LEAVE ME ALONE

On Thursday (15th) I was humiliated in public by what I can only assume are friends, or at the very least acquaintances, of my ex boyfriend.

You'll probably all know that at the start of this year, I split with my partner of five and a half years. It was very difficult for me but eventually, as is inevitable, I got over it. I moved on, I've met other guys, I've been having fun living my life as a single woman and just being "me" (I know, how cliche).

So you can only imagine my surprise when I was walking home down a side alley on Thursday evening after working an eight hour shift at work when I was confronted with a group of young lads. Now, my eye sight isn't perfect and I can't see that far in front of my face but what I could see is that they looked younger than me- perhaps aged between 16 and 18- some of whom were carrying skateboards. They all clocked me walking by, but I didn't really pay them much mind until:

"Oi, there's Alex (insert surname here)'s ex"

Followed by the likes of:

"Alex thinks you're a whore"

"We know you're a slut"

"You're a fucking bitch"

"Alex says you're a dirty whore"

And it didn't stop there. Not only did I have these derogatory comments slung at me but I had their rubbish thrown at me too. Plastic bottles, McDonald's rubbish and an empty fag packet were some of the items thrown in my direction. All for simply walking past a group of lads I didn't even know who clearly have spent some time with my ex boyfriend.

Now, karma is a wonderful thing and thank god at the same time that I was walking through the alley, two police officers were walking towards me. I grabbed them and reported the incident to them straight away, before walking swiftly on my way. God knows if the incident was dealt with in any way at all, but I felt happy just to have been able to report it.

But what really angers me is that this even happened at all. I've been single for nearly nine months now. That's a very long time! My ex has moved on (or so I've been told) and so have I- so why the heck am I being harassed by people I don't even know, in public, in one of the worst ways possible? Why is it being spread around that my ex apparently thinks this, that and the other about me? Sure, I don't have the utmost levels of respect for him, but I haven't ever spoken about personal details of the relationship and I would never- never- allow my friends to interrogate him as he walked alone in the street, embarrassing him or being cruel to him. In fact, I rarely- if ever- think about him at all, so why am I apparently hot gossip for him and his pals?

I suppose I should be flattered that my life entertains other people so much, but to be honest it's absolutely out of order. Completely. It's also totally immature, cruel and unnecessary.

I hope it made those lads feel really big and cool to attack a woman walking along by herself in an alleyway. I hope that this incident gets back to my ex and that he feels really great about what he's allowed to happen. I hope calling me a slut, a whore, a bitch and whatever else makes my ex and his skating buddies feel so much better about the fact I'm an independent woman who knew she deserved better and walked away from a very toxic situation- the toxic situation being him.

It left me feeling a little shaken up for all of a few minutes before I realised how truly pathetic these boys were for doing what they did. I wish I'd had the same level of immaturity as them so I could have confronted them rather than maturely walking on by like I didn't even notice them. Oh well.

For any boys reading this, please take in what I'm saying. The next time you want to shout a derogatory name after a woman harmlessly walking along by herself, stop and take a second to think about why you're doing this and what exactly you're going to achieve. The answer? Nothing.

I have a feeling this won't be the last time I have to go through something like this, but I guess that's what you have to expect when you date someone who's maturity levels are way beneath yours, hey?

Love from,
Florence Grace