Ladies, handle yourselves. I know you can.
I’ve spent much of my adult life as a single woman working in some questionable establishments alongside alcohol. I like to believe I’ve become the resident expert in staying safe as a woman.
I have certainly had a few scrapes, some more serious than others. However, those can be attributed to letting my guard down with poor choices in relationships, sadly.
As a single woman today, one must be able and prepared to defend herself and her home. Gone are the days of the knight wearing shiny armor.
When women are taught to yell "Fire" instead of "Rape", it’s pretty safe to assume we’re going to have to save ourselves.
That being said, let’s cover the basic safety rules single women should follow:
1. Be aware. This means stop walking around with your face in your phone, or with your earbuds in. Don’t walk around in public having a phone conversation instead of noticing your surroundings. Pay attention to where you are and act accordingly.
2. Keep your private matters private. I know that it’s almost routine to give our information to the world via social media, but it’s not smart. Everyone doesn’t need to know you live alone, just had a break up, you’ll be at the club on ladies night, whatever. And stop drawing people a blueprint of your home in the backgrounds of your selfies. Be smart about who knows what. There are some genuine creeps out there. Don’t draw them a map to you.
3. Get a dog. Dogs aren’t just an early alert. They can mean the difference in someone having balls enough to come through that window you forgot to lock last night.
4. Don’t invite strangers into your home. You don’t know that guy from Tinder, or those people from the club. Everyone is entitled to a good time, but your home should be your sanctuary. Keep visiting you at home limited to family and old friends. Prior to the fourth date or knowing someone from work less than 6 months, meet them in public. Because, really, you never know.
5. Don’t be afraid to fight back. I remember back when they told us to submit. Just go along, don’t struggle, don’t try to save yourself. Those days are over. Make a scene. Yell fire (not rape, because they’re not coming to help if you do). These guys don’t want to be spotted, so at the first sign of a neighbor turning lights on, someone that isn’t there solely to hurt you is going to run off.
6. Arm yourself. To the teeth, if you can. Even if it’s just a shotgun to keep under your bed until it’s necessary to grab it, I will tell you a shotgun changes the odds exponentially. I keep a pistol in my nightstand and a shotgun in my closet. I know how to handle both expertly. I promise you this, if you come looking for me in my dark home without an invitation, you will meet one of them.