It follows me.

I didn't know this would be my 100th post, but I'm still seething from something that happened yesterday and I feel the need to share it, so here I am eating lunch and recalling the angriest I think I've been in public. I apologize in advance for any offensive language, but I feel it's needed to tell the story. I do make political comments on social media sites from time to time, but I try to avoid shunning others because of their opinions...I want to state that this post isn't about my political opinions, but me as a human being.

I had just washed my car and headed across the street to a drugstore to grab a few items before heading home. I grabbed my purse and had taken just a few steps from my car when a white service van pulled past me. "You're a Communist!" One of the men in the car shouted at me. They were both old enough to be my father.

At first, I didn't put the elements of the situation together and thought I simply misheard them...after all, I was minding my own business. I kept walking. That's when they stopped, with the back of their van towards me, and the driver leaned out. "You're a f*cking Communist bitch! You are what's wrong with this country!" I realized at that point they must be talking to me, about my "Women for Obama" sticker.

"Oh, come on!" I shouted. I kept trying to walk away but the were getting louder and louder...and their insults were getting more and more personal and sexist. It was causing a scene. What made me snap was the "Stupid bitch" comment they made next. I usually try to keep my cool but long story short, I ended up in a shouting match that ended, stupidly, with me challenging them to get out of the van and say their piece instead of yelling and driving like cowards.

I fully understand that anything I put on my car can be seen in public and I knew eventually someone would make a comment. And they have before, but most comments have been said jokingly or at least respectfully. I guess I never bargained for the power of the symbolism of that simple sticker.

I feel that by displaying one's political affiliations in a public area, you are inviting comments. I do not, however, believe that something on my personal property should have created a situation that escalated to the point where I was perfectly willing to physically defend myself (somewhat stupidly...two men vs.me? Well, I was that angry). It seems really foolish, not only on my part for getting so fired up, but also for something so simple to evoke such an angry reaction from a stranger.

They drove off, and I went into the store. As I stood checking out, I found myself craning my neck to make sure my car wasn't being vandalized. At that point, the gravity of the situation hit. As I paid, I asked myself if it was worth having that sticker on my car and thought maybe I should take it off when I got home. But then I thought, you know what? It is worth it. Nothing I did invited such a violent reaction as came from those two men. If they were so upset over a sticker, something tells me a lot of other things would set them off, too. And I should be able to express my opinion in a respectful way and not be afraid.

What upsets me the most is the questions I can never ask them and the things I can never tell them about myself. I will likely never see them again. I'd love to know if they have daughters near my age, or if they have wives who would be ashamed at their behavior. I'd like to tell them that I hold a master's degree and have worked hard to overcome stereotypes given to women. I'd like to ask them if they know their history or if they've heard both sides of the healthcare issue. I'd like to know if they would have said those things to my face if they knew anything about me. I'd like to know if they would have said the same things to my husband or my father.

I guess I'd had it. I like to consider myself a pacifist, but something truly snapped in me that transformed me from someone who had just been listening to the radio and cleaning old parking receipts out of my car to someone standing in the Walgreens parking lot challenging two men to a fight.

In the past few years, I've been subject to a few situations like this. One was in broad daylight, around 2 p.m. in a Target parking lot. A man exposed himself to me while yelling disgusting comments. I calmly blew my car horn to attract attention, then called police. Another was at a hockey game where they were handing out Obama bobbleheads...the man who handed it to me called me an idiot and told me all my money would be gone if I voted for him. I moved along. I guess this Sunday was just one random jerk too many for me to handle. I'm so sick of being in innocuous places and coming across these situations.

I have to wonder, what signals am I giving off? I definitely don't want to blame the victim, especially when it comes to myself, but with the odd things that have happened to me in recent years, I have to wonder what it is about me. And what should my reaction be? I'm still not sure.