Member-only story
Leaving The House Is Terrifying
What is wrong with people? Or is it me?
I’ve been trying to get back in the groove. Keeping to a schedule, doing small things that bring me joy; writing, walking, making food.
I try to do all of this from home as much as possible because being out in the world scares me. It didn’t use to feel so frightening, but lately, it feels like anything can happen anywhere.
It is currently early afternoon and I’ve left my house twice today — both times resulted in not-so-great interactions with other people. Both times left me upset, frustrated, and asking the question, what the fuck is WRONG with people?
The first incident happened on my morning dog walk. As my older pug dwaddled and sniffed around a favorite patch of grass, I noticed a younger man and a dog I didn’t recognize coming up from behind me at a quick pace. My dogs aren’t jerks, but they also aren’t trained as well as they could be. I try very hard to be a responsible dog owner and seeing that this guy had no intention of walking around or making an effort to avoid us, I stepped off the sidewalk and pulled my dogs onto the lawn of the house we were in front of.
The guy’s dog was going nuts. Barking, lunging at me with its teeth showing, straining to get closer — basically displaying a high level of aggression. Instead of continuing to…
