I’m in a sociology class, and we were recently given a project in which we had to do something kind for somebody once a day for a week.
One day, I decided to stop by the dining hall and buy a cookie for a random stranger.
So I bought the cookie and headed over to a woman sitting alone.
Following my introduction and project explanation, I told her I was giving her a free cookie.
Her response floored me.
“I’m going to be honest, I’m getting the feeling you put something in that cookie, and it’s making me very uncomfortable,” she said.
I awkwardly laughed and explained what I was doing again, but she still was not satisfied.
“Let me be blunt,” she said. “I feel like you’re trying to rape me, and this is seriously making me fear for my safety.”
At this point, I set the cookie down, reassured her I had no bad intentions and walked away.
Has our society really grown so distrustful that a free cookie is a death threat?
Sexual assault has become a rampant issue on many college campuses, but my cookie offering was not me trying to hurt anyone.
I realize that over the past year, sexual assault has been an issue on this campus.
But accusing me of attempted rape because of a cookie is taking things too far.
According to the FBI’s annual crime report, there were an estimated 83,425 forcible rapes reported to law enforcement in America in 2011.
The 2010 United States Census states there are about 151,781,326 men in the country.
So according to these numbers, only a small percentage of men committed rape last year.
There’s no denying that certain men are the reason for rape and sexual assault. But the key word is certain.
Certain Hispanics are in this country illegally, certain Muslims are extremists and commit acts of terror and certain Appalachian students are potheads.
If we can distinguish the majority from the minority in those situations, why can’t it be done here?
Oh, and to the girl I mentioned earlier, I really hope you enjoyed that cookie.
Scott, a sophomore computer science major from Huntersville, is an opinion writer.