Is this a suspicious incident?
Replies
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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.0 -
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:0
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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.
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.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.
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.0 -
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:
awesome0 -
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.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:
awesome0 -
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.0
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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:0 -
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.0 -
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 luck0 -
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.
Wow0 -
Women should always always always listen to their instincts. If you are concerned about it, and it sounds like you are, don't walk alone, take your cell with you, and don't walk at night. If you see the truck again you could call your local police non-emergency line and tell them what you saw.
It does not have to be the non-emergency line. If you think you are in danger call 9-1-1.0 -
I run a lot. I didn't used to be concerned, but based on some of the responses here, I worry that I may be shot or stabbed by some paranoid as I run up behind them on the trail. Hopefully, they will be so freaked out they'll just shoot themselves in the foot instead.
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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.
^This0 -
You should not have a regular walking routine. You could be observed and not in a good way. If I were walking I would change the times, days, direction etc every day. Also if you are concerned don't worry about calling the non-emergency police number. You may not be the only one reporting suspicious behavior. Stay safe.0
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I think you're overreacting a little. If you were scared, sure - it was a good idea to get out of there.
But to assume the truck was faced the direction it was because of you... To assume the truck left because you spotted them... To assume the truck came back and was intentionally turning toward you... all in an attempt to abduct and do horrible things to you.
Possible? Sure. Plausible? No more than any other theory at this point.
The truck could have been facing the direction it was because... that's how the driver chose to park. My husband will generally choose to pull through a spot instead of having to back out. Maybe this driver does too.
The truck could have left because you creeped them out... Or because they didn't want to appear creepy by continuing to sit there. I've been parked in a lot - waiting for someone or killing time - and left because I didn't want people to think I was up to something.
The truck could have come back later because the driver assumed you would be gone by then... I do that in the previous example.
And the truck could have been turning toward you because that was the path toward the spot they wanted to park... Just like they had to drive past you to leave, right?
Keep yourself safe.. Stay alert... And get out of there if you are scared. But don't assume they were out to get you... Not everyone is a deranged psycho looking to rape you just because you're 18.0 -
The OP has Social Anxiety and a mental illness....her own words in a previous thread she started.
I would probably not suggest she carry any weapons just in case the normal non-threatening person in a van might get killed before of this.0 -
It never hurts to go with your gut (hey, you ran, extra calories burned!) but I think he was probably just a groundskeeper that left because you were there and he didn't want to disturb you and thought 30 minutes time was enough and he circled back around when he realized you were still there so he could leave. Groundskeepers tend to have big vans to keep all their supplies in.
My mom has one hell of a gut instinct. One time a friend and I were house sitting and we woke up because it sounded like there was someone trying to get in the house. This was at 3 in the morning (and it was a house right around the corner from my own). Suddenly we got a call from my mom asking if we were okay. Said she woke up and felt like something was wrong so she called us. We told her no, we thought someone was trying to break in and we were scared, so she came and got us. Next morning we looked and someone had tried to force the door.0 -
): better safe than sorry. but it would be unwise to worry and cause your health to deteriorate just because you were precautious and didn't want to run. when i was 16, i ran through a swamp, in a park, due to a guy who stopped doing what he was doing and RAN towards us... i was alone with skinny little 2 girls... it was so scary haha... and i had to throw out my swamp-smelling jeans. Anyway, be safe and change up your running times so you’re not predictable to weirdos, carry a phone at all times, be alert, but don't stress or let weirdos stop you. i think ur mother did the right thing.0
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I'd also like to point out that people with social anxiety tend to over react and exaggerate when being put in predicaments where they may have to interact with a stranger.
Lets all not jump the gun and tell her to call the police and possibly set up a sting operation (wtf?)0 -
I'd also like to point out that people with social anxiety tend to over react and exaggerate when being put in predicaments where they may have to interact with a stranger.
Lets all not jump the gun and tell her to call the police and possibly set up a sting operation (wtf?)
Key word ..GUN.....get one0 -
The OP has Social Anxiety and a mental illness....her own words in a previous thread she started.
I would probably not suggest she carry any weapons just in case the normal non-threatening person in a van might get killed before of this.
i noticed that, but I did not mention it as this thread has already devolved into nothing but a America vs. the world and NRA vs sanity.0 -
Well I definitely believe God gives us that whole tummy don't feel right intuition for a reason. I would say don't ignore the whisper..so many victims say hind sight "I knew something was wrong." On another note..I am impressed that your yard is large enough to walk for exercise lol I would clearly have to make 500 laps around my little bitty yard for it to be considered "exercise."0
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lol...yesssss nothing a little gun powder and lead won't handle0
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Our intuition is frequently wiser than we are. If those little mental alarms are going off...listen! At worst...you look a little silly. Or you might have just saved your own life. Good for you and your mom for listening to that little voice.0
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ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT! Find another place to walk!0
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In most cases I think it's mostly a case of "you've been watching too many CSI shows" but... I think I would've done the exact same thing in that situation. I have a few neighbors and friend's parents who will take note of vans / trucks that park too long in their street that are not neighborhood residence. We live in a dangerous place.. anniversary of Virginia Tech just passed and the situation in Boston... was absolutely.. wtf -_-0
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it could be, but because of the location where things always seem creepier, it could have been some people driving around trying to find a place to smoke that joint they rolled. or someone waiting for people to disapear so they can visit a loved one in private. or a creeper.
always trust your gut though, since there is a reason you get those scared feelings to begin with. with myself i get overly paranoid bc i watch the ID channel too much, but really you never know.
i never go on a walk or run without my trusty pal, lily. she sure looks like a cutie in this picture, right? she is hella protective, and if someone even approaches us, her guard goes up, but still has a friendly wag of the tail. but if she can sense danger, then her hackles go up and this deep scary growl comes out. so maybe invest in a large dog? or some pepper spray.
just take notice of your surroundings, and if you see the van again notify the local authorities. better to be safe than sorry. i would have hauled *kitten* out of there too.0 -
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.
There is a difference between an uniformed opinion and a fact based conclusion - and you can bet, the facts support me.0 -
The OP has Social Anxiety and a mental illness....her own words in a previous thread she started.
I would probably not suggest she carry any weapons just in case the normal non-threatening person in a van might get killed before of this.
people who suffer from mental health are actually more likely to be victimized than hurt someone else0 -
the greatest nation in the history of mankind. Why?
The Romans and the British might disagree with you on that one.
and just like you, they would be wrong.0
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