it could be their hair, their demeanor, their tone-of-speech, or their gait. anything goes.

if one thing strikes me as "wrong" about them, they become a personified red flag. they're sorted into one of many schemas i have formed over the span of my life. 

"douchebag with curly hair who skateboards, blasts rap music, and shits on nerds." 

"bitchy rich girl who gossips for a living and looks down on everyone."

each passersby is a menace. a threat who must be avoided like the plague.

when i go out in public, i feel like a deer in the headlights who will momentarily be run over by a truck. every person is assessed and compared to a library of negative memories associated with their assigned stereotype. 

walking on the streets is like an interminable captcha game. identify "the edgelord who plays fortnite and thinks homophobia is a personality trait." click on "the cardi b lookalike who's louder than a megaphone and poses in every photo with a middle finger." and then run for your life because they are satan incarnates.