My apartment building is an old hotel with a staircase that goes up eight stories. It takes a few minutes to walk the whole thing, which I like to do instead of taking the elevator.
Each flight is a little too tall between landings, and a couple of times, in the hot months of the summer, I’ve encountered a woman in a skirt coming down while I was going up. Both times, I could tell that they felt unexpectedly exposed. They would squeeze their thighs together and shuffle as quickly past me as possible. Me being 6’4”, 215 pounds, athletic and very not-white, it’s not a totally unexpected reaction. And I’m not proud to say that I get a twinge of satisfaction when small women get a little tense around me. Lucky for me, I’m also very handsome, and have a deep, kind voice – so a smile and a “hey” usually puts them at ease. A little.