Reply #85: Making a connection with people can work...

[Blue_In_AK]

I say this from experience. Back in the early '70s I used to hitchhike quite a bit, and one afternoon I was picked up by a couple of "gentlemen," one of whom was, I believe, very intent on raping me -- at least he made some very unsavory comments that got me pretty nervous. Believe me, I started talking ... and fast ... but in a nonthreatening and "connecting" sort of way. By the time, they ultimately let me out of the car, he was showing me pictures of his wife and grandchildren! Who knows what would have happened if I had taken a different approach and gotten all kung-fu on him or whatever? It's not too hard for me to believe that Ms. Smith's encounter happened pretty much as she said. I think it's the media coverage we all really have a problem with.