The man in the van EMMA-JAYNE PUNTER

Emma-Jayne Punter

The man in the van

Dear Man, Why do you insist on beeping at me in your van? I know damn well you wouldn’t, if I was with my man. The thing that always gets me is this. You think beeping and yelling at me running is genuinely okay because I am a miss. I am NOT wearing my body-hugging shorts for your sexual harassment. Believe me, I still would say no if my alternative was a casket. I am NOT here for your viewing pleasure. Why can’t a girl just go out for her own leisure? You honk and yell at me like I am a piece of meat. Yet I have probably got enough brains to design an aircraft to ship you off to Crete. I wish instead you would stop one day. So, I could voice all of the things I would love to say. Like how you would feel if someone did this to your daughter? You would probably be in prison for committing manslaughter. You know what men think when they honk, shout and yell. You wouldn’t like it if I were your daughter, I can just tell. You make me feel scared when I am just trying to run. Half the time I don’t go because it no longer feels like fun. I stopped wearing the shorts once because I didn’t want the attention. I wore my boyfriend’s shorts instead, but I still got a mention. I wish I could ask you if you are married or had a girlfriend. I wonder if you would do this if she was with you, I bet she thinks you’re a godsend. But you’re not, you are just like all the other men. Who honk and shout at me as if they are fucking ten? Please grow the fuck up its 2021 –Women are running the world; in case you haven’t twigged on. And one day, you’ll be answering to me because I will be your boss. At the end of the day, this won’t be my loss. For I am not a middle-aged man with an angry chip on his shoulder Who doesn’t know respect when he sees it and just keeps getting older? So, carry on shouting, if you think that is what you should do. And I will keep on running because I am better than you.