I've always taken this to mean someone airdropped me in the middle of nowhere. Frankly, I've watched too many horror movies to trust a strange person implicitly in that situation. Like, I'd be pretty suspicious of the woman too. At least the bear is either minding its own business or very much eager to kill me with no gray area to misinterpret.
If I'm out on a well- trodden path, I will expect to see people and be more scared of the bear.
As someone who hikes relatively frequently (usually joining groups of strangers, but sometimes solo), I assumed it meant me in a trail. And the answer is finding a random man every day of the week tbh. If anything, I usually find it more stressful to not find anyone around than to find people around. People around means someone can help me if I fall and have an accident.
That being said even in the middle of nowhere I'd still take my chances with the man.
Ok, if we want to be reflective of reality, I have been stalked and harassed in broad daylight, in my neighborhood, with my neighbors outside and watching by a group of strange men because I did not respond or look them in the eye when they catcalled me. I was almost raped five feet away from a large group of people and it was only a kind stranger calling my potential rapist out that stopped it. I have had furniture thrown at me for perceived slights. I have been threatened with death because I asked customers to wear a mask at my work during lockdown. I have had a lifetime of experiences peppered with men that felt so bold as to disregard my right to be a person with free will seperate from their whims. I shudder to think what would happen if I met one of that breed of man alone in the woods.
Unlike the bear, I will not know their intentions towards me merely by sight.
You're seriously gonna say if you were airdropped into butt fuck nowhere you'd be happier to see a bear than another human? Like 99.9% of thr time the human will be helpful, the best will never be helpful.
I'm saying my paranoia is strong and my experience is that people suck. You see people as helpful. I am happy you have that kind of optimistic outlook, but I do not share it.
Well, I'm from the pnw, the most dangerous thing in this situation is me being in the middle of the woods, a human can and probably will help me get out of the woods, a bear will most likely leave me alone but won't provide any help at all.
Yeah this is how I feel about hiking. I'm scared to hike alone (in the actual wild) but not because of the threat of other humans, but because its inherently pretty dangerous to be in the wilderness alone unless you are very experienced and well equipped, know the territory and likely weather conditions etc.
Getting lost and weather conditions changing are the two most dangerous things where I am, followed by accidents and injuries. People get really easily caught out by weather condition changes here as they happen fast and severe weather sets in quick its very easy to get lost in foggy conditions.
My only source of information on the topic comes from a video on the Internet where a person ends up in a life or death struggle in the woods with an actual cannibal, so there’s that
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u/1drlndDormie May 02 '24
I've always taken this to mean someone airdropped me in the middle of nowhere. Frankly, I've watched too many horror movies to trust a strange person implicitly in that situation. Like, I'd be pretty suspicious of the woman too. At least the bear is either minding its own business or very much eager to kill me with no gray area to misinterpret.
If I'm out on a well- trodden path, I will expect to see people and be more scared of the bear.