments, winks, waves, and even honks as we walk down the street boosts our self-confidence. By obtaining this reaction by complete strangers reaffirms that we are attractive and beautiful. Now don't get me wrong, at times these honks and whistles are not welcomed because they become perverse ( but that's another story). Like many women, I too have experienced men honking, winking, and/or whistling as I am walking down the street. But my experience of this goes a step further. Many times the men that do this see me first from behind and when they drive in front of me and see my face what a flirtation turned into an insult. Not too long ago I was walking my dog Ki-Bo around the neighborhood when a car that was behind me slowed his speed enough to get a good look at me. When the driver of the car poked his head out of his car and saw me his words were, " Uh, never mind."
I smiled and laughed inside because I knew he was not worth me getting all worked up over an insignificant stranger. Besides, I sure as heck know that I am beautiful and way too good for a guy that drives a dirty, rusty old pickup. Did I mention the driver matched the description of the car?
I used to get all worked up and bothered when I experienced similar situations like the one I just described. I used to let it bother me, I used to cry... a lot. My brother Fransisco has had to patch up my heart many times because on multiple occasions a classmate said something that truly hurt my feelings. He would take one look at me and know that some idiot kid in school made a rude comment about me. He would hug me tight and give me a huge kiss, then he would sing, You're So Beautiful, he would sing one particular verse over and over again until I would laugh and stop crying. He would then whip my tears and say something stupid about the person that made me feel like crap.
High school was tough because when my girlfriends had boyfriends and secret admirers, I was shunned and made to feel less worthy of affection and attention from the opposite sex. Two of the worst encounters that till this day I remember as vividly as if it were yesterday occurred while I was in school. The first, I was walking, and I could hear two boys making comments about me, I remember I was wearing a skirt that day, and since I was on the swim team I was tanner than usual. I was not 100 percent sure that they were talking to me so I looked over my shoulder and the two male students stopped in their tracks and began to laugh in my face. I was hurt, but it did not affect me as much as the second encounter did.
The second encounter occurred when I was walking to class, this time two male students were approaching me as they got closer to me I heard them laughing and one said, " Dang she is f****** ugly!" I crumbled inside. When the bell rang dismissing school, I ran towards the bus stop to search for my brother, as soon as I saw my him I ran towards him and began to cry. He dropped his backpack and just held me. I remember his friends just stood there trying to figure out what had happened to me. When we got on the bus, and I recomposed myself enough to tell him and his friends what happened, they all became livid. My brother and his friends wanted me to describe the boys to they could " take care of it." Needless to say, I was unable to describe them. My brother held me the entire ride home comforting me as he and his friends kept telling me that I was beautiful and that those guys were worthless.
Now when a guy decides to take back, his "Cat call" I simply don't care.
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