I have encountered many people over the years that are familiar with the story, but forget the roles / actions of the charactersOriginally Posted by Dogwood
Humm.... interesting thread.. HI HASHBROWN!! Good to "see" you! I liked ur blog... good insight and info. Thanks for sharing!
Statue.. that was an interesting link you shared but "those girls" aren't "hiking girls"-hiking girls aren't shallow... JK . ;P
great article. this is good for guys like me to read too, so we can avoid making girls uncomfortable. I did a long section hike, and while I didn't actually do anything creepy, I was definitely not as prepared as I could have been in this regard. I'm a shy guy who doesn't have a lot of "game" off the trail, so every female on the trail was like some sort of perfect wife candidate. I mean, all these self sufficient, in shape hikers are basically exactly the type of person I'd hope to find at home! with almost no experience with girls and no real knowledge of the power issues that my size compared to females creates in certain situation, it's easy to be the creepy guy but not even know it. So I just want to say it's good we are talking about this, and mute guys need to talk to each other.
oh and I only creepily asked one girl of I could kiss her, but she very politely declined (it was at a hostel) and we hiked together for another ten days after that, her invitation, and other than the one initial advance we had a great hiking friendship and still keep in touch.
Consider this a supplement to Law for Backpackers 101, which I'll repost in a day or three: f
ANYone who feels threatened in ANY way along the AT (or, for that matter, elsewhere), should make an immediate report to the nearest appropriate Law Enforcement Agency. If you (or a friend) has a cell phone that is operable, make the call IMMEDIATELY to 911, telling them it is not an emergency that requires a LEO get to you immediately (unless, of course, there is some physical contact or atteemp). Unwanted approaches by people, particularly unwanted sexual approaches, are unlawful and no one should just "shrug it off." Particularly with women, such things can be dangerous and at least scary, and there is no humorous component to any of it. Reporting it can, at the very least, assist LEAs in identifying possible trail stalkers or other problems, and you will be doing the Trail, others along it, and yourself a favor by making the report. Even if it comes several days after the incident, do so.
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
Looking for that ignore button/function now.
You call the 'non emergency' number for the police for non emergencies... Hence the name. This is pretty bad advice. Sorry.
No, it's pretty GOOD advice:
1) You describe the situation to the operator. She/he decides if a LEO needs to be dispatched. If there is someone (especially that you don't know) is making unwanted contact with you, that's an emergency. The National Emergency Number Association agrees: "If you are unsure of whether your situation is an emergency, go ahead and call 9-1-1. The 9-1-1 call taker can determine if you need emergency assistance and can route you to the correct location."
2) Most hikers don't know what county they are in or what LEO to call. Shelters don't have phone books. "Non-emergency numbers" aren't the same ANYwhere. 911 will get you to a LEO quickly. This is why the 911 system was created.
3) Anyone who thinks threatening behavior, unwanted sexual approaches or other stalking behavior ISN'T an "emergency" doesn't warrant calling 911 (if possible) is just flat out wrong. Inhibiting people (especially women) from making calls to 911 by making it seem "wrong" to do that or not "important enough" for a 911 call is seriously mistaken. Most women know this; the ones who don't, and all men, need to know it too.
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
You say 'Unwanted approaches by people, particularly unwanted sexual approaches, are unlawful and no one should just "shrug it off."' That's an incredibly vague, and to some degree incorrect, thing to be telling people to call 911 over. Emergency services should be used for emergencies.
In most jurisdictions using 911 for a “non-emergency” is actually against the law in and of itself. Plus I think most folks would be pretty upset if say they were in a serious car crash, their four year old was dying and they couldn’t get through to 911 because someone was tying up the last available line reporting some guy that really creeped them out with inappropriate behavior a couple days ago.
Just thinking out loud
I would like that i have met quite a few creepy women on my thru-hikes so it's not just guys.
You use 911 for all types of 'emergencies.' 'Suspicious person calls' are classified as emergencies. 'Stalking calls' are classified as emergencies.
Many Law Enforcement agencies have a 'non-emergency' phone number for service: 311. This is for such calls as Junk Vehicles, old thefts with no obvious clues or suspects (someone stole a potted plant off your front porch), etc.
Once the 'emergency call' comes in, the Law Enforcement agency will make several determinations: 1) is it something that can be handled over the phone & transferred to a non-emergency phone number (311)?; 2) if it is deemed an 'emergency,' the call is classified in to a priority classification & will be dispatched based on their priority protocol. The agency I retired from had 4 priority classifications. The lowest classification (4) often meant a long wait until the police showed up. The highest (1) meant an immediate dispatch of police.
I can't count the number of times people observed suspicious behavior or circumstances & didn't call the police. They rationalized the behavior in some fashion. A lot of crime could have been prevented or solved it people had called 911.
If you're not sure if the activity you're observing constitutes an 'emergency,' go ahead & call 911 and tell them what is going on & that you're not sure if you should use 911 or another number. The dispatcher can make that determination for the appropriate police response. Citizens aren't expected to have expertise in this process. It was my experience that the threshold for the abusing 911 is quite high. It usually meant multiple calls to 911 when the complainant has been told not to do so.
Yes, and most people would also agree that a beating and/or rape that was prevented by a phone call would be a reason to tell those parents not to be upset.
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
News today: The Newtown murderer made postings on FB that were creepy and related to his killings, as did the kid in New Mexico the day before. I kind of wish someone had called 911 in each case. 911 has the capacity to let people get through.
TW
"Thank God! there is always a Land of Beyond, For us who are true to the trail..." --- Robert Service
In so much as no one should be made to feel uncomfortable by unwanted attention and actions of others, I agree with the basic thought behind this thread. But I do wonder if there might be some age bias at play here. If you are 2-3 decades older, are your actions construed as creepy, when like actions of someone in your age bracket are more tolerated? I find that certain things practiced by the younger set are a whole lot creepier than a guy/gal checking out another guys/gals fourth point of contact. Like Twerking What the F Over? Or the need to use social media to share photos of ALL your activities, or to advertise where you are, where you are going, where you have been and who you did what with and when. I can only imagine what creepy actions/activities this may enable.
But, back to the topic at hand as it applies to backpacking....maybe we should all remember that when in doubt, follow the good ole golden rule.
Last edited by Furlough; 01-17-2014 at 21:53.
"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L’Amour
Yeah, except guys don't get nervous around them or fear for their safety.
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Really? That's a bit of a generalization. Men are evil and wish to hurt women and women are kind and always mean well? This way of thinking sure is prevalent in our society.
Come on MD...no man that I have ever known would be concerned with a creepy woman on the trail. We would either just ignore or tell to buzz off without fear of reprisal.
It's pretty much a no brainer.
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Furlough - fourth point of contact - I know what you used to do
76 HawkMtn w/Rangers
14 LHHT
15 Girard/Quebec/LostTurkey/Saylor/Tuscarora/BlackForest
16 Kennerdell/Cranberry-Otter/DollyS/WRim-NCT
17 BearR
18-19,22 AT NOBO 1562.2
22 Hadrian's Wall
23 Cotswold Way
A truly creepy woman would frighten me just as much as a man... I don't fear people because of their physicality, I fear their intentions. If I'm going to sleep in a shelter with someone creepy a woman could be just as dangerous as a man...
Hashbrown said she never felt threatened. We are talking about 2 different issues.
I have to agree with RCBear on this one.
Some women, on the trail, are on "the same page" as some men on the trail. In that case, watch your back, MD, right?I think this thread is about the women that aren't on that page.
Other posters have made some interesting comments as far as the vibes women can put out there. That can't be ignored either but, again, we aren't talking about that on this thread.
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