Sunday, November 23: The A.D.D. Detective
The AFTER DARK RULE
by Leigh Lundin
After the jolt and twist of pain in the gut I felt for her, I went on to read that her attack eerily paralleled a story line in her upcoming book, Red Hot Lies.
Cautionary Tale
I spent my university years in New York City, and I learned a lesson: It’s not safe for women out there. Two of my girlfriends were attacked, one raped and the other mugged more than once.
IBM gave me a job at their Wall Street Data Center where they had a strict rule: They required any woman who worked after hours to take a taxi home. No walking, no subway, no bus– taxi.
Many years later, I met a brilliant woman in Louisville, smart in all regards but one– She refused to lock either her house or car. Her rationale was that she "didn’t want to live behind bars". Steel bars, I agree with her. Locks, no. I was very afraid someone someday would call me with news I didn’t want to hear.
When I moved to Florida, I founded the After Dark Rule, which says a woman isn’t safe by herself after dark. Lady, if you must be out after dark, go with someone you trust.
Yeah, yeah, I know a couple of readers are huffing, mentally preparing to comment, "Dear Sir, according to Gloria Allred and feminist dictates…"
Stow it.
| Item: Gangs of young women used to mug out-of-town businessmen in Boston’s Combat Zone. |
Yes, you have the right to carry a basket of goodies to granny in the woods. Yes, you have the right to be mugged like anybody else. I’d like that not to happen to you.
When bad people size up a hefty 6’2 guy versus a 5’2 woman, guess who they’re going to mug?
Muggers less often mess with men, especially large, ugly dudes like Travis Erwin and me. We’re big guys and most miscreants don’t know we aren’t mean. We want to keep women– all women– safe.
The best advice comes from a grizzled cop in a story I co-wrote for a friend:
"Whacha got to understand is this ain’t the time for any of the political correct crap, that bullshit that every woman’s got the same right to walk down the street as any man. Of course, you got the right, but save it for when we’ve captured this perp. I say this to you like you’re my daughter, okay?
"Whacha do is keep your friends close. Have your boyfriend sleep over. Don’t go nowhere alone, go with friends. Carry pepper spray. Take a taxi for now, not the subway or a bus. Don’t get in nobody’s car under no circumstances. Think about buying a dog. Keep your mace and cell phone in your hand whenever you’re out on the street. Most important of all, think smart. Ain’t no amount of mace and martial arts gone to make up for not using your brains. Capice?"
Dr. Who?
For those, er, dozens of people who like Dr. Pepper, that peculiar soda drink from Texas that’s supposed to have 23 flavors such as amaretto and cherry, they’re giving away a free 60cl (20 oz) soda TODAY, 23 November.
Here’s the web site to pick up your coupon (today, this Sunday) to give to someone you love:
I estimate Dr. Pepper will give away tens, well, of coupons. Perhaps they’ll have 7-Up as well?
You can call me large and ugly all you want, but do go blaspheming Dr. Pepper and expect to get away with it.
We believe that all women should carry pepper spray and or a stun gun!
All my thoughts and prayers for Ms Caldwell. I’m a very definate male, and no pushover. But I lock my doors (even in my pleasant suburban neighborhood) and make sure I’m aware of my surroundings wherever I am–good practice in violent times. NOW: “Dr. Who????” I laughed! Instead of a free soda can I have a sonic screwdriver? (Oh, and there really was a Doctor Pepper…)
Laura is such a tiny thing, too—although I admit she scares the hell out of me whenever I’m with her, in the way that only an attractive redhead can scare the hell out of a guy.
Anyway, according to her Facebook page, Laura is “doing very well. I was a little disappointed after the incident happened because I had this idea that as a thriller writer, it might translate into real life and I might to be able to kick some ass. Um, no. But I do cower well. And on the upside, I’ve learned that I’m a fast healer, which is good to know. I’ve gone away for the week to recuperate some more.”
Now as for your second part—Leigh, don’t mess with Texas, and that especially includes Dr. Pepper, which we Texicans venerate with the same sort of patriotic fervor that Deep Southerners use to cling to their pathetic RC Cola. Remember, folks: 2, 4, and 10 forever! (If you don’t know what that means, then you are not a true DP fanatic like Travis and me.)
If you must pick on a Texas soft drink, go after Big Red. That’s for kids and tastes like bubblegum.
Ah well, I’m not a fan or Moxie or Malta either.
I’m pleasantly surprised to learn there was a real Dr.Pepper. Is Mr.Pibb his illegitimate grandson?
I can’t believe Deborah and alisa haven’t weighed in yet!
Double or nothin’ if you know what Dublin Dr. Pepper is.
I am a diet coke gal myself. I’ve never like DP even though I’m Texican through and through.
My thoughts and good wishes to Ms. Caldwell too.
What’s this about RCs being pathetic???
(laughing) Uh-oh, range wars!
I’ve heard of Dublin Dr. Pepper and seen the bottles, but I confess I don’t know how it differs from the “normal” Dr. Pepper.
Moxie is the official state soft drink here in Maine, and every summer there’s a Moxie festival in the town of Lisbon Falls (where Stephen King went to high school). But I can’t stomach the stuff.
Jeff Baker, I’m with you. Give me a sonic screwdriver or a Tardis key.
My wishes go out to Laura Caldwell.
Dublin DP still uses cane sugar (or did). There are other bottling places (especially in that area) that do, but Dublin created the controversy as it were when others switched to corn syrup.
So, if you get a bottle labled Dublin, TX you have the “real thing”
It’s a cute little town if you are ever in ‘them parts’ of Texas.
Yech, makes my tummy hurt to think about it.
Dublin DP still uses cane sugar (or did).
I knew this, but was waiting for someone else to give the correct answer, since I’m so frequently accused of being a know-it-all. In Los Angeles, Dublin Dr. Pepper can be purchased at Galco’s Pop Stop. Dublin, by the way, is the original Dr. Pepper bottling facility, dating from 1891. If you visit the website, you’ll probably notice the “James Avery Dr. Pepper Silver Bottle Charm”. When I was a teen in San Antonio, giving a girl a James Avery trinket was proof of True Love.
What’s this? Someone accused you of being a know-it-all? For shame!
When I was a teen in San Antonio, giving a girl a James Avery trinket was proof of True Love……sez JLW
It still is, at my house anyway. Another neat place to visit, Kerrville.
Leigh, Texas is just full of….you know….Dr. Who and No…..great state.
Of course, I “may” be biased.
My Aunt Esther was a Kerrville lass.
John Floyd and I’ve been conversing about Nehi, Double Cola, and Richardson’s root beer, where you could actually taste the sassafras root.
No one has mentioned Norka Orange. Norka is Akron spelled backward. Here in Akron we have many things named Norka, even a street. We also have a great many Devil Strips. And has everyone forgotten Cleo Cola?
Isn’t Kinky Friedman a Kerr-vert?
Yes, Kinky is a Kerr uh vert? His parents had a summer camp (Longhorn if memory serves me because his dad was a UT prof). He still lives out there in, well, rather modest means.
Both my sisters have retired there. I love to visit them. So far it hasn’t lost its charm as many smaller towns have around SA and Austin. I could live there in a heartbeat if hubby wasn’t such a flatlander.
As for Cleo Cola, I don’t think its forgetting it’s the remembering.
Steve, a TARDIS key (and the machine it goes to) might help with my morning commute, but how would I explain showing up thirty-thousand years late for work? (Work, where we have a Dr. Pepper machine!)
Laura writes us:
Wonderful to hear from you. I’m recovering well. There’s nothing that a cabin–in the snow and with a fire–won’t cure.
All my best,
Laura