Staples Reading

I find it interesting to learn that some people are so afraid of others, and it is based on just the way they look. I never knew all of the things people do in order to avoid others. I learned that they do things such as speed up their pace, turn a corner, lock their car doors, and turn around a corner. Some people would also hunch down when they came near the author. And the author was chased in his own workplace because others thought he might be a burgular? I find that to be ridiculous. I have never really thought about any of this because I am not from a big city. I am from a small town. I know a lot of the people and I have never felt any reason to be afraid of anyone. There is not a certain part of town that people are afraid to go to or that they avoid if they can. I have never even thought about doing that kind of thing, or what fear might cause some people to do. I guess I take for granted that the place where I live is safe. I don’t have to worry about where I go or who is around me. I just know that nothing is going to happen. I can’t imagine living in a city where you have to watch behind you as you walk and keep a close eye on anyone around you.

I also noticed another angle to this story. There are also the things that the author did because other people were afraid of him. The fear changed not only the behavior of those that were afraid, but also the behavior of the one who was feared. He didn’t want people to be afraid of him. It bothered him when he saw this and people avoided him. That caused him to change some things he did so that he wouldn’t appear to be as threatening. That made him do things like stay farther away from people, wait so that it doesn’t seem to others like he is following them, and starting to whistle while he walks. It is hard to believe that someone has to change the way they do things in an attempt to make people less afraid of them.