The street and barriers

I shouldn't, but the temptation is too great. I decided to take a walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. Remind me never to walk across there again. I love walking across the bridge, walking period. When I was in Indiana I would run and walk for hours with my dad's dog, and it's a great place to do it cause there's the countryside with the train tracks and all this yellow, like corn and wheat fields, and the hot sun.

But here in NYC at the end of the summer, if that's what this is, there are NO New Yorkers in the street or on the bridge. The only ones who are are these macho guy bike riders who are the other side of the coin: not caring who they run over and speeding over the bridge when there are families with children and dogs around. But the people are also rude: they don't move out of the way for people who walk faster than them and take up the whole bridge, so that there's nowhere to move and you're forced to walk behind them and even then they don't make room. That's just rude, rude. My pet peeve is people who aren't considerate on the street. Maybe it's my own personal space issues which are very strong, and even more intensified, if that's possible, after my assault. Or maybe it's from elementary school when I was followed and assaulted by other kids, male female white and black, from school. But my heart starts beating really fast and I go into high adrenaline mode when people step into my bubble: you can call me neurotic or hysterical but that's how I am. And I just will never get used to people, honestly from different countries or cultures, who walk into others or don't make room for them on the street. Some people have said it's a political thing: like they walk into people who they don't respect or think are inferior, or like eye contact it's confrontational, or passive-aggressive or hostile; but more likely it's that they aren't conditioned or something to establish barriers or they don't have the same concept of them but call me prejudiced (though that's not my intention) well, what can I say? I am bothered by it. I just don't think it's right. I don't--I can't accept it. It's psychological I suppose, but I can't stop seeing this kind of intrusion as confrontational and threatening, because it so often is.
Like I was walking with someone last night, down a dark street in the Village, and she wondered why I have to cross the street when these two guys were walking very close behind me. As I said before, I will never get used to people who are stangers getting too close to me, especially if they're walking behind me, and I don't react well. Like I said, in the past that was how I got assaulted then and now. When guys are walking closely behind you, or women, or whoever, it's NOT ok or good. I know this. And especially I don't want to be on a dark street with guys walking closely behind me because that's exactly what happened when I was assaulted. I mean, women who aren't cautious about this stuff.....they wouldn't what? Even try to resist these guys or not even be alarmed when they're walking toward them? Fine, get raped then. I'm sorry, but please learn some street smarts. I don't know how, that night I was assaulted last week, I --no actually, I noticed guys walking closely behind me before and got away. Also, ten years ago when I was mugged, the guy snuck up from behind me. It's a survival instince and I would say pick up on it or face the consequences. I am being harsh here, but I happen to know I'm right.

I guess it's hard to deal with people who aren't used to New York living and it is just a drag, emotionally, to live with this as I found there's no changing people.