Made the mistake of walking less than half a mile by myself after dark on a Friday night.
Maybe I take it for granted that my usual companions, two large dogs, are effective deterrents.
Maybe more people are drunk at this hour of the night.

But fellas, here's a life tip:

Don't talk to an unknown woman walking alone at night.
Don't try to make eye contact.
Don't try to initiate conversation.

Just leave her the fuck alone.

She does not want to be your friend, or your girl, or your one night stand.
You should safely assume this until she verbally tells you otherwise.
You are not entitled to her attention, and she is not obligated to smile sweetly as she tolerates yours.

I'm sure you're a kind, friendly, harmless guy, but you know what? Until proven otherwise, you're Schrodinger's rapist.

In a fifteen-minute walk:

"Night, sweetie." - dude at corner of bar

"Hey, hoodie!" - from dude leaning out of car window

"'Sup, mama?" - from guy selling bratwurst on street corner

"Hey." - random guy

"Hey." - other random guy

"Hey, how you doin'?" - random guy walking opposite way

"Hiii." - random guy

"Hey, where you goin'?" - random guy on street

So. Um. Yeah.

This is not about my perceived attractiveness or lack thereof. Every woman I've talked to deals with this shit.
This is not about whether I was dressed provocatively in some black sweatpants and a zipped-up hoodie.

This is about me feeling alone and vulnerable while walking four blocks from my house.
This is about my independence and safety automatically being compromised by the fact that I'm female.

I'll try writing intelligently about this later.
But for now?
Aforementioned quoted gentlemen, go fuck yourselves.