Armed for Exercise?

I love to run. Not news to anyone who knows me or has ever read this blog. My legs are feeling better again so I'm actually getting out there a few days a week. Normally I wouldn't consider this a problem. Except for one little thing. Pacific Standard Time.

The only other totally predictable fact about me is that I am a work-a-holic. I arrive at least an hour before the kids and stay at least that long after them. That's on a good day. This isn't normally a problem because I go to the gym on my way home and work out there so it doesn't matter what it is like outside. Except, back to point one of this blog installment. I love to run. Outside, not inside. I hate the treadmill.

Oh, the problem is now coming into focus. Ever since we had to "fall" back, it is now dark when I leave the hallows of my school. So if I want to run outside I have to run in the dark. I hate running in the dark because I am a girl and the dark is scary. Last night I ran with my friend Laura after work and I almost didn't want to go because it was pitch black by 6:00pm. A quick text to Sean let him know where I was headed. Phew, if I didn't return home later that evening they would know where to look for the body. Furthermore I had forgotten my I.D. so this could guarantee that the "Jane Doe" on the 10:00pm news would most likely be me.

Now mind you, all this text was in jest, but therein lies a small piece of truth. The rules are not the same for men and women who run after work. They should be, but they are not. And it pisses me off. But, the fact remains that I can not run in the dark, by myself with the same level of security that Sean can. Is that ok? No, it isn't, but that is the society that we still live in today and it annoys me to no end. Could I run with mace, a pit bull or a Colt revolver? Yes, of course I could. But I shouldn't have to and that is what continues to annoy me to my core.

So will my rant cause a change in my behavior and a new found sense of bravery and freedom? No way. But sometimes, I just need to rant a little about the continued inequity even in this day. I do still hold out hope that my little niece Madeleine won't have to worry what time it is, or how dark it is when she is my age. Society, I've got a fantastic girl coming your way, please don't let me down.