About the "me too."

[Neema]

24. I'm neither complaining nor boasting, just puzzled.

The more I discover that virtually every woman I know has experienced sexual harassment or assault, it becomes almost bizarre to me that I haven't.

Just to be clear, I have been in scary situations before. I was randomly attacked by two women, oddly enough, who didn't like that they had to wait for me to cross the street (at a crosswalk, where I clearly had right of way and all other cars were stopped). As I crossed in front of them, they lurched their car forward as if they were going to hit me and, when I jumped, they decided to mess with me further. Pulled over, got out and started calling me names, pushed me back and forth, then hit me in the face with a big metal key ring. No one else stopped to help, and this was before cell phones, so I just got out of there as quickly as I could.

I was also mercilessly teased in grade school and high school by boys and girls alike for being poor and having thrift store clothes, for being chubby, for being smart.

But I've never been catcalled, never been harassed, never been told to smile. None of those things.