"It's okay!" That's what white women in their late 20s say to me when their dog is charging me, snarling and barking, when I walk down the street. "It's okay! Come here, Perky! Come here!" They stand there in the entrance to a cafe and reason with their dog from a distance rather than taking control of it or, heaven forbid, keeping it on a leash. "He just ran at you because you're afraid." Hmmm, and here I thought that when I crossed to the other side of the sidewalk to avoid your dog I might get a break this time. Nope. No matter how many nice parks get divided up into 'off leash areas' just for you, you keep your dog off leash everywhere. It used to be that these women would get a fucked-up little rat dog as a pet accessory. Ugly to look at, but the rat dogs never pinned me against a car while their owner did nothing. Ladies, please: put your ill-behaved dog on a leash. Several years of experience has shown that saying "it's okay" doesn't work.