3rd Trimester

Well that was scary... (Longish)

So, tonight, I went to CVS for some milk. I pulled into the parking lot and, lucky me, got a parking space pretty far from the door. I was fixing to get out of the truck when I saw an old man. I watched him for a moment, and for some reason, locked my doors.

Not sure WHY I did it, but I did. There was something distinctly off about him.

So, I get out, check the doors are locked and start towards the store. I have to pass the old man to get to the doors. I'm almost past him when he grabs my arm and pulls me to a stop. My first instinct is to punch him, but instead I just try to yank my arm away from him. No go.

He proceeds to tell me about some surgery he recently had on his arm and how he got an infection and had to be in the hospital for days, but now he's out and needs to get his prescription and his sister is paying for one of them but he needs help paying for the other. The entire time he's speaking, I can only think about two things.

1.) He smelled like he had been BATHING in beer. 
2.) He hadn't loosened his grip on my arm at all, and it was really beginning to hurt.

I tell him I'm sorry, but I can't afford to pay for his medicine. I try to tug my arm away again, and he just strengthens his grip. Now it REALLY hurts. He tells me to promise not to tell anyone in the store that he's out there, and I do. Finally, he lets go of me and I rush inside the store, freaking the heck out. I get what I came to get and, as I'm checking out, tell the cashier about the man. She lets me pay and then tells me to wait inside for a minute. Then she goes outside and comes straight back in. She goes to her supervisor, who calls the cops and describes him to them based on my description.

Apparently, the man had been at Wal-Greens less than thirty minutes earlier, but vanished before the cops arrived.

Well, by this point I'm a little bit at a loss. I'm kind of more than a little afraid to try and go back to my truck. It's dark, fixing to storm, and the man had already grabbed my arm once. So, the supervisor calls the only man working in the store and he escorts me to my truck and makes sure that the old man stays away from me. I saw him walking away (stumbling, more like) as I drove away.

It sounds so silly now, but I have lived in this town for six years and nothing like that has EVER happened to me before. It's such a small town, it's always felt so safe. So that has just totally freaked me out. Not only that, but I've got a bruise coming up on my arm where he had hold of me.

I'm just glad nothing worse happened. Am I wimpy for being freaked out?

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Re: Well that was scary... (Longish)

  • I don't think you are wimpy for freaking out. Something worse could've happened...I'm just glad it didn't. There are some very strange people in this world, and even if you live in a small town or have lived some place your whole life, it is good to be cautious!
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  • You have every right to be freaked out! I would be too!
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  • omg that is crazy and very scary!! i would have done the exact same thing. so glad you are ok!
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  • I'm so sorry that happened to you.  That is very scary and I would be totally freaked as well.  We live on a main road and randoms walk up and down the road and I'm terrified someone's going to try to come break in.  
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  • I would have been freaked as well. And I would have called the cops as soon as I got into the store. Pregnant or not I would have been freaked but I have noticed I do get freaked more easily now that I'm pregnant and DH isn't around.

    A few months ago DH was out of town and around 12:30am one night, right after I had went to bed, someone rang my doorbell a bunch of times. My dogs went crazy and I called the cops shaking. The cops came, acted like I was over reacting but still checked around the property. He showed my the footprints in the dew on the grass where someone approached the house. Which freaked me out even more. The cop told me I shouldn't worry, especially with my big dogs, that will scare anyone away. He said, it was probably just kids playing a prank.

    I live in safe neighborhood but it was a combination of DH being out of town and me being pregnant.

    Your situation was much scarier!!!!!!

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  • You're not wimpy at all. It really is scary to have your sense of security shaken. That being said, it pays to be hypervigilant. Lock your car, trust that gut instinct and find somewhere safe and well-lit.  DH is super-focused on having good "SA", or situational awareness, and I've learned some good techniques by taking self-defense classes, ken po and krav maga over the years (totally at his prodding). I'm glad everything turned out OK for you. Try to relax tonight. 

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  • I'm glad I'm not just overreacting and being wimpy.

    Thanks for the support, ladies.

    It's just crazy. I pretty much never go places after dark, unless I'm going with a  group of friends. I wouldn't even have gone to CVS tonight if I hadn't forgotten the milk when I went grocery shopping this morning. Goes to show, I should have just waited until tomorrow.

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  • I would have gone psycho pregnant lady on him when he grabbed my arm.

    I am a LOT more vocal and physical since I've been pregnant especially if I feel threatened. Plus I have some self defense training that would have kicked in! You should seriously get a couple classes in self defense it makes me feel much safer

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  • Um, no not wimpy at all.. I would have been SO scared. Old man or not, it would be traumatic to have some random crazy/drunk person grab me like that!  Not sure if I would have run away scared and crying, or if I would have freaked out and tried to kung-fu the guy (hard to say with pregnant hormones!)

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  • You reacted so calmly to the situation! You are not wimpy at all for being freaked out! I know that if that was me, I'd of punched that old man!!!
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  • Don't feel wimpy! I had just gotten home the other night and parked my car and noticed this guy hanging out on the corner right behind my car. He didn't look all that weird, but it was dark, and he was just standing there. So I called my mom and told her to send my dad or my brother out to the car on the pretense of helping me unload all these veggies I had just gotten from our garden. My dad is about 300 solid pounds and my brother is a gym rat. Dude cleared out when they came out to the car.
    -A well-tended garden is indicative of a well-tended soul.-
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  • I don't think you're wimpy at all!  You're pregnant, alone and it's dark and a stranger has grabbed you!  I think you handled yourself very well and did the right thing.  I'm just glad to hear that everything worked out well for you and you were able to get home safe! 
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