I wonder if I should be suspicious that yesterday was the second time in a roughly 10 1/2-month period that a Hispanic male has tried to coerce me into getting into their vehicle. The last time that happened was on September 20th, which was a Wednesday, 2023.
I also have to wonder if the name given, Marcel, was really the guy’s name. He seemed nice enough, but something just felt off.
What really bothered me was that at around 2:00 PM he had shadowed me all the way from the old McGuire’s property which is now owned by SCCC, up to the Liberty Street intersection on Main Street. I know he had shadowed me because I had already come across the woman he was with while negotiating some construction in that area.
Someone else had beaten her to it when this woman attempted to help the first time though. So, when they left their car in the middle of the Liberty Street intersection and approached me, I was already suspicious when I heard her speak and realized that she was with the man that was doing most of the talking.
When the gentleman first approached me, he tried saying that he was sent by the construction people down the street who wanted him to drive me home. Then he changed his story and said that he wanted to drive me home because his daughter, the woman that was with him, was concerned that I might get hurt. Then they offered to walk me home when they realized that I wasn’t getting in the car with them.
They finally begged off after that, me having politely declined every step of the way. But I have to wonder, if I hadn’t intentionally started to cross a busy intersection, signaling the end of our conversation, what would have happened?
They weren’t quite as aggressive as the Jackass that had come up to me back in September on the side of Newton Sparta Road when I was on my way back from LabCorp. But even still, they were aggressive, nonetheless.
I have no problem with receiving assistance when I really need the assistance. But there is a difference between offering help and too much help. “It didn’t feel right!”