This has followed me into my adult years.
One dark winter evening a few years ago, I pulled into a very busy grocery store parking lot. I had to park very far away from the doors, and earlier that day I had fallen down the stairs and twisted my ankle. I was limping pretty bad, but I needed a few ingredients for dinner that night.
I got out of the car, and as I was limping toward the doors, I noticed a man walking toward me. He started asking me if I could give him money for gas. I said "No!" a little too loud and shuffled as quickly as I could to the drive leading up to the store.
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| If only they just looked like a typical hoodlum. |
I knew he was watching me hobble away.
Inside the store I figured I had better get a plan together. He knew where I parked. The lot was full, so it would have been easy to hide. He knew I was injured. If he wanted to attack or steal my purse, I would have been an easy target.
Along with my grocery items, I bought a set of knives that could easily be opened without scissors. As soon as I left the store I stood out front opening the set. I held the biggest one blatantly in my hand as I walked back to my car in the dark.
Sure, I looked crazy, but I will not go down because of stupidity.
When we moved to our small mountain community I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. People leave things open around here: Cars, garages, doors... My neighbor comes over and tells me if my dog gets out of my yard. My other neighbor told me she is a busy body that watches the neighborhood from her second story condo. He seemed annoyed, but I was grateful.
On Sunday, Dan granted me 3 exquisite hours of solo alone time. I needed to run some errands and do some shopping before our upcoming trip.
As I headed to Target, I noticed a big white truck riding pretty close behind. Close enough for me to worry when I hit my brakes extra hard approaching a yellow light. As I approached the next stop light, yellow again, I went through it and watched it change to red. The white truck, following ever closer, was still on my ass. There was no mistake that he ran the red light.
I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, making me pay attention. I veered over to make a left into Target and he was right behind me.
I turned quickly, while he waited for cars to go by. Our target parking lot is split into 2 different areas. I pulled into a spot and waited to see what he would do. Sure enough, he pulled into a space close to mine, and I sped off to the other end of the empty lot. I sat there waiting to see what he would do. He got out of his truck and watched mine.
With my heart racing, I left target. I circled back around and parked in the other lot, far from view of the white truck. I spent a long time perusing the isles and an additional 15 minutes just reading greeting cards. All the while, watching the people around me. I didn't see him again.
I don't know what would have happened, had I not noticed him, maybe it would have been innocent. However, I will never ignore my internal warning system, because crazy is everywhere. Even a small mountain community. Maybe even more so...
http://www.summitdaily.com/news/12041459-113/vanmatre-victim-according-mountain
Do you have any stories about that "feeling" that something isn't right? Did you protect yourself, or ignore it?
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