Tailed By A Creepy Street Kid

I was walking along Baghdad Street yesterday after catching up with my gf. I was actually looking for a birthday present for her. After I got out of Zara with nothing in hand (searching for the perfect present can be such a nightmare at times!), I decided to head home and thought of walking all the way to Bostanci instead of taking the dolmus (yellow mini bus).

There was this street kid walking near me. What I meant by street kids are those for lack of better words, beggar kids. They are a pretty common sight on the streets of Turkey. You can just spot them straightaway. They are usually clad in scrubby getup and slightly tanned.

It was quite a walk from Zara to my place. Initially I didn't really pay much attention, I knew he was walking near me but it never dawned to me he could actually be tailing me.

"Hello," I heard him say. In my heart I was like, oh damn! Urghh... It always start with a 'hello'. I walked faster and simply ignored him. He then walked the same pace as me.

"What's your name?" he insisted. I pretended to not understand and look at every direction except for his. One thing I learnt is, you should never make eye contact cos that'll encourage them more.

I slowed my pace and so did he. I sped up and so did he. He was young, maybe in his teens. He kept on tugging at the sides of his jeans when he walked, as though uncomfortable with just swinging his arms carelessly when he walked. He kept staring and looking at me. I lingered around the traffic lights while waiting for my green man. He waited for me to cross before he crossed as well. What a fuckhead.

By this time, it's been like 15-20 mins of walking and I've nearly reached my place. There was a crowd coming out of a train station nearby and I dashed in, in the midst of the crowd and he fortunately lost me. What a nightmare. I was lucky this happened in the afternoon and not when it's evening and dark. I'd have been scared shit.

Never ever underestimate street kids here. One Turkish friend of mine told me once, in all seriousness,"No matter what they've done to piss you off, whether to shout 'JAPON, JAPON!' (Japan, Japan!) or tease you or disturb you, you MUST never make eye contact with them or even talk to them or response with any kind of emotions. You have no idea how dangerous they are, it doesn't matter if they're young or not. Some of them carry weapons, do drugs and they totally have no respect for laws at all and worst of all, the POLICE WON'T DO ANYTHING."

Apparently with the laws protecting those under the age of 18, some of these kids make full use of it, resorting to violence and crimes knowing and understanding fully well the law is on their side. THAT is scary.

It wasn't my first time being tailed though the last time was some time back. I carry pepper spray with me around most of the time for safety reason. Pepper sprays are not allowed in some shopping malls here and they usually get detected when you walk pass the checkpoint upon the entrance. The security would temporarily confiscate your pepper spray, take down your name and stick it on the pepper spray. You may then collect it when you leave the mall. That's quite a fair practice I think.

I learnt it's always best to just walk away when ya asked questions on the streets especially from the street kids. It took me a while to adjust to it cos I deemed it to be rude but hey I guess it's just naivety on my part. Sometimes you just gotta do what you have to do to protect yourself, especially when ya a woman.

My next post, I'll write about THE OLD TURKISH PERVERTS or so it seems. Till then, enjoy!


xo;
V