Hate 2.0

There is a small University city in Idaho that my boyfriend and i frequently visit and travel through. though ordinarily considered a relatively 'progressive' town, i've had a couple of experiences that have convinced me otherwise.

Recently we were window shopping in the mall and attracted the attention of a group of wannabe wangsters who seemed to take satisfaction in ridiculing anything out of the ordinary. i didn't notice it when they started following us, but my boyfriend did. i also didn't notice the comments they were making, but my boyfriend did. When i went into the restroom, i had no idea what was going on outside. My boyfriend threw his bag down, pissed off and ready to do something about it. There were three of them (not counting two of their girlfriends), and when i came back out, i realized what was going on. They stood between us and the way out, and it seemed as if they were itching to jump, but didn't quite have the nerve.

There have been a couple of instances before that have led me to realize that somewhere inside me resides a faint ghost of he who is dead but came before, watching over me in times of potential crises. And as my boyfriend stood in front of them ready to defend me, i realized that for whatever reason i was not afraid this time, and was more than willing to bite and claw the eyeballs out of the first son of a bitch to attack us.

They could not bring themselves to make a move, and my boyfriend did the right thing and decided to simply pass them by when he realized they were not much more than ignorant children (his background in anthropology leads him toward intelligent decisions much more often than i). i remain disgusted at the number of people that gawked or walked by when it was clear what was going on. i remain validated in my choice of a partner, who would have done the same for a stranger, let alone ourselves.

If only we could be so sure about members of our own family.