This morning, I was at a stop light (for those who know Denver, Colorado Blvd & 13th Ave; a long light.) I was first to go straight, to my left was the left turn lane. Someone honked a couple of times on my left, I looked over & observed the following little drama:
Guy behind the lady next to me honked a couple of times. Getting no response from anybody, he got out of his car, went up to Lady & was clearly trying to tell her something. She looked terrified, gripped her steering wheel, stared resolutely at the traffic signal & ignored the guy. He was trying to tell her she had a bunch of keys hanging from her trunk, but she was ignoring him & praying for the light to change. Frustrated, he dashed to the back of her car, grabbed the keys & headed back to her, when the light changed. She floored it, leaving him with her keys in his hand. He jumped in his car, they turned left, I went forward…this little scenario has been in my head all day.
My coworkers & I had fun imagining the various ensuing dramas…I’m not sure whether to be sad that this (young, black) guy was subjected to what was probably fear on the (matronly white lady’s) part, or happy the she got to her destination breathless to tell the story about how she thwarted a car-jacker, only to find all her keys gone…
OK. mindless & petty, I know. perhaps they were actually lovers having a tiff & I read the thing wrong…If I read it the way it appeared, though, I’m sort of glad she has to have all her keys recut.
I’ve had a similar situation occur. Both I and the old woman were white. Her brake lights did not work. All I succeeded in doing was scaring the poor woman. BTW- I had no weird clothes, peircings or tatoos. Some people are just paranoid like that and when panic sets in they “lock up”.
. . . Of course, both of these women may have been mugged carjacked or raped in the past. Color aside, some men DO tend to do those things to us gals every so often . . .
At 13th & Colorado, while not being the best of neighborhoods, it is still VERY busy. BUT, I’m reading “Strong on Defense” which is about surviving in today’s society, and it says to do exactly what she did. In fact, it says to floor it through the intersection. Criminals DO play on your societal conditioning. They come up to your house limping saying they just crashed their bike, can they use your phone? In your house, alone with you. They bump your car and as you get out they carjack/mug/kidnap you.
I would argue that using a simple set of keys and walking up to someone at a light and saying “These were in your trunk.” would be a good way to get them to roll down their window. I got mugged in Spain by someone squirting suntan oil all over my mom and me from behind. They were nice, helpful, heck, they even had paper towels to help us clean ourselves.
“Mom, where’s your purse?”
(this also happened to a colleagues friend last week- except it was shit that was thrown on him and two pretty ladies. They got EVERYTHING- passport, money, clothes. HE was left standing on a corner covered in shit with absolutely nothing.)
Society sucks. Sorry. I still don’t want to be a victim.
The question remains, would she act the same way towards a white guy? I hope so, but…
My daughter will be taught to do the same thing, white or black. Shitty, yes. But, it’s a shitty world. You cannot afford to trust strangers anymore.
I once tried to tell a woman at an busy intersection (in broad daylight) that her petrol cap was open. I was just trying to be helpful but she ignored me. Now I just don’t bother.
Well…I don’t know. It’s a shame that woman felt so threatened. It’s a shame that the guy was ignored like that. I’ve been behind someone in traffic with keys in their trunk/purse on top of the car. I’d rather tell them about it than feel like I’m messing with their property by just going up & grabbing something. Of course I’m a fairly personable white woman, not a young black guy, so I didn’t have a problem in either situation.
I have a high bullshit detector, a strong social conscience, and two very large dogs who will act mean if they feel they have to :D…I would absolutely help someone out who came to my door, or respond if they approached me at an intersection. I’ve done all these things (or refused to, depending on gut instinct), & have never been screwed over.
I guess I refuse to live in fear, & intimidated by strangers. I wasn’t raised that way, and perhaps that builds confidence & empathy. I don’t know.
Few years ago a local woman and her husband made their first pilgrimage to Las Vegas for a gambling vacation. The woman had some luck on the machines and got on the elevator with her cup of coins and headed back to their room.
Just as the door was closing a black man joined her and as the door closed said, “hit the four.” Thinking he said hit the floor, she did, and showered them both with coins.
Later that night, flowers were delivered to the ladies room by the poor guy in question, thanking her for the laughs.
Poop! Taken in again. Guess I need to learn to keep the BS shield in full force. At least the story hasn’t lost much or changed over the years, I forgot about the 100 dollar bills in the roses.
I usually solve this problem by attempting to pull up next to the other car at a light, then roll down my window and beep the horn to get attention (I’ve done this several times when I see people driving on mostly-flat tires). A person still in their own car is much less threatening than a person who has gotten out of their car to talk to you.
I would advise any woman I know to do the same thing, Carina42. It is not a nice world we live in, and certain situations force you to assume the worst. That is one of them. I find your analysis of what ‘should’ happen to the woman dangerously naive and I hope you never have to find that out the hard way.
I would advise any woman I know to do the same thing, Carina42. It is not a nice world we live in, and certain situations force you to assume the worst. That is one of them. I find your analysis of what ‘should’ happen to the woman dangerously naive and I hope you never have to find that out the hard way.
I hope I’d react in a way that didn’t reflect either total naivete or total suspicion. Was the lady’s window up? I would certainly pay attention to someone tapping on my window and trying to tell me something, though I would not roll the window down unless I felt totally safe. But why would she stare at the light, terrified, as if he was going to break the glass and grab her? If he was going to do that, her not paying attention would not stop him. If her window was down she should have been able to hear him say “your keys are in your trunk,” so I assume it was not.
I guess I’m just not that scared if I’m in my car with the windows up and the doors locked – unless the guy approaching has a gun or a tire iron or something.
