A Social Experiment
I took a walk in a strange man’s footsteps, and it was one of the most freeing moments of my life.
I love walking. I love taking long walks with my headphones on, listening to a podcast or my favourite mix at the moment and unconsciously shaking my body to the rhythm of the music.
I would love to walk every day for the rest of my life, but i do not always give in to this desire because walking can also be stressful. Why, you ask? Don’t worry, i will tell you.
As a woman of a certain body type, i tend to attract attention from the opposite gender, whether i want it or not. But it’s not just about what i look like, its also the fact that some guys (NOT ALL) believe that they are free to say whatever they want to women on the streets.
Some even believe that they are doing these women a favour when they catcall at the opposite sex, which explains why they can get hostile when you ignore them. I once overheard a guy defend his right to sexually harassing a strange woman on the streets, saying, “lemme do it o; you don’t know if i will be the only guy who says ‘nice things’ to her today. I don’t want her to feel like she wasted her outfit.”
In addition to the sexual harassment, you also have safety concerns that will have you constantly looking over your shoulders to ensure that you are not being followed by a thief or worse. You see how taking a walk can be exhausting, which explains why i don’t do it as often as i would like. But on this fateful evening, i decided i would do this thing i like regardless.
I stepped out with my headphones plugged in, ready to indulge in my favourite past time. But that day was not just for me. Instead of the enjoyable, calm walk, i found myself frantically looking over my shoulders throughout what should have been an hour walk. I decided to cut it short and head home when i spotted this man.
The first thing i noticed was how carefree and unbothered he was. Unlike me, who was continually looking over my shoulders, this guy walked briskly with no concern for his immediate surroundings.
Intrigued, i immediately decided i was going to follow in his footsteps. I was going to abandon Inem for a bit and lose myself in this strange man’s carefree and confident airs. And so i did.
For several minutes, i walked closely behind him. I took every step he took, losing myself and my concerns as i focused on following his footsteps. “How is he doing this?” i wondered as i walked behind him. I would notice if i was being followed because its something i have had to learn and gotten used but this guy did not share this particular trait.
He just walking, never looking back, and so i did the same. And for those minutes i walked in his footsteps, i honestly stopped looking back or worrying about a potential thief, sexual harasser or anything like that. I was honestly free to enjoy my walk without having those distracting concerns.
For a while, we walked like that, me happy in my newfound freedom and him blissfully unaware, before he took a detour that was out of my route. As soon as that happened, i immediately snapped out of my happy trance back into old Inem and proceeded to walk/run back home.
Cheers to the strange man who gave me a few minutes of peace.
This article is the second of my 30 days writing challenge.
