DODGING THE BULLET

I am glad Jessica wrote this piece about a woman who got on a plane and went home; the "normalcy" of her arrival and departure from the conference makes the scenario chilling, a lurking danger that has me riled up imagining it. I can see the flash of anger on the plane, the wicked smile, the inevitable appearance at the bar, and the uncanny quickness to slip something in her drink even with all those people around - he has to be pretty daring and pretty fucking slick, with the sang-froid of a true sociopath, to get away with that -- and of course he's the one who would take her back to the hotel. If the woman friend wasn't there, what would have happened? Would one of the men have read the danger signs and taken her back to the hotel and kept her safe? There's a moment of decision there, and her female friend took action. The other men - talking about hooking up with someone (who? a stranger? they were at a conference out of their usual environment ....... ) - not sure help was forthcoming there. Hasn't "Me Too" had an effect, or do we need something else to undo the predatory archetype, the "dripping with entitlement" as the story so precisely observes? Better parenting? A different kind of schooling? A new archetype of the brave and righteous man who stands up and says, "Back off, buddy, this ain't headed in that direction, you need to move along now"? Problem has been that after the fact the protector is often ridiculed, accused of overreaction, of interfering in what was none of his business ............. it can be a wicked world, but sometimes you need to stand up anyway. Maybe they'll expel you from the club. Do you even want to be in that club?