Uechi-Ryu.com

Sent to me GEM


None of us are stupid, but sometimes people don't think. We could all learn to be a little bit more wary by the following story.

In case your sensitive button hasn't been pushed lately.... This happened in Columbus:

A woman was shopping at the Tuttle Mall in Columbus. She came out to her car and saw she had a flat. She got her jack and spare out of
the trunk. A man in a business suit came up and started to help her.

When the tire had been replaced, he asked for a ride to his car on the opposite side of the Mall. Feeling uncomfortable about doing this,
she asked why he was on this side of the Mall if his car was on the other side. He claimed he had been talking to friends. Still uncomfortable, she told him that she had just remembered something she had forgotten to pick up at the mall and she left him and
went back inside the mall.

She reported the incident to the mall security and they went out to her car. The man was no where in sight. Opening her trunk, she discovered a briefcase the man had set inside her trunk while helping her with the tire. Inside were rope and a butcher knife!

When she took the tire to be fixed, the mechanic informed her that there was nothing wrong with her tire, that it was flat because
the air had been let out of it!

Please be safe and not sorry. Although this happened in Columbus, it could happen anywhere. Just a warning to always be alert.
Never let your guard down.

Two words: Smart woman!

Osu!
Jason

Got to watch the other side too. Driving alone, passing an attractive woman standing alongside her flat-tired car.

Both instances it is better to keep moving and mind your own business. If you simply must be a Good Samaritan, then gopher the next phone report it, then continue your journey.

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Allen - uechi@ici.net - http://www.uechi-ryu.org

Allen-san,

If everyone took your advice I'd never get my tire fixed and end up breaking a nail!

(For the record - I DO know how to change a tire though...)

Seriously - that is an effective decoy I imagine - common sense should be the rule - but it's a sad state of affairs if you can't help someone change a tire.

As for the lady in the mall, that strikes close to home - Many years ago I was working in a mall in Jacksonville, and on my way out to my car after the store had closed (still daylight - it was Sunday - the mall closed at 5) a clean-cut man in a business suit grabbed my arm and started hauling me off to his cadillac - telling me we were going to go and have a little drink and a "good time." - I of course protested, threatened him with my truck driver husband who was on his way to pick me up, planted my feet, pulled back, and all kinds of things - but the guy had a strong grip! There was NO one around, and the parking lot was almost empty - my chance came when he was fumbling to get his key in the lock while maintaining his grip on my arm (this is before the days of keyless entry and remote security sytems) and I managed to twist violently and break free - at which time I ran like hell toward the mall - just as a car pulled around the corner. He didn't follow me. These days I would certainly be more agressive - but that was then and this is now - at least I know that under that situation I was still able to keep my cool to some extent and not go willingly! After the last 10 years or so of training, reading, and this forum however, I like to think that that type of attempt again would 1) not happen because I became aware of the guy sooner or at least 2) leave him a bloody quivering mass of jelly on the pavement.

Live and learn.

Peace,
Lori

You know something: it seems like almost all of the time there is a close call or an actual bad confrontation the bells in our heads almost always go off.

There have been times when I have stopped to help strangers. Usually nothing happens. However, there have been times (more than when I played good samaritan) when something just didn't seem quite "right", so I passed up blatantly, made up a fake excuse, or offered to go get the police. It's not just because it was dark or out of the way (which is enough for me); I probably picked up on some unconscious cue that set off my protection instincts.

It's a good thing that lady went to get help and trusted her instincts. Otherwise she'd have been another story on the 6 o'clock news. Lori-san: don't worry about fixing your flat: try getting a AAA card or something, and keeping a stick under the passanger's seat in your car to use on a criminal. I'm not doubting your fighting abilities, but hey, why use the "empty hands" when you can fill them with something to knock over someone's head! Especially in a street situation.

Never let your guard down, but not only that, always trust your instincts.

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Ok, ok. Lori, when I see you with a flat tire I promise I will stop and change it for you. If you pull a colt .45 on me for my efforts, I hope it is only a cold one from a six-pack.

When I was a teenager I hitched-hiked many places including to school. I'd never do that today if I were a teenager, and NEVER do I ever give a stranger a lift these days.

Once when I bummed a ride, I remember some unpleasant events were starting to unfold and I smashed the driver in the face as hard as I could, almost causing an accident, before jumping out of the car. I was so scared that I flew over a fence between two houses. For a month after I tried to jump over that same fence under more favorable conditions, but could never even get close to the top -- talk about what adrenaline can do.

What I am trying to say is that through my own life's experiences I have formulated the mentality that oozes the urge to stay out of strangers-on-the-street business. I'm not saying I don't help strangers -- rescuing the drowning fishermen, for instance; but in the city, on the road, in a restaurant or a mall, etc., you have to watch your back and think out your decision carefully before you make your move.

This is only my opinion, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who can't wait to help others. My hat is off to them.


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Allen - uechi@ici.net - http://www.uechi-ryu.org

"I'm not saying I don't help strangers -- rescuing the drowning fishermen, for instance; but in the city, on the road, in a restaurant or a mall, etc., you have to watch your back and think out your decision carefully before you make your move."

I dunno man, some of those drowning fishermen might be up to something! (joke, man, joke)


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Hello Cecil. Nuthin' fishy about those three dudes. They WERE up to something: up to their noses in salt water.

In a way it is tough for me to speak and follow the attitude to walk away,; definitely not what I was brought up to do. But because the 'world' is as raw and nasty as it is, I'd rather be safe then sorry.

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Allen - uechi@ici.net - http://www.uechi-ryu.org

JD, the story sound too familiar to be true. Check out " The Choking Doberman and other urban legends" at your local library.

Kevin

Perhaps urban legends start off as a true story that gets so overblown that they mutate into these titulating tales.

Just a thought,

Cecil

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