Over at my aunt’s house, waiting for a major delivery, I decided to walk over to the store, about half a mile away, because I was tired of sitting in the house. On the way back, I decided to go the longer way, because it was away from the highway.
As I was getting close to the house, a woman pulled up alongside me in a pickup.
“You know you’re not supposed to go back there.”
“What the hell are you talking about.”
“There’s a school back there.”
She spent ten minutes trying to feed me bullshit, including that she had seen me before (utterly obvious nonsense) and other slightly threatening blather, pulling forward every time I would walk farther, until I finally convinced her to back the hell off because she was blocking me from getting to where I was going.
What is this “you’re not supposed to be back there” crap? I have been given to understand that there is a group home of some sort in the area. Does this mean that a person deserves to be accosted with hostile accusations for doing something slightly out of the ordinary, in an area that is not gated and has no warning signs? The school itself is not even identified on that street.
This is the level of paranoia this country has attained, and it is truly disturbing. Everyone whom you do not know has become a potential hazard. We are not just politically divided, the fear and hostility has come to saturate our daily lives. Stay in your car. Follow the Nav instructions. Do nothing the least bit unusual.
It sounds like the beginning of a horror movie - like there’s something very bad at the school, or all the kids are ghosts or something.
In which case, the woman you met is either part of the evil goings-on, or - more likely - is a gruff local person offering a warning about the place, in which case they may well reappear later in the plot when you go to investigate the mysterious school, possibly saving you from the ghosts or evil presence.
About 10 years ago, I was driving to work one morning, and on the way I always passed a scenic old cemetery. That morning there was a layer of fog floating a couple feet above the ground, among the headstones, and the bluish dim light was perfect. I happened to have my camera and tripod with me for some pics I was going to take for work, so I set up for a long exposure.
A police car stopped and they asked what I was doing, and politely but firmly told me to leave. I asked what was so dangerous about taking pictures of a cemetery? They said there was a water tower in the background, and you can’t be too careful after 9/11. I thought it was a bit of an overreaction, but I shrugged and took off— I had already gotten the pic anyway.
Driving to a family function, the missus and I spotted a hand-lettered sign (magic marker on cardboard) hanging from someone’s mailbox that read: “Please leave me alone. You know who you are and what you are doing. Thanks.”
I agree this is where things have been going for a while now, and it’s disturbing. That said, I rarely run into this sort of thing. But it seems lots of my acquaintances and co-workers have a low-level fear of… everyone else, I guess.
This perplexes me because violent crime is at its lowest since around the late 80s / early 90s. We have far less to fear from our neighbors than ever before. Yet I know a fair number of people who feel it imperative to carry a firearm on them at all times, and occasionally display paranoia like the person in the OP’s story.
I also notice this from those in law enforcement and other forms of authority. Everything is suspicious, and you get that super “officious” attitude that they’re just doing their job by hassling someone taking photos near a cemetery.
There’s crazy person in every neighborhood. Sometimes you get lucky and there are 2 who wage war against each other. Everyone else just goes about their business. Reason #96 why I don’t live in town.