I. A big and buff tattooed man was ringing my doorbell at 8 in the morning. Ringing it really hard many many times. I was still in bed and I thought it might be the end of the world. He was trying to come into my apartment to check if the hot water was working, which it was. My dog was barking at the door, but when I held him by the collar to see who was outside he just sat there being very obedient while the big man asked me if there was anyone else in the house. He was tall like the door with a thick beard and each shoulder big and round like a bowling ball. He said are there any adults here? Are your parents home? I said no there’s no one here, but I’m an adult. And he looked very shocked and surprised and even made a sound about it almost like a laugh. I get that a lot because of my youthful complexion. He came in and asked if the dog bites. I should have said yes and then said just kidding. But it felt like I just got out of a dream and didn’t know how to say anything. His big boots were stepping down into the hallway towards the bathroom. I had to put sweatpants on. If things were different something really bad might have happened. I did check the peephole first and only opened the door a crack. Am I the type of person to say yes to an intruder? A strong intruder? In some type of uniform? He came out of the bathroom and had his hand up his shirt in a weird way, and his head was held very high looking past me. He said yeah the hot water works, which I knew. He was swaying and making himself big like a pufferfish. And then he left and I locked the door and got back into bed and tried to forget all that.
II. A crybaby was a very very sour candy. A hard yellow sphere wrapped in a clear rectangular plastic. There were variations, like the atomic fireball which was red and spicy cinnamon flavored, and other colors too that were nothing in particular, just sweet. I think they were called jawbreakers, and I was always scared to eat them because I thought they would really break my jaw. I remember this girl explaining crybabies to me on the school bus in the morning. She ate one and her eyes teared up.
The Junction Journal 
This blog spoke the most to me because I too feel I can be too trusting; I also feel that there’s this wave of realization that occurs after you do something. Like ‘oh maybe I should have thought that through’ or ‘should I have done that?’ When I was reading the first sentences, I could feel some anxiety with not knowing what to expect, or afraid of how the story would end. when you stated, “I should have said yes and then said just kidding.” it made me feel anxious in a sort of way because I think I was reading it from my own perspective, and it was like overthinking things I say when I’m not comfortable in a situation. “I had to put sweatpants on.” This specific line really made me anxious in anticipation for what would come next. I understood it because being in the presence of someone you’re not familiar with can make you feel uneasy, especially when you’re partially disoriented (in this case from waking up so suddenly). But the description of the man + the sentence, made me tense up, because as a woman, imagining myself in a situation similar to this; alone and disoriented with an unfamiliar man whose twice my size and my only protection (if needed) being a dog might actually give me a panic attack. Your use of repetitive questioning towards the end of the paragraph spoke to me as well, because I often feel like I do the same to myself. It seemed like you were blaming yourself for the situation kind of inferring that if you hadn’t opened the door, there’d be no chance of something happening. I’m glad everything worked out okay!
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This post really resonated with me, as I could feel the tension and anxiety through each sentence. I tend to overthink everything, and after any situation, I find myself replaying the events in my head, asking, “Why did I say that?” or “What if this had happened?” The line that truly stood out to me was, “And then he left and I locked the door and got back into bed and tried to forget all that.” I relate to that so much because when something scary happens, I start to worry about what would have happened if the whole situation took a 360 and everything had gone wrong—or I imagine what I would have done if it did. I have a really big family, so it wasn’t very often that I was left alone. But when I was alone and had to answer the door for someone, even if it was for a package, I would overthink it afterward because I was alone and anything could have happened. The repetition when you said that the man rang the doorbell “really hard many many times” showed how scared you were hearing the bell ring over and over which is something I can relate to. I felt connected to the emotions you described, especially the fear of being left alone in a vulnerable situation. I’m so relieved that everything was okay for you in the end!
Safa
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This short story was amazing. It really captured that feeling that almost every woman has gone through at some point. The feeling of being intimidated and submitting without even realizing until afterwards. I’ve had a lot of interactions like this one because I was too intimidated to say “No.” I’m an over-thinker myself, so if I feel like the person whom I’m saying no to CAN get upset and hurt me, I just say “Yes” or “Maybe..”– something along those lines. A sentence I really loved was, “If things were different something really bad might have happened.” This sentence basically sums up the mind of someone who has the tendency to overthink and just think about everything they should’ve done in that moment. The line after, “I did check the peephole first and only opened the door a crack.”, is almost as if she’s trying to reason with herself as to why she let the man inside so easily in the first place. The very descriptive words and sentences really allowed me to put myself into that scenario and feel everything that may have been felt during the interaction. It definitely made me super anxious and I dreaded what was going to happen to her next. I’m very happy that she was fine (or you if this was a personal account) in the end, but an interaction like that is something I’d think about forever.
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This blog post was speaking to me in terms of inviting the me as a reader to perceive the similar situation through her Scene rendering techniques. By building connections with audience, the blog can gain sympathy and attention. The author describes her nervousness when dealing with the big man stranger by using literacy techniques and descriptive languages. For example, You rarely see someone say “which it was,” at the moment which things were going on, it must be used on occasions where you realized or certain that it is or will be the real “fact.” Also, the description of the dogs may imply that at the time, the author has been paying attention to any reliable persons that could potentially be a “alliance.” Even though its not a person. shows the greatest fear that she had to seek for any living thing might save her from desperate situation. The phrase “shoulders big and round like a bowling ball” is also eye-catching. By describing the man’s shape compared to bowling ball is “too big” to the author as a young woman. This story also reminds me once I had similar experience with a stranger, all that kinds of discomfort was going to far in my head. A time when a beggar came to my home. I felt nervous and unsure, just like the writer felt when the big stranger showed up. The writer’s description of the man’s size and how he acted made me think of that experience and how it felt to have someone unexpected and intimidating at the door. It brought back similar feelings and helped me see my own experience in a new way.
Tina
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