I'm not a rapist

Since becoming a student I've been walking a lot more. And because I don't get up till late, a lot of my walking takes place at night. This is fine. Bath is a nice, and relatively safe town. Rarely do I feel in danger. However, I do worry about the strangers I share the street with. In particular, the small and dark alleyways I take home. In particular: women.

Now, I know I'm not a danger to these women, but I worry that they don't know this. If a woman is walking five paces ahead of me on one of those nights, the only thing going through my head is, "I hope she doesn't think I'm a rapist." I start to think, should I reassure her? Put her at ease. Is there a more awkward and terrifying time to initiate a conversation? I don't have to introduce myself, perhaps just tap her politely on the shoulder and say, "You don't have to worry about me. Seriously, I could have raped you four times by now."

The dynamics of the situation can change dramatically if you're walking with a friend. If you walk with a silent purpose, then the woman will become understandably tense. However, I think she can be put at ease if you speak loudly about ordinary and non-rapist things. If I'm walking alone I'll try to compensate this by pretending to phone a friend, and subtly put my pursuant at ease: "Hey buddy, how's it going? - Oh nothing, just walking with harmless intent...yeah, just returning to my loving and mentally stable family...Indeed, there is no history of violence in my family...no, ha ha! I'm just enjoying the walk, I don't know how I could make this any better; I'm certainly not thinking about raping anyone."

Pursuing someone, I mean walking in even step behind someone leaves you in an odd position of power. A power that can be abused. If you are particularly cruel - I'm not talking about the you-will-go-to-prison sense - you do have the opportunity to turn to your friend and say, "Seriously, shall we just do her now?" You will never see someone run so fast in heels.

The matter of overtaking is a difficult one. Do you? Don't you? There's a real science behind this matter. Judging speeds - She's walking briskly, if I overtake her, I'm going to have to power-walk all the way home. You have to go easy; you don't want to unsettle her by breaking into a run. This worries me when I'm jogging; that people will only hear me about 3 feet before I overtake them, and in their panic, they too will begin running. Now it looks like I'm chasing them. To avoid this, once I get within 20 feet of someone I start taking louder steps and drawing huge, laboured breaths. This allows them time to turn around, see the running gear and iPod, and realise that they are not in mortal danger.

Sometimes when walking, I realise I'm gaining on someone very gradually. It's only so long before you reach an intimate distance, and then cross that threshold from stalker to lead walker. During this time, there is that brief interim where you actually move past them. This is the most awkward phase, and no words shall be spoken. There is a code in walking that says if you are being overtaken, you subtly reduce your speed so as not to prolong the moment. Not everyone observes these rules. These are dangerous people. One time I went for the overtake, and not only did she not slow down, but once she realised what was happening, she actually sped up, denying me my overtake. To say I was mildly outraged would be an understatement. I was in disbelief.

I went again, drawing level with her. She tried to move away, but this time I was ready. We began to move faster and faster, our legs becoming a blur as our march turned to jogging turned to flat out running. We ran like this, side by side for half a mile. People saw us coming, they saw what an unstoppable force we were and wisely crossed the street. Cars stopped in their roads, the drivers staring dumbly at us, having never seen such a phenomenon: two people running in perfect symmetry, locked together by an unseen energy.