At the start of new semester, I met a young woman from New york, a new student, at the Student Union, and determined to make a good impression before any of the other wolves could get to her. I asked her to go sailing with me that afternoon. To my surprise, she accepted, and just a few hours later we were in the Gulf, miles offshore.

As it does sometimes in Florida, a thunderstorm showed up unexpectedly and we ran for shelter to a small island where we pulled the boat up on the beach and laid down a few hundred feet away on the sand, far from the tall mast poking up into the lightning.

We were there for about two hours, totally drenched in a violent, windy cloudburst, as it got dark. Lightning was falling all around us but we were in the safest possible place under the circumstances. We were uncomfortable, not in any real danger, but it was a lonely and remote place. We were about four miles offshore.

Bored, with nothing to do and rather embarassed that the afternoon sail was evolving from a three hour tour to an all night affair, I absent-mindedly took my knife out of it's sheath and started to sharpen it on my whetsone.

My companion stared at me while I worked, and I caught sight of her out of the corner of my eye. She was scared, and it wasn't of the weather. I put the knife away and made small talk and she visibly relaxed. We got home at midnight, without incident.

I recognize this fear in women, and it breaks my heart. Walk down the street and make contact with a young woman; more often than not, she will give you a shy smile and then look quickly away. She always looks uncomfortable, awkward, scared. It's like she is torn between provoking some brute by deliberately ignoring him, or encouraging him if he misinterprets her attempt to be friendly. She has every right to greet or not greet a stranger as she sees fit and it is not right that she be forced to face this dilemma so many times a day.

I apologize to women everywhere for this fear they must carry with them all the time. Fear of men. And I know perfectly well it is not unjustified. I know it's not my fault they feel this way, but I still can't help but feel some responsibility for it.