Man vs. Bear

So, unless you have been living under a rock lately, there’s yet another stupid trend on TicToc (the birthplace of stupid trends, thanks to the ChiComs running the algorithm to make American kids dumber) where women are asked if they would rather meet a man or a bear if they were in the woods alone. And the majority of them are saying they’d rather meet the bear.

Of course there’s much hue and cry and shouting and insults flying. But I was able to get a different perspective out of someone who I trust and hold in rather high esteem. Folks, their response is biological.

Have you ever been around someone and you just knew that no matter how tough you thought you were, that person could dominate you and kick your ass? I can remember a few moments like that, actually. That’s a good thing, it keeps you humble. I was sparring with people back in my early Army days when I was stationed in Korea, and even though I wasn’t the most skilled I was holding my own. Until SGT Kim stepped into the “ring”. The ring being a space in the motor pool where we were less likely to be seen and thus receive an ass-chewing.

Now, we were still in uniform, and since we were outside we had on our headgear. SGT Kim and I trade a few blows, nothing hard, and then he steps back and kicks. Fast. He kicks the brim of my headgear, causing it to fly off my head, and then holds his foot in mid-air two inches from my face. I didn’t even have time to react.

I didn’t know it at the time, but SGT Kim had been in the top 10 rankings for Tae Kwon Do in Korea before he was conscripted into the ROK Army. This man could have killed me in multiple ways and there wouldn’t have been anything I could do about it.

There were a few times in the gym in my career when someone who was so far above the rest of the group physically would step into the deadlift area, add four more plates on to your stack, and lift it like it was nothing. And you knew, once again, that if it came to a fight your best bet was to have a gun. A big one. And your friends should have guns too.

For a guy, it’s a moment that makes you step back and say “Damn, I’d be in trouble if that guy wanted to start anything.” And women deal with that every. Single. Day. When they deal with men, because men on average are far physically superior to women. It’s not even close. Women are reminded every day that men could cause them great physical harm. And so if the choice is a man or a bear, they’re choosing the bear, partially because the bear is unknown, but they know the bear isn’t going to rape them. That was actually an answer from a lot of women when they were asked why they chose the bear. “The bear might kill me, it might not, but it won’t rape me.”

Their response is a biological one. Anyways, I’ve finally finished up my last finals exam. I can say that having done a semester of online college, I will never do it again. I’ll find a place to take classes in person, or I’ll just start my own business. This last couple of months purely sucked, both on an emotional and physical level. Ain’t gonna do it again.