I was running on my usual route when I heard an older man yelling so loudly that I could hear him through my headphones: “Hey beautiful, hey hey hey sexy beautiful!” He kept yelling it, and I decided to ignore him and continue on.
My ignoring him seemed to make him even angrier, so much so that he responded by yelling: “Go f*** off, stupid **!” Of note, he was well dressed and looked like he was on a lunch break from an office job.
That word, that insult, was my limit. I took off my headphones, ready to answer, when a little boy, walking next to his mother and little sister in the stroller, turned to the man and said, “Hey! It’s not nice to say that to her, and she didn’t like me yelling at her. You shouldn’t do that, because she’s a good person, and I don’t let anyone say mean things to other people. She’s a girl, like my sister, and I’ll protect her.”
The man, visibly embarrassed, started to gather his things and walked away. I asked the mother if I could hug the little boy and tell him how grateful I was. He just shrugged and said, “Well, I just wanted to make sure your heart was okay.”
According to his mother, this is her son’s everyday behavior. Thank you so much to all the mothers and fathers who are raising the next generation with courage, kindness, and the ability to be little angels to the world. I am truly deeply touched.