I had lunch with a former neighbour today, whom I hadn't seen for some considerable time, as we now live several miles away. She seemed rather agitated. Eventually she told me that her teenage daughter, walking home from the station after school yesterday, was
harassed in the street. It was so upsetting and frightening for the girl that she couldn't go to school this morning.
My former neighbour said that a friend of hers told her about “Ask for Angela” - a code put in place for women in the street or any public place, if they felt under threat; or if they were on a date that was giving them cause for
alarm.
I had never heard of it.
Perhaps, if more people were aware of it, a girl, or woman, asking for Angela in any public place, could immediately be given help and
support.
If the person who was being threatening or disrespectful was
aware of the code, he/she would know it was time to back off.
For men who find themselves in a similar stuation there's the "code" , "Ask for Clive".
There's also a hand signal if one is unable to ask. The person needs to hold one hand up with the thumb tucked into the palm and the fingers folded down, over the thumb.
It's dreadful that one could be harassed, or worse, just walking home.
On Saturday, after doing some shopping, my daughter, my grandson and I went into a large and rather crowded cafe to get some hot drinks. My daughter and my grandson went to queue up for the drinks, leaving a mobile on the table.
Shortly after they had left, a young woman approached the table and said to me, “I think I left some money here a few minutes ago.”
I told her, "We saw no money on the table when we came but you can take a look , in case it fell on the floor."
To my surprise, she just walked away.
It was then that I felt she was probably trying to distract me in order to steal my grandson's mobile.
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I have a dream that my.. children.. one day.. will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character
Martin Luther KingI’ve bought a new satnav and it’s really good. When I drove past a zoo today, it said, "bear left".
I have a dream that my.. children.. one day.. will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character
Martin Luther KingI think you're right. Lucky her scheme failed.