Pepper spray

I had afternoon tea at the Mayflower today in Dupont Circle. 

Very ooh-la-la bourgeoisie.  

A woman at the small gathering told me that she'd been hearing a lot about the DRC on the news recently.  Violence against women.  She'd been talking with her girlfriends about how the media only seemed to be reporting on the need to help the victims -- not the need to curb attacks -- and how wrong that seemed.   Her friends and she had devised a plan: She asked me -- embarrassed, saying that I'd laugh at their suggestion -- if we shouldn't just ship over tons of pepper sprays and hand them out to all the women, so the women could "gather their wood in peace".

I didn't laugh, but I did quickly (and rather heartlessly) list off all the ways in which I thought this plan could go horribly wrong, or even just a little wrong and be a huge waste of money. 

And then, even if I was right, I felt pretentious and mean.