Mrs. HM's weirdo magnet has not gone the way of our generator battery. Nothing dead there! No need for a jump. The weirdo magnet is working at full capacity. As evidenced last week in Save A Lot.
I had left the lottery machine, and was wheeling my cart along the produce section, selecting Romaine lettuce. A guy (WEIRDO) came up behind me. I didn't know he was a weirdo just yet.
He was normal height, stocky, early 20s, wearing jeans and a nice dark brown Carhartt jacket, with medium brown hair styled like singer Bobby Goldsboro (when he was on Here Come the Brides), only not as poofy. He wasn't really close to me, but I sensed someone coming up past the bananas. I saw him over my left shoulder, about 10 feet away. I figured he must want to look at something where I was, so I picked my lettuce and left.
I went down that aisle to the end, and turned to come up the next aisle, for sliced dill pickles. As I was spinning a couple jars around, to make sure I got GOOD slices, not really thin and seedy slices, I looked up and saw Weirdo. He had come down from the top of this aisle. Maybe 15 feet away now. By the ketchup. He wasn't really looking at any items on the shelves, and not really looking at me. Just kind of staring off into space. Like maybe I had caught him looking at me. He had no cart. Nothing in his hands.
I turned and went back the way I had come up that aisle. Went around to the next one, to get some canned green beans. You guessed it! Weirdo came down from the top of that aisle. Stood along the canned meats. His body facing me, his back to the SPAM and sardines, gazing into space. NOTHING IN HIS HANDS! I might not have been so suspicious if he held some food, or even a cell phone. Nope.
This was getting creepy. There were a few other people in the store. But Weirdo didn't seem to be following them. It wasn't a matter of us coincidentally shopping for the same items at the same time. Wherever I went, there he appeared! He caught up to me again on the chip aisle, where I was getting a bag of big pretzels.
As I was in line to check out, Weirdo had wandered across the front aisle, but had turned to amble back in my direction. Absolutely nothing in his hands.
WHAT IN THE NOT-HEAVEN???
I can only think that maybe his motive was to steal my debit card info! Who else tries to follow somebody, and get kind of close, but has no reason to be there? Young people these days! They know all about technology, and how to tap into somebody's "tap" card. On the other hand, perhaps he was just an old-fashioned purse-snatcher, and was hoping I'd walk away from my cart so he could snatch Pursey.
Weirdo picked the wrong gal for THAT! Mrs. HM doesn't leave her cart/walker.
4 comments:
I feel like he was hoping you would leave you purse unattended. I think I would have asked him if he needed some help. Psycho. I also wonder if he noticed you have a bit of a mobility issue and figured he could outrun you? Good thing you are always present and are aware of your environment. I am a bit lax on that, and my husband is always on full alert. I grew up in a trusting community, where people didn't lock their doors. However, I have moved back to this same community, and we lock up everything. No longer the trusting community, but still better than the bigger suburbs or cities. Ranee
You are right to be so wary, many people these days carry "card readers" in their pockets and when close enough the "reader" gathers the information from your cards. Have you got RFID protected pockets to slip your cards into? that way the "reader" can't get any information.
I had a similar incident at a bus stop, with a foreign-looking person always moving to where I was and making sure his over-the-shoulder bag was on the same side I was. I eventually looked him in the face and moved twenty feet away. I always have my cards in protective pockets, but I wanted him to know that I knew what he was up to.
Rae,
I'm sure he noticed I was hobbling. It's so odd that he came into the store, then meandered around, always showing up on my aisle, with no cart and nothing in his hands. I always turned to look at him. I'm pretty sure that once I even muttered, "What in the actual NOT-HEAVEN is going on here?" I guess I wasn't acting crazy enough to scare him away!
River,
I do not have those RFID protectors. I will look into getting some. I just carry my card in my shirt pocket. I am always suspicious of people who get too close, or keep showing up in my area.
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