reasons you should not pat my head on the subway, a poem

[rm]

I don't know you.
I did not give you permission.
I am not a small child.
Or a dog.
We are not playing Duck, Duck, Goose.
Where have your hands been?
I hate you.

Clear?

Comments

[xtricks.livejournal.com]

You live in a strange place.

While I'm clearly a do not touch person (also, not pregnant, attractive or short), I don't really see anyone where I live touching strangers. Not on the max (our lightrail) not the bus, not the streets.

[delle.livejournal.com]

ew.


ew, ew, ew. There are not words enough to convey how much I agree with you.

[strollerman.livejournal.com]

Who's been patting your head on the subway? And, I know you!

[sahiya.livejournal.com]

. . .

. . .

I will say that while Bay Area public transit has its fair share of whackos, no one has ever patted my head unsolicited. Yay?

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Clearly this is an individual with problems regarding public courtesy and personal space.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

[elisi]

*blinks*

What?

[alt_universe_me.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can't stand strangers randomly touching me. Especially when I was pregnant.
Although, I have to admit I am a tactile/hugging kind of person with my close personal friends, but only with them.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

my first reaction: did you pat them back? (ok, they sound icky, but I kinda thought it would give them a flavour of their own medicine)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_lullabelle_/]

You should have growled at them.

ewewewew

[amberite2112.livejournal.com]

IAWTC. 100%.
growl. snarl. snap.

the song 'little fuzzy animals, with big sharp teeth' is running though my head now.

also? boundaries, people! but you knew that.

[teleens-journal.livejournal.com]

WTF? If a stranger patted my head, they would pull back a nub. But that's me, :).

[teleens-journal.livejournal.com]

My eye caught on the 'pregnant' part of your comment. I have to say, if strangers felt as though that they could touch me during my (hypothetical) pregnancy, they'd be in for a rude surprise.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I can picture this happening and ending very, very, very badly. Damn.

[usullusa.livejournal.com]

While I am mad sorry somebody went and randomly did that, this entry made my day.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Hey, anything I can do to help. Seriously.

[girlingoldboots.livejournal.com]

Ew.

[virginia-fell.livejournal.com]

Gah.

I fucking hate being touched by basically anybody but Brian, but especially the patronizing little pats that strangers like to give women. My congratulations for not punching whoever that was in the ear for being ridiculous.

[maryling.livejournal.com]

"Reasons you should not touch strangers, period"

There. Fixed that for you.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Ditto. It was the "I hate you" that made me burst out laughing.

Also, what is wrong with people? It's like random men on the streets asking if they can hug me because I'm "so small and cute."

[usullusa.livejournal.com]

I- thank you. Really.

[delchi.livejournal.com]

That's a hanging offense, isn't it? What ever happened to NYC no eye contact look straight ahead subway rules?

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

Duck Duck Goose made me crack up.

Also, dear sweet Jesus on a velociraptor people! What is wrong with you?!

~Sor

((I am pretty sure I stole the Jesus on a velociraptor thing from you. I am growing increasingly fond of it --do you mind my using it?))

[shadowvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

WTF is wrong with some people? How did you react? For that matter, how does any sane person react to something that fucking out there? (I seriously hope no one ever tries this with me, or there might well be casualties. At the very least they'll not like looking at their face in the mirror for a good long time!* *really hates being touched, especially without warning*)

* Wouldn't be the first nose I've broken for unwanted touching either. Though, for some reason, head patting seems so much worse than ass-grabbing. Either because sexual harassment is so common as to be almost expected these days, or because a pat on the head comes with so much more negative associations (kids, dogs; in any case, not actual people, but to be looked down on and patronised), rather than the, er, intended compliment of sexual objectification.

[pandarus.livejournal.com]

Maybe s/he WAS playing Duck Duck Goose? It could have turned into a whole-subway game!

...yeah, okay, probably not.

Really, I'm boggling at how ODD that is.

[kuangning]

Sadly, there exists a breed of person who thinks that the fact that a pregnancy is visible confers a right upon anyone who can see the pregnancy, to touch the pregnant belly. Throughout the later stages of all three of my pregnancies, I resorted to wearing very stern expressions and uniform-like garments out of self-defense and an unwillingness to face the consequences of breaking someone's arm for touching me. Never been patted on the head though. Worst I get is clueless people trying to touch my hair.