Hi, I (F31) am a Muslim woman who is of middle eastern descent (I swear it makes sense later in the story), I wear an abaya (a long dress with long sleeve that comes a little big) and a hijab and both are all black.

Every afternoon after I’m done with dinner I like to take a walk with one of my neighbors (also Muslim and wears almost the same clothing as I do). We take a walk around the neighborhood and since there is a playground nearby we usually walk around it and just talk and catch up.

Getting to the point, there’s this one lady who has a dog and comes near the same route me and my neighbor walk. An important note I feel you should know: I am extremely afraid of dogs, please no one take offense! I grew up being afraid of dogs due to never being near them but also when I was pregnant I had a dog jump on me and made me fall on the concrete, so I get a bit jumpy when I see them.

The first day this lady (does not live in our neighborhood I believe seeing as she comes in a car to walk her dog and walk around the playground), unleashes her dog and lets him run towards us and doesn’t do ANYTHING to stop him. I let her know that I’m afraid of dogs and it’s scary, she says he’s friendly and doesn’t mean any harm. I say okay and move on. The next day, same thing, me and my neighbor walk and the SAME thing happens, she unleashes the dog and lets him run straight towards us and does nothing to stop him, I say something to her AGAIN and she tells me “You know in some countries dogs are actually allowed to roam free”…. I let it go and continued walking.

The third day (today) the SAME thing happened but her dog was leashed the whole time and she was walking behind us and suddenly unleashed her dog and he came RUNNING towards us. I explained my concern AGAIN and she told me “I’m sorry I don’t understand what you’re trying to say I don’t understand you.” Mind you, I was born in the U.S. and speak with a perfectly clear American accent.

I began to take this as a racial offense or some sort of islamophobia seeing as she usually unleashes the dog when she sees us walking. I called the cops and animal control. They let me know what precautions to take if I see her again and if she continues — Also, the dog has a vest I believe that said it is a “service dog”, which the animal control officer told me is probably a lie.

I’ve been rethinking it and having questions in my head like, am I dramatic and the AH?

Let me know!