Is this a suspicious incident?

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  • lukedwr
    lukedwr Posts: 16
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    You spend a lot of time criticizing the greatest nation in the history of mankind. Why?

    You're the new kids on the block. Let's see how you're doing in a couple of centuries...
  • cinema_goddess
    cinema_goddess Posts: 13
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    the greatest nation in the history of mankind. Why?

    The Romans and the British might disagree with you on that one.

    Is that why there are no more Romans? Because they were so great? They were just so awesome they ceased to exist? :laugh: :laugh:

    And if Britain so great, how did they let the entire US secede? What about the Falklain Islands? Or India? The Sudan? Egypt? South Africa? Or the Caribbean?
    Or maybe because, at the height of their power, they were considered to be the greatest nations in the history of mankind.

    My point is I sure hope that the US is not the greatest nation in the history of mankind because it would suck that we did all that work and ended up with this screwed up place.

    Soooo, by that logic, someone who USED to be the richest guy in the room but recently lost every penny should still be considered the richest guy in the room?

    Does not compute.

    Your analogy doesn't hold.

    It would be like going to the wake of the richest guy, proclaiming yourself the richest guy, and failing to see the young whippersnapper in your peripheral who is going watch you, learn from your mistakes, then become the richest guy in the room when you kick off.

    ETA: For seriously. If anyone thinks this is the greatest nation in the history of mankind (full stop. period. end of story) then they must have never picked up a history book. Because proclaiming yourself that is like getting your wedding rings tattooed on: Kiss of Death for that situation.
  • thecakelocker
    thecakelocker Posts: 407 Member
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    I really don't think the police will care that you saw a truck in a parking lot.

    That said, if something feels off, leave. You don't have to excuse yourself for being wary.
  • minijag06
    minijag06 Posts: 70
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    I walk through the cemetery too and a similar situation happened. My 18-year old son said a lot of kids smoke pot there. I carry my cell and pepper spray from now on. Better safe than sorry!
  • cinema_goddess
    cinema_goddess Posts: 13
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    If anyone ever sees a minivan selling ice cream and the minivan looks really beat up and the stickers are peeling off, run far far away because they, in fact, have really crappy ice cream.

    So disappointing.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
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    I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying this since there seem to be so many anti-2nd Amendment folks here on MFP, but if you don't want to change your walking routine, then concealed carry is a great solution.

    Better yet, open carry.

    That'll give anyone a second thought before approaching you and your mom.

    However, if they both got so freaked out they needed to run because of a truck in a parking lot that hadn't yet made any form of threatening move, I wouldn't think carrying a deadly weapon is a good idea.

    And carrying a gun is not an option everywhere nor do I think people should jump to carrying a gun all the time. But, everyone needs to do what they feel is right. Never carry if you aren't prepared to use it and haven't been trained to properly use it. Carrying without proper confidence or training will just do more harm than good. There are ultimately far too many guns out there and they are far too easily obtained... one reason I'm glad I'm in Canada. Not gun free but much much harder to get.

    Please, cite the sources that you think support your misinformed conclusions.

    I'm fairly certain there were no facts given that required support. It's called an opinion. Just like you have one, so does this person.

    Thank you... exactly what I was just thinking.
  • AmerH
    AmerH Posts: 40 Member
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    She said they would normally walk between 6:30 - 7:30, but they were running late that night and started at 7:20. I believe people mean by "routine is always choosing the same route within a certain time frame.
  • Nightterror218
    Nightterror218 Posts: 375 Member
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    From this side of the pond the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" is looking more like the "Land of the Besieged and the home of the Scared of their own shadows".

    I'm so glad I didn't move over 20 years ago when I had the opportunity.
    I wouldn't want to live in fear.

    In the state of Florida if you step on my property and I feel threatened or I tell you to leave and you dont.......I can shoot to kill and not be prosecuted. Scared? um ...no....just waiting for someone to try and beseige me so I can test that great law out. :laugh:

    THREAD WIN!

    "live in fear"? Bwahahahaaaa, I think not. To me, REAL fear is living in a country where only the criminals get to have guns. :noway:

    awesome
  • 123sockmonkey123
    123sockmonkey123 Posts: 50 Member
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    you should alway trust your instincts. that being said, i'm a proud concealed-carry female. if your state allows, there are classes you can take to feel confident with a firearm. flashbang holsters has special holsters that attach to the sports bra & are invisible under a loose shirt.
  • falewis
    falewis Posts: 10
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    Always listen to your gut. We have evolved for millions of years to have a sense of when things don't feel right. Back in the day, the cavemen who didn't listen to their gut could be eaten by a saber tooth tiger. Now, the danger out there just looks different.

    I'm not saying people should be afraid of their own shadows, but, I am saying it never hurts to be aware. Personally, I would rather have a reaction that we see is ridiculous in hindsight.
  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
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    It could be something, it could be nothing. I'd chat with your local police, don't get too worked up over it, and just mention that you two may have been followed by a white truck while on your evening routine. Maybe they can tell you if anyone else has come to them with similar complaints, and if not, then maybe if someone comes in after you, yours will mark the first of multiple complaints, thus forming a more serious concern on the police' part. Also, as it has been said by others, avoid travelling alone and shake up your time and route.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    the greatest nation in the history of mankind. Why?

    The Romans and the British might disagree with you on that one.

    Is that why there are no more Romans? Because they were so great? They were just so awesome they ceased to exist?

    They didn't exactly cease to exist. Their empire fell, but their descendants are everywhere.
  • 2FatToRun
    2FatToRun Posts: 810 Member
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    I really dont think europeans or americans should be laying claim on anything about being great. Look at them now they arent exactly exemplary role models to anyone. each are great each had their moments but in the end they both suck because of government/parliament :laugh:
  • awake4777
    awake4777 Posts: 190 Member
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    Every night my Mom and I go walking for exercise around the same time after supper, around 6:30-7:30. We go to a small back parking lot behind a church near our house. We walk through the graveyard to get there.
    So you take a stroll through a graveyard after dinner? I don't know how you don't expect this to eventually end up being creepy. It could have been anything really. The person in the truck probably wanted to get out and visit a grave but was afraid of the strangers walking around in the graveyard.

    Here's a perfectly good example of how this wasn't as creepy as you thought. My wife and her father were taking a shortcut past a graveyard one evening and they see someone struggling at one of the grave sites. This person was buried up to their waist in the ground and looking around. They got a little closer and saw it was an older woman. Somehow this lady was buried up to her waist and she was trying to pull herself out of the ground by holding on to a tombstone. This lady finally sees them and starts moaning and making cries for help.

    From their point of view it was some sort of zombie lady trying to escape her grave. There were no cars around or any sign of how the lady had arrived. It turned out that she had parked on the other side of a building and walked over there. The poor lady had two artificial legs and stepped in a small hole and went down losing both of her legs a few feet away. She was too weak to get up on something to sit down and reattach her legs.

    Of course it looked strange. Everything looks strange in a graveyard. If they would have been in a grocery store it would have seemed obvious to help the lady. At the cemetery they barely had the courage to even approach an old lady.

    Your mind is racing from all the movies you've watched. I think you're worried about nothing.
    You have gut instinct for a reason. Pay attention. I don't agree with this at all. Your gut says something's wrong. Believe your gut.
  • awake4777
    awake4777 Posts: 190 Member
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    From this side of the pond the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" is looking more like the "Land of the Besieged and the home of the Scared of their own shadows".

    I'm so glad I didn't move over 20 years ago when I had the opportunity.
    I wouldn't want to live in fear.

    In the state of Florida if you step on my property and I feel threatened or I tell you to leave and you dont.......I can shoot to kill and not be prosecuted. Scared? um ...no....just waiting for someone to try and beseige me so I can test that great law out. :laugh:

    THREAD WIN!

    "live in fear"? Bwahahahaaaa, I think not. To me, REAL fear is living in a country where only the criminals get to have guns. :noway:

    awesome
  • awake4777
    awake4777 Posts: 190 Member
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    From this side of the pond the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" is looking more like the "Land of the Besieged and the home of the Scared of their own shadows".

    I'm so glad I didn't move over 20 years ago when I had the opportunity.
    I wouldn't want to live in fear.
    I think we underestimate how we would feel if we killed someone. I don't think it should be taken lightly at all. I don't think we know ourselves well enough to be able to predict those feelings. I own a gun I keep in my home and refuse to get a permit to carry it outside. I don't want the responsibility of killing someone. But if it comes down to me or thee, you're gone but I'd try to avoid it.

    In the state of Florida if you step on my property and I feel threatened or I tell you to leave and you dont.......I can shoot to kill and not be prosecuted. Scared? um ...no....just waiting for someone to try and beseige me so I can test that great law out. :laugh:

    THREAD WIN!

    "live in fear"? Bwahahahaaaa, I think not. To me, REAL fear is living in a country where only the criminals get to have guns. :noway:

    awesome
  • IMNotanumber
    IMNotanumber Posts: 18 Member
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    I agree with the group in general. Don't be paranoid, but don't be stupid. If you think you need to alert the authorities, do it. It is better for you and your mom to be safe.
  • JennW130
    JennW130 Posts: 460 Member
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    you should always be careful and if you don't already carry pepper spray get some. there are some sick people in the world. on the other hand there is a good chance it was teenagers smoking pot, when you stopped and watched them they left, then thinking you were gone they came back. hate to admit it but when I was a stupid teenager we used to smoke pot in the graveyard all the time. never damaged anything and only at night cause there were never any cops. just a thought.

    ps thank god my pot smoking days are far behind me lol

    I was thinking the same. If it were legal my pot smoking days wouldn't be behind me. Moderation! Just like alcohol !! :smokin:
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
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    It's good you're alert and keeping yourself safe, but I think there are explanations besides some sort of stalker with ill will. It may be a worker or something patrolling the graveyard/park. A lot of city parks have some sort of patrol, especially in the evenings, and they usually drive pretty generic white vehicles. Perhaps they left after they saw you two weren't up to anything and then went to patrol another area and then returned?

    Also, if it's a relatively deserted area, someone could have less than reputable business that doesn't involve you. Like a drug deal or something.

    Again, it's good you're alert but remember most people who are abducted/raped/murdered etc are done so by people they know, not random strangers. And the fact that there were two of you means you're at a much lower risk, since random people-attackers won't do so if there are multiple people. Besides, how many times have you walked by a man in a dark parking lot and tensed up, for no reason?

    If you keep seeing the same van around or notice it following you, that's cause to worry. Otherwise, I think a local patrol or someone going about their own business is the most likely.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
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    People are registered as sex offenders for a number of reasons some legitimate and some stupid technicalities in the law. I personally don't think those records should be public. That being said...

    If it were me I would be a little bit scared, but my irrational side wouldn't have allowed me into a cemetery at night anyway. I probably would try to rationalize why the truck was there, too. I am a young woman as well, but I am bullheaded as hell, and refuse to see myself as a victim or potential victim, so I would put it down to the person being lost. Perhaps it was a mourner, or a emo teenager who wanted to angst about death. Who knows.

    If you are truly uneasy, though, still call the police. Whether or not you got the license number, if you can describe the location and the car in as much detail as possible, they should be able to keep an eye out. Make sure you both (you and your mom) have working pepper sprays and hold them in your hands when you walk (if someone attacks you, s/he isn't going to wait while you dig in your bag or your pocket.)

    Best of luck

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