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What you say and how you say it matters. To respond to a precarious situation, one needs to engage one's brain, not just offer the first thing that comes to mind.
It was a glorious May in 1962. My husband Melvin was on an assignment from Marbon Chemical Company of his employment. He was attending a seminar as a representative engineer for Pilot Plant. Because it was a week's assignment, he was encouraged to bring his wife.
Detroit sounded like an exciting place to visit so I agreed to go with him. We were in downtown Detroit by 7:30 a.m. I made some mental notes of the beautiful Hudson department store, Verner's Ginger Ale plant and other interesting sights.
We arrived at the facility where the conference would be held. We checked into a motel.
Melvin had a meeting at 9 a.m. As he departed, I informed him that I planned to take a look at the city up close. He agreed and suggested that I take a taxicab.
The beautiful day as it was, I was in no mood to travel in a cigarette smelling taxi. In the 1960s, nearly everyone smoked, I was one among few exceptions.
It was only two miles to down town straight down Woodward Ave. A walk sounded to me like a good prospect. We were expecting our first child, but my body did not evidence it. I set out with my eyes wide open in awe of this beautiful city.
I looked into the Verner's Ginger Ale Plant window; everything looked so neat and shiny. I saw the bottles traveling down the assembly line. I could almost taste the sparkling drink. At that point, I crossed the street, so I could get to Hudson's Drug Store.
As I was nearing my destination, I passed a number of narrow allies between older structures. I knew not where the allies led, so I crossed them with caution. Soon, I discovered someone walking along side of me. A gentleman spoke, "my name is Rosko, I treat ladies real well."
As I turned my head toward the speaker out of the corner of my eye, I saw a number of young men directly behind the speaker. My mind reeled as I heard myself utter.
"I'm sorry, but my husband is coming to meet me in front of Hudson Drug store and I must rush to meet him."
The Hudson Drug Store was easily visible from my vantage point with people in front of it. I noticed Rosko lower his right hand as to motion halt. Soon, he dropped behind me as I increased my pace.
To this day, I have no idea why I said what I said. In retrospect, I probably avoided myself a lot of grief.
Our minds sometimes sense danger and give us a path to safety. I did take a taxicab back to where my husband was.
I told him about my walk up Woodward Ave. My husband Mel did reprimand me for my not taking a taxicab into town.
He rewarded me with his forgiveness, since I did return safely. Words do matter.