I laced my braid with thumbtacks as a self defense tactic

I (28F) was 24 years old at the time, and working as a nanny for a young boy. His parents were going out of town for the weekend, so I was going to be staying at their house with him for those few days. I was promised a larger pay check for doing so, and since I was a broke college student, I happily agreed.<br><br>His parents had a very nice, big house in one of the nicest areas of our city. I was starting to think this was a bad idea though, as they were preparing to leave, they made it very clear that I was to never leave the inside of the house while I was there alone with their son overnight. They were afraid their neighbors would see me (a young woman), and assume the worst. They assumed their neighbors would assume the worst because I am black, and they are white. In the neighborhood they lived, there were zero black people. It was totally racist, but at the time I was just so happy to have the extra money, and I was naive enough to not really think anything of it other than it being a bummer.<br><br>So, the parents left, and it was just me and the boy for the weekend. It was nighttime, and we were watching a movie together. He falls asleep, and I am sitting there on the couch, and hear a noise from outside. It was around 2 am, and you could hear a person walking around the outside of the house.<br><br>I knew that as a black woman alone in that house full of expensive things, I would not be taken seriously by cops or anyone who showed up at the door. I put my arm on the back of the couch, and it landed on one of those pain putting fuzzy thumbtacks. I had an idea, and started pulling out the tacks and putting them in my braids, all over. The rest of the night I couldn't sleep, terrified someone was going to break in and hurt me.<br><br>No one did, and I never told anyone about that. I think it may be the most racist thing that has ever happened to me, and it was allowed by the people who were supposed to be PAYING me for a service. I am still traumatized a bit by this, and I think about it frequently. I guess my point is, if you are not black, you have no idea what it's like to be treated this way. I'm not mad at anyone who sees this, but rather, I want you to know a personal story about the fear we live through.