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Open Letter To The Guy Who Yelled “Fuck You Whore” From A Pickup Truck While I Was Out For A Run

Hey, you.

Catherine Durkin Robinson
Slackjaw
3 min readApr 22, 2021

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Photo by Marc Robinson

It’s been a while since I’ve felt so young. I want to thank you for that.

Just last night, while moisturizing various dry spots, I thought to myself, “Girlfriend, accept it. The days of eliciting anger from strange men are behind you.”

And then you happened along in your F-150 and soiled tank top as if to say, in between swigs of beer: not so, m’lady. Not so.

I may be a middle-aged woman maneuvering through days filled with vein treatments and Hemwell Clinic appointments, but you see something else, don’t you?

You see a confident woman in need of correcting.

Turns out, “put that bitch in her place” is still a thing, no matter which side of the hill I’m on. This makes me giddy with excitement. It’s like Puberty 2.0!

I thought my relevance to your feelings of self-worth was over. A thing of the past, like big hair and shoulder pads.

Thank you for reminding me I’ve still got it.

Yelling your truth out of a speeding vehicle covered with mud reminded me that no matter how many nights I wake up with hormones hauling ass out of various sweat glands, I can still work that…

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Catherine Durkin Robinson
Catherine Durkin Robinson

Written by Catherine Durkin Robinson

I’m a writer and activist. In my spare time, I investigate missing socks. You can also find me here: https://catherinedurkinrobinson.substack.com/

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