I met a meth head in the middle of the road yesterday. I was not expecting this!
I was heading into town to pick up a runner (rug) from a lady, and to do my grocery shopping. I turned left at the blinking light that makes the crossroads of two highways. There she was.
It was a woman wearing loose, sloppy clothing and slippers. The slippers weren’t exactly bunny slippers, but something like that. She seemed to be stumbling or in some kind of stupor. She was clearly in trouble so I stopped and rolled the window down. “Do you need a ride?” I asked.
At that point, I was already hoping that either she did or she didn’t. Because once stopped, she approached the car. This is when I saw she had a jacket hung over one arm. Her other hand was concealed under it…did she have a gun?
I really thought she had a gun. Picture it. A gal in something akin to pajamas, with a jacket draped over one arm, with her other hand, shoved beneath it. “My husband is going to be pissed,” I thought. “That I am this stupid.” I glanced in my rear view mirror to see it she was a distraction for some larger ambush about to take place. I really thought the odds she shoot me are steal my car were at about 80%.
But she didn’t want a ride. And as far as I know, she didn’t have a gun, though I never saw her hand. She stumbled over and asked me if I knew some man, “Bobby Whoever”. That’s when it hit me, she was looking for drugs. IN A STUPOR.
“I don’t know him,” I said. That was is. I rolled up my window and drove away. As I was pulling away, a truck made the same left turn I had. He slowed but did not stop. He might have been following my example. I’ll never know.
I wondered if I should call the sheriff but I didn’t seem to have cause. It is not illegal to walk around looking for someone, wearing whatever you please.
This was not at all comfortable for me but I am really glad it happened. I drove away safely and next time I am going to be a lot less stupid.
I still think I would stop. But I would stop at a distance and tell the person to show their hands. I would not make it so easy to shoot and kill me or take my car…do who knows what, with what accomplices.
I’m posting this because I have been writing in my newsletters (some which may not have been sent yet), to stay vigilant. I mean it. Such a potential for tricks and violence out there. Take care.
Thank you. I tend to err on the side of caution. For example, one night a couple of years ago at the university park and ride a strung out chick came up to my window. I’m sure she was expecting money or a ride. No ma’am. I got the hell out of there. I do not roll my window down for strangers. Exception: I was feeling generous last October. I was in love and flush. Had money to spare. Gave $20 to a strung out panhandler because he was wearing a Painter Bob t-shirt. Texted my boyfriend at the time, the Capricorn. “I know what you’re gonna say…” And he came back with,”You know me well.”
It’s very hard to keep driving when you see someone who looks like they could use some help. My husband will stop every time. I will too….but with caution because I know many times these things are set ups for any kind of crime.
I will empty my wallet in a homeless persons hand. People say don’t do it…they will buy booze or drugs. Still, I cant help it. I always convince myself they will not do that, they need help, they are hungry.
We went to get some lunch with my son and his daughter Saturday. I couldn’t really eat and didn’t stay long but I noticed our waiter was being rung out. People were treating him like shit. He was busting his ass trying to earn an honest living. I watched as he was treated poorly by one person after the next.
When I went to the register to pay he was the person helping me. After I paid the bill I emptied out my wallet and gave it to him. Squeezed his hand and told him I appreciated his hard work and it wasn’t lost on me. He looked at me stunned….sometimes you just have to make up for the bad behavior of others and I could help because I was in a safe place.
It’s a shame the world is so scary today that you are afraid to reach out and try to help someone that looks like they could use a little help and kindness. I am blessed that even sick I am still able to earn. So, I will empty my wallet to anyone I see in need. Who knows…someday that could be me. We never know about these things.
One day everything is going your way, the next everything you own is gone. You are right though…the potential for tricks and violence is great right now.
Bless you. Poor guy.
Well, that’s interesting-the impulse to pull over and offer a ride. My mom the triple Sadge has that, she offers rides all the time and is usually fortunate in her occupants (ie: “omg, you won’t believe the story this guy had!”) My instinct would be to avoid aye contact and call the cops thinking, as a dupe would, that the “authorities” could help but who would ultimately make it worse for her.
Years ago when my son was five, he and I would drop his two baby sisters at Mother’s Day Out and have Mommy and him time for an hour and a half before he went to kindergarten. It was only twice a week and he was on a bagel kick, so we went to the bagel shop and ate and talked. One day a young woman came up to our table. It was 10 a.m. and she had on a slinky silver mini-dress, high heels and ruined make-up. She asked if she could sit with us and I said yes. She told me she was staying with a friend nearby and that they had gone to a bar nearby the night before and had gotten separated. She asked me if I could drive her to her apartment – it was about 5 miles away. Not far by car but very far in high heels with an obvious hang over. I told her my son and I would like to finish our breakfast but then I would. She sat at another table and we had our Mommy and Me time. When we went to my car, my son sat in the backseat in a booster seat, I told her she had to put her purse in the trunk of my car. She didn’t hesitate, just handed it to me and I drove her home. It was a scary thing to do but once when I was 21 I was abandoned by a friend at a Bruce Springsteen concert and two young women took me home. Sometimes we pay it forward.
If she looks like that…she might be a prostitute. Someone asking her for a ride might be her client. Maybe Bobby is her pimp. Like she doesn’t get into anybodys car unless they know Bobby. Lol Neva know. Maybe she thought you were taking her to her next client?
Yeah. I didn’t think of that. She’s was a mess.
Yeah, difficult choice. Wanting to help someone and if it turns out bad, then you have only yourself to blame because you are kind.
Thanks for reminding others that not everyone out there is nice, and things can get dangerous very easily.
I think this feels like being back in the middle ages, or wonder if we ever even left those rough times. How many “civilized” people are out there? (And the drug scene… such a curse with so much money to be made.)
Hhhmm, “civilzation” is a thin veneer.
The teeth and complexion will tell a lot. Those meth people age fast, have horrid sores all over and their teeth get rotten fast. Just something to look for.
Thanks Elsa. wow you were brave to be concerned enough to stop. I think a trick has been planned for me but will dodge it. Not gonna fall for that BS again.
On election night I left the grocery store about dark but heard on the radio that election results coming in were very surprising. I sat in the parking lot and listened. I was a little stunned. A woman raced into the parking lot and tried to stop a car and they kept going. She drove away but then circled around me and pulled up next to my car door. She acted frantic and asked for money for gas and food because she needed to flee to her mothers house about 4 hours away. She said her boyfriend was going to kill her if he found her. I couldn’t tell if she was being honest but thought if she is in a desperate situation and I don’t help her I might be karmically responsible for her getting hurt. Told her I didn’t have cash but could put gas in her truck with my card. We pulled over to the pumps. I was behind her. When I pulled in next to her she was talking on a cell phone with her head turned away from me. I knew then that I was being fleeced. I thought maybe her boyfriend or her gang was watching in vehicles from a distance. I quickly thought that if I pull away now and leave she/they could follow me home. I decided to fill her up and pray. I was shaking and had much difficulty with the process of paying and filling up her truck. She finally had to help me with the hose. Once the gas was pumping I asked her a couple of questions about her safety while on the way to her mother’s house. She was vague and irritable. She said she needed food for the trip. I told her I don’t have cash but I’m making sure she can get to her mom without running out of gas, and that’s the best I can do, and she can make it till she gets to her mom’s to eat, and didn’t she need to get on the road fast. I knew it was all a ruse by then anyway. She said there was an ATM across the street. She had to have known about the ATM machine in advance. It was dark and I couldn’t see what was in the big parking lot across the road, over 4 lanes of traffic, and under bright lights at the gas pump. She’s bound to have done this before. I said I don’t use ATM’s, and I don’t have cash, and I was telling the truth. I could have taken her in the grocery store and paid for her to get groceries but I didn’t want to. I’d just gotten my own groceries and budgeted carefully how much I could spend. She persisted about the ATM. By this time I figured she and her boyfriend must be on drugs. She was thin and pallid. I was not buying their dinner. The gas cost $55.00. I was scared someone might be following me with ideas of robbery or breaking and entering. I’m 66 and could have been easily overpowered. I’ve had a sick feeling about this ever since, how I put myself in danger and finances in a strain. I’m leery of being spotted by her/or the others involved when I go the the store. I haven’t told anyone because I’m embarrassed that I was such a sucker.
(((Jeannie)))
How terrifying.
You did the right thing; generosity doesn’t go out into the void, and will come back to you in time