Surrender the ball cap but not your confidence

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I have never been so mad in my life. I went downtown and this guy stole my hat off my head — a very special ball cap — and I didn’t do a thing about it, big wimp that I am. I just had to let him have it. I wasn’t in a store, and there was no one close by — just us on the street. What if he had a knife?

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/10/2017 (3207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I have never been so mad in my life. I went downtown and this guy stole my hat off my head — a very special ball cap — and I didn’t do a thing about it, big wimp that I am. I just had to let him have it. I wasn’t in a store, and there was no one close by — just us on the street. What if he had a knife?

I don’t know if I did the right thing, but these days you never know. He just reached over and took it off my head, like he knew I was too much of a weakling to take on a big thug like him. Should I have done anything different? — Still Furious, River Heights

Dear Furious: People in law enforcement might have a different answer, but my thought was, “Let the guy have the hat, and walk away with your body intact.”

That’s a sad thing to have to say, but these days it can get rough and you could get stuck with a knife, or beaten.

I have a friend who was held at gunpoint and robbed. It took her a long time to really get over it and I don’t know if she’s 100 per cent over it yet.

The best thing you can do now is get some counselling to work it out so you don’t stay angry at this incident, or at yourself, or at the world. Don’t let that thief take your confidence and your good feelings away with the ball cap.

Call Klinic if you need a starting place. Tell the phone counsellor what happened and how you feel on their 204-786-8686 crisis line. They will have suggestions for you.

There’s also Klinic free drop-in counselling at 870 Portage Ave., most days and some evenings of the week. Call ahead for hours of the day you want to go (204-784-4067).

You will also hear about the Tuesday drop-in counselling in Transcona, should that pertain to you.

 

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave. Winnipeg R2X 3B6.

Miss Lonelyhearts

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Decision on corridor for Trans-Canada twinning near Ontario border expected this fall, province says

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Preview

Decision on corridor for Trans-Canada twinning near Ontario border expected this fall, province says

Chris Kitching 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:24 PM CDT

The Manitoba government is taking more time to evaluate and select a preferred corridor for the twinning of a 16-kilometre section of the Trans-Canada Highway near the Ontario boundary.

An earlier timeline indicated Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure expected to choose an alignment by the fall of 2025. A provincial spokesperson told the Free Press on Monday a decision is expected this winter, but a different spokesperson said Wednesday a decision is expected this fall.

“The department continues to evaluate corridor alternatives and will undertake additional geotechnical, environmental and design work as part of the (functional design study) to support the selection of a preferred corridor,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The study, which will include Crown-Indigenous and public consultation, is expected to be completed in late 2027, with a detailed design to follow.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 5:24 PM CDT

Former teacher would suit up with Bombers in just ninth game of three-down loop career

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Former teacher would suit up with Bombers in just ninth game of three-down loop career

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2026

In a way, Micah Vanterpool’s brief stint as a Grade 3 teacher in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla., prepared him for life in the CFL.

The third-year offensive lineman for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers only has eight career games on his resumé as he has bounced around between the practice roster, starting lineup and injury report.

But thanks to his time in the classroom, he’s developed the patience that’s required by a young American trying to make a name for oneself in the three-down loop.

Vanterpool got into teaching after failing to make the New England Patriots in 2023. He said goodbye to the education profession the following year and took his talents up north to Winnipeg.

Read
Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2026

Province orders mosquito fogging owing to increased risk of West Nile virus

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview

Province orders mosquito fogging owing to increased risk of West Nile virus

Malak Abas 3 minute read 6:01 PM CDT

Parts of Winnipeg and several rural communities will be sprayed for mosquitoes in the coming days as the heat wave across southern Manitoba has created a higher risk of exposure to West Nile virus.

The province has issued a fogging order under the Environment Act in response to a high number of Culex tarsalis mosquitoes — the primary transmitter of West Nile virus — in Manitoba.

Surveillance data from last week showed evidence of the West Nile virus.

“High temperatures across southern Manitoba have shortened the time required for West Nile virus to develop within infected Culex tarsalis mosquitoes and be transmitted to humans,” the province’s first bulletin on West Nile virus this summer, published Thursday afternoon, reads.

Read
6:01 PM CDT

Manitobans will feel pinch of feds' early retirement plan: union leader

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Manitobans will feel pinch of feds' early retirement plan: union leader

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Yesterday at 5:36 PM CDT

About 10,000 federal public servants have applied for the government’s early retirement program, launched as part of a plan to cut the number of bureaucrats.

The cuts will impact services to Manitobans, with increasing workloads for those who remain, says the union representing federal employees here.

“It’s going to be increased workloads, maybe delays in services — issues getting your passport or seeking in-person support for (employment insurance),” said Krysty Thomas, Public Service Alliance of Canada regional vice-president for the Prairies.

“Those will all be affected with these early incentive retirement packages.”

Read
Yesterday at 5:36 PM CDT

Six inquests called, including into death of homeless woman run over by cruiser

Tyler Searle 4 minute read Preview

Six inquests called, including into death of homeless woman run over by cruiser

Tyler Searle 4 minute read 6:12 PM CDT

Manitoba’s chief medical examiner has called inquests into the deaths of six people, including a woman who was run over and killed at a homeless encampment at a Winnipeg park two years ago.

Dr. John Younes announced the inquests Thursday, noting such reviews are mandatory under the Fatal Inquiries Act. They will probe the deaths of four people following interactions with police, and two others who died while in custody.

Tammy Bateman, 39, died Sept. 2, 2024, when she was “run over by a police vehicle moving at a low speed” while “reportedly lying down on a gravel road” in Fort Rouge Park, Younes said.

“The medical examiner’s office was notified, and an autopsy was authorized. The immediate cause of death was determined to be multiple traumatic injuries due (to) pedestrian vs motor vehicle collision. The manner of death was accidental,” he said.

Read
6:12 PM CDT

Squash-ing the competition

Grace Penner 6 minute read Preview

Squash-ing the competition

Grace Penner 6 minute read 5:30 PM CDT

The Thiessen bloodline is no stranger to racquet sport, and 19-year-old Ivo Thiessen is no different as an up and coming Manitoban squash player.

Thiessen started the sport at a young age, first introduced to the enclosed court and rubber ball by his father, John — an avid squash player himself.

“When I was younger, he was just taking me down (to the Racquet Club), throwing me on the court and making me hit a ball,” Thiessen explained. “Then it just progressed. He kept putting me in lessons, kept pushing me and then I started to actually begin enjoying it once I figured it out a bit.”

Thiessen not only had the support from his father, but from other family members who had a personal love of the game.

Read
5:30 PM CDT