12x12: A Nightmare Before Christmas

[00:00:00] This Podcast contains adult language and content, listener discretion is advised.

[00:00:04] If you have a story to share, send it to Lets Not Meet Stories at gmail.com.

[00:00:09] Enjoy the show!

[00:00:30] I have a long commute from home to work and back again, and I heavily depend on my local

[00:00:44] train system.

[00:00:46] One day during said commute, there were some issues that caused all the trains to be canceled

[00:00:52] for hours which left me stranded for an hour and a half as I was making my way home.

[00:00:59] At the train station, there were a few others who were heading in my direction so we decided

[00:01:04] to split a taxi.

[00:01:06] The people that I met were Lisa, who was heading to my city to catch a gig, who was a bit

[00:01:11] tipsy, she was also joined by Kyle who was beyond drunk.

[00:01:16] They seemed like friends possibly with benefits.

[00:01:19] He was alright but he made me a bit uncomfortable because he kept peeing in a bush and making

[00:01:26] vulgar comments.

[00:01:28] There was another man, John who was traveling alone.

[00:01:31] He mentioned that he had just moved to the city.

[00:01:34] He was traveling back to my city as he had just broken up with his girlfriend and was picking

[00:01:39] his stuff up from her place.

[00:01:42] In addition to these three there was another woman who was in on the deal at first but

[00:01:48] she decided to stay at her mother's house for the evening so she dropped out of the taxi

[00:01:53] ride.

[00:01:55] That should have been a cue for me to drop out as well but Lisa had just run for a taxi

[00:02:00] and they already calculated how much we all needed to pay for the trip so I didn't want

[00:02:05] to back out.

[00:02:07] I was a little concerned about getting into a car with all of these strangers so I suddenly

[00:02:12] asked Lisa if I could sit next to her in the taxi.

[00:02:15] She nodded and replied.

[00:02:17] I completely understand, come on, I'll sit in the middle.

[00:02:21] When our taxi arrived, drunk Kyle sat in the front.

[00:02:25] I sat on the passenger's side in the back seat, Lisa sat in the middle.

[00:02:29] Then John got in the taxi.

[00:02:31] Mind you we were parked in a place where there was no danger for him to get into the taxi

[00:02:37] on the other side.

[00:02:38] There was no oncoming traffic or obstructions of any kind.

[00:02:42] He opened the door that I was sitting by and just stared at me.

[00:02:46] Lisa cheerfully suggested that he get in on the other side.

[00:02:50] She didn't want to die out my discomfort so she explained that she wanted the middle

[00:02:55] seat so she would be able to talk to Kyle more easily.

[00:02:59] John continued to stand there, staring at us for another second before scoffing and slowly

[00:03:05] walking to the other side to get in.

[00:03:08] The ride itself was awkward as Lisa and Kyle were both drunk and decided to air their dirty

[00:03:15] laundry about their friends with benefits situation.

[00:03:19] Lisa was still guzzling back drinks that she was sneaking from her purse and she finally

[00:03:25] said that she needed to stop and go to the toilet.

[00:03:28] She was starting to get desperate so the taxi driver found a public leisure center which

[00:03:33] is somewhat similar to a rest stop for US listeners.

[00:03:38] The taxi driver pulled in and she got out and went to the restroom.

[00:03:43] I should have known better and I should have gone out with her but I didn't need to

[00:03:47] go so I honestly didn't even think about it.

[00:03:50] Normally when I'm out with my female friends and restaurants or bars, I go with them but

[00:03:56] this was an entirely different situation and it was freezing outside so I stayed in the

[00:04:01] taxi.

[00:04:03] Kyle and John stepped out of the taxi to smoke a cigarette.

[00:04:07] When we all saw Lisa coming back, John quickly got into the back of the car and scooted into

[00:04:13] the middle seat.

[00:04:14] When he casually put his hand, high up on my thigh and rested it there.

[00:04:20] I should have done something or said something made a scene but I froze.

[00:04:26] Lisa opened the door and looked at John then looked at me.

[00:04:29] She then looked at John's hand on my upper thigh.

[00:04:33] She politely said, oh I'm sorry can we switch please?

[00:04:36] I love sitting in the middle.

[00:04:39] John was pissed.

[00:04:40] He looked over at me while I was still frozen.

[00:04:43] He then removed his hand from my thigh and scooted back to make room for her.

[00:04:49] He grumbled something but I couldn't hear what he said since Lisa hit him with an upbeat

[00:04:54] thank you as she slid in next to me.

[00:04:58] John was then sitting on the other side of Lisa and we took off.

[00:05:03] Lisa took my hand and whispered, woman to woman I'll make sure that you get home safely.

[00:05:09] And throughout the rest of the journey each time Lisa leaned forward to speak to Kyle

[00:05:14] John slipped his hand over to her seat so that when she sat back down he would touch

[00:05:20] her.

[00:05:22] Every time this happened she laughed and said, oh sorry I think I sat on your hand.

[00:05:29] I felt awful because she was in this position because of me.

[00:05:33] I quietly apologized to her but she simply repeated that she wanted to get me home safely.

[00:05:39] And woman again.

[00:05:41] She was pretty drunk at this point from drinking during the ride so I think she was hyperfixated

[00:05:46] on that sentiment.

[00:05:48] It was her mission.

[00:05:50] When we got close to the city center Lisa asked me where I needed to get to and I told

[00:05:55] her the general area.

[00:05:58] John said he lived in an area that was literally in the opposite direction.

[00:06:02] His suburb was north of the city center while I'm south of it.

[00:06:08] After Kyle and Lisa got out of the cab John insisted that we continue to share the taxi

[00:06:12] even though it made no sense as we lived in opposite directions.

[00:06:17] I said no, he was insistent.

[00:06:20] I won't take no for an answer.

[00:06:22] He said through clenched teeth.

[00:06:25] Lisa was hammered and crying about how much she loves her dog so I was on my own at

[00:06:30] this point.

[00:06:31] I texted my husband and I let him know that I was terrified and asked if he could walk

[00:06:36] over to the city center to come and get me.

[00:06:38] My husband booked it as fast as he could.

[00:06:42] When I saw him I said bye to Lisa and ran as fast as I could over to my husband.

[00:06:49] I know we say it all the time but it needs to be said again.

[00:06:52] Fuck being polite when you feel scared uncomfortable or intimidated in a situation.

[00:06:58] John likely latched on to me because I appeared to be female traveling alone while Lisa had

[00:07:03] a man with her.

[00:07:05] I'll always appreciate Lisa for doing what she could.

[00:07:08] I'll never forget her woman to woman philosophy and she's right.

[00:07:13] Women need to stick together.

[00:07:33] This happened three years ago.

[00:07:35] I was hired to work at an auto shop as the front desk receptionist.

[00:07:40] One of my guy friends had been working there so he helped me out with getting me the job.

[00:07:46] It was a pretty straightforward job.

[00:07:48] I checked customers in, checked them out, answered phones generated invoices etc.

[00:07:56] When I was hired for this job I was freshly 15.

[00:07:59] I acted mature for my age but I was technically a child and I was also the only girl who

[00:08:06] was working there.

[00:08:07] I had two managers who we will call Peter and Alvin.

[00:08:12] Peter was the main boss.

[00:08:14] He had a dry sense of humor but he was cool to be around.

[00:08:18] Alvin also had a great sense of humor but he was more goofy and overall he was very pleasant

[00:08:25] in general.

[00:08:26] And then there was Chester.

[00:08:29] That wasn't his real name but I decided that we'll call this guy Chester because I don't

[00:08:35] like that name.

[00:08:37] He was 40.

[00:08:38] He had a girlfriend and a 13 year old daughter.

[00:08:41] He was very exuberant.

[00:08:43] He was always very loud and he thought that he was quite funny.

[00:08:48] After meeting him things were pretty normal at first.

[00:08:51] We like to joke around with each other.

[00:08:53] He would tease me like a boy would tease a girl on a playground.

[00:08:57] He would do things like pull my hair or poke me and he did this after I already laid

[00:09:01] down my rules when working there.

[00:09:05] I said that I hated being touched and that's it.

[00:09:10] After I gently reminded Chester of this, he started to get as close to me as humanly

[00:09:14] possible and say, I'm not touching you and laugh.

[00:09:19] This was never funny to me.

[00:09:20] I always found it annoying but I just laughed it off, though I felt uncomfortable.

[00:09:27] Then he was telling jokes laced with innuendos but whenever we were alone he straight up talked

[00:09:33] about his sex life.

[00:09:35] I knew this wasn't right so I stopped using a familiar tone with him and I started putting

[00:09:40] on my customer service voice whenever I was around him.

[00:09:44] As I was still easing into this new job one day, I baked cookies for everyone working

[00:09:50] in the garage.

[00:09:52] When I dropped them off, Chester leaned in very close to me.

[00:09:56] I thought he was going to sniff the cookies but he sniffed me.

[00:10:02] You smell really good and your hair looks nice today, he said.

[00:10:07] I didn't like that comment whatsoever so I went back to the reception area to continue

[00:10:12] working.

[00:10:13] All throughout the day he was going on and on about the cookies that I made.

[00:10:18] At one point he said, I know cookie isn't innuendo.

[00:10:22] I just want you to know that I really like your cookies.

[00:10:27] This should have been my breaking point but we did finally reach that when he started finding

[00:10:32] a reason to touch me.

[00:10:34] Any reason.

[00:10:36] Whenever I was sitting at the computer he would make up reasons for needing to lean in close

[00:10:41] to look at my monitor and he would brush his fingers against my leg.

[00:10:47] When I came into work one day he grabbed me and pulled me in for a hug.

[00:10:52] And it wasn't a friendly grab, he grabbed me so tightly I couldn't escape.

[00:10:58] When I finally pushed him away from me, Alvin rounded the corner and saw what happened.

[00:11:03] I noticed that he looked a little uneasy but I was grateful that somebody else had witnessed

[00:11:08] Chester's inappropriate behavior around me.

[00:11:12] As I walked around the corner to get away from Chester I said, I told you I don't like

[00:11:16] to be touched dude, don't hug me.

[00:11:20] Chester replied, well, touch is how I show my affection.

[00:11:27] Not only did he brush off my attempts to tell him to stop but he also admitted to being

[00:11:31] affectionate towards a 15 year old.

[00:11:35] During this time Chester was openly talking about me and my appearance to the other guys

[00:11:39] in the garage.

[00:11:41] Another guy who worked there will call him Steve, pulled our manager Alvin aside and said

[00:11:46] that he was worried for me.

[00:11:48] Steve told Alvin what Chester had been saying about me and he said that Chester was always

[00:11:53] looking at me inappropriately and flirting with me.

[00:11:57] Alvin said that he noticed this as well but since he is a father of two girls himself

[00:12:03] he thought that he was being too overprotective since his fatherly instincts were kicking in.

[00:12:08] Alvin thought that he was reading too much into things but when he was approached by Steve

[00:12:14] he felt this finally confirmed his suspicions.

[00:12:17] Chester was sketchy and gross.

[00:12:19] I ended up speaking with Alvin the day that he spoke to Steve about Chester.

[00:12:24] Toward the end of the day Alvin asked me to stay and talk to him.

[00:12:29] After the garage closed and everyone else left I opened up to Alvin about everything

[00:12:33] Chester had been doing.

[00:12:34] After that I went home and felt relieved that I shared my experiences with my boss.

[00:12:41] It was nice that Alvin cared for me like a human and not just an employee.

[00:12:45] Peter, my other boss texted me after Alvin caught him up on everything.

[00:12:49] He told me that everything was going to be okay and that the situation would be handled.

[00:12:54] Peter's dad is the big boss of the garage.

[00:12:58] He owns it and I wound up meeting with him and telling him everything as well.

[00:13:03] Peter's dad let me know that they had known Chester for a long time so I was worried that

[00:13:08] he would be apprehensive about even taking any action but luckily he's a good guy.

[00:13:13] And he trusted my word.

[00:13:15] Also he was able to review the camera footage of Chester grabbing me in that forceful hug

[00:13:20] which was tough to escape.

[00:13:24] What he was seeing made him really uncomfortable so Chester was fired.

[00:13:28] I think the most traumatic thing for me and this whole ordeal was the fact that Chester

[00:13:33] talked about me as if I were a sex object so openly that I was 15.

[00:13:38] His daughter was only two years younger than I was.

[00:13:42] It was disgusting and disturbing.

[00:13:45] I'm just glad that I've always been a confident person with well-defined boundaries because

[00:13:51] if I hadn't, he would have taken advantage of me for sure.

[00:13:56] He was very much acting like a predator and I'm immensely glad that he no longer is a part

[00:14:02] of that establishment.

[00:14:04] To anyone who has a daughter, please teach your daughter to speak up when people make her

[00:14:09] uncomfortable.

[00:14:11] Even seemingly the little things like weird jokes can snowball and turn into something

[00:14:16] bigger.

[00:14:17] It's been like this for young women for a while and it's only getting worse.

[00:14:21] To all the women out there always enforce your boundaries and never let a guy get away with

[00:14:25] being a creep.

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[00:15:50] Now back to the show.

[00:16:06] This happened a year ago.

[00:16:08] I'm in adult mail with a tall build.

[00:16:11] I'm about 250 pounds.

[00:16:13] I live with my dog.

[00:16:15] My neighborhood is considered one of the nicer ones in my city but that doesn't mean it's

[00:16:20] without its share of crime and other incidents.

[00:16:25] Most incidents that occur in my neighborhood tend to be car break-ins, but sometimes there

[00:16:31] are worse cases.

[00:16:33] For example on occasion college students or other people who are not from the area get robbed

[00:16:38] when they aren't paying attention to their surroundings.

[00:16:42] Growing up I lived in much rougher parts of the city, so being alert, vigilant and

[00:16:47] observant of my surroundings has always been second nature to me.

[00:16:52] I have to be especially aware at night.

[00:16:55] Even my dog knows that when we go out for his nightly walk it's all about the business

[00:17:00] of doing his business.

[00:17:02] He knows our nighttime walks are quick with no daily dallying.

[00:17:07] On this particular night I was running late since I had a work project that needed to

[00:17:12] be completed on time.

[00:17:14] Our walk was delayed, but an hour passed our regular time so it was about 10 pm.

[00:17:20] I absolutely hate going out too late.

[00:17:24] I was already feeling anxious about missing our regular time since other dog owners are

[00:17:29] generally out doing the same and I knew that we would be out there alone since it was

[00:17:34] so late.

[00:17:36] Something told me to make sure to carry my firearm with me.

[00:17:40] So after I got my dog in his harness, I secured my firearm in my waistband and I headed

[00:17:45] out the door.

[00:17:47] We started our usual walk up the street moving at a brisk pace.

[00:17:52] The street was completely empty of pedestrians and car traffic.

[00:17:57] It was eerily quiet.

[00:17:59] We walked about halfway up the street before my dog started sniffing around for a good

[00:18:04] area to do his business.

[00:18:07] As he was sniffing away I spotted a red pickup truck flying down the street well over

[00:18:12] the speed limit.

[00:18:14] The truck eventually came to a screeching halt in the middle of the street about 30 feet

[00:18:18] ahead of us.

[00:18:20] As soon as he hit the brakes, I quickly walked up further to put a row of sporadically spaced

[00:18:27] parked cars on the street between us and I continued walking while keeping my eyes

[00:18:33] on the truck.

[00:18:35] As we walked by, the door of the truck opened.

[00:18:39] Then a guy got out of the truck and was bent over coughing profusely.

[00:18:44] He was hacking up spit and whatnot in the middle of the street while clutching onto the

[00:18:48] frame of his truck door.

[00:18:51] My dog and I both kept eyes on the guy who was about 25 feet away as we walked past.

[00:18:57] He then looked up at me while keeping one arm inside the car door and asked, can you

[00:19:02] come here for a second?

[00:19:05] Without breaking stride I replied.

[00:19:07] Yeah, I'm not going to do that.

[00:19:10] I then rotated my body and walked backwards as we passed him so as not to turn my back

[00:19:15] on him.

[00:19:16] While still backing away on our path, I asked him what was wrong.

[00:19:21] He said, I'm not feeling well.

[00:19:24] Can you please come over here?

[00:19:27] While continuing to back away, I flat out said no and told him that he could pull into

[00:19:32] any of the vacant parking spaces on his side of the street and rest until he felt better.

[00:19:38] I offered to call an ambulance for him if it was really feeling that bad.

[00:19:44] Upon hearing this his face contorted into a snarl.

[00:19:48] He also suddenly no longer had coughing fits.

[00:19:53] Any sign of visible distress vanished.

[00:19:56] He was pissed that I wouldn't cooperate.

[00:19:59] He then closed the door a little bit so that it was slightly ajar.

[00:20:03] His arm had been hiding behind that door but it was now concealed behind his back.

[00:20:09] He slowly started to approach me and my dog saying, please come here sir, I told you that

[00:20:15] I'm not feeling well.

[00:20:18] I then clipped my dogs leash to my belt and stood parallel against the side of a large

[00:20:23] SUV parked on my side of the street.

[00:20:26] I also moved my hand behind my back to my waistband.

[00:20:30] I was ready to pull my firearm if needed.

[00:20:32] I told him he was close enough from behind the vehicle.

[00:20:37] When he realized my arm was also concealed behind my back, he stopped and stared at me

[00:20:41] for a second.

[00:20:42] I could literally see him working out the mat in his head on the chances of me bluffing.

[00:20:49] He immediately decided to turn around and go back to his truck but he didn't leave

[00:20:54] at first.

[00:20:56] He reached inside with his concealed hand before he looked back over his shoulder.

[00:21:01] As he stared, he noticed that I was staring at him also as I hadn't left my position

[00:21:08] next to the buffer vehicle nor did I ever turn my back to him.

[00:21:13] Then he said something to someone in the passenger seat.

[00:21:17] I had no idea anyone was even in the car since they were obstructed by the dark window

[00:21:23] tent.

[00:21:24] They agreed to something and then he quickly hopped in the car slam the door and sped

[00:21:29] off into the night.

[00:21:31] I haven't seen that guy since that night and I've never had anything like that happen

[00:21:36] to me since.

[00:21:37] To the man and his friend in the red pickup truck, let's not meet.

[00:21:51] Years ago I lived in a condo with my two dogs, Smoky and the Bandit.

[00:21:56] The two of them were brother and sister and I got them when they were puppies.

[00:22:01] For reference, their mother was a shelty which is a miniature cally.

[00:22:07] They had different fathers though.

[00:22:09] Smoky's father was a German shepherd and Bandits was a husky.

[00:22:14] Both of my dogs were shepherd sized dogs with long thick coats that made them appear

[00:22:20] a lot larger than they actually were.

[00:22:24] Personality wise, they were both big babies who loved people and loved attention.

[00:22:30] They would happily look any person that they meet to death if given the chance.

[00:22:35] One night I got home late at around 230.

[00:22:38] I took them outside for a quick run and a bathroom break which is something I had done

[00:22:43] on many occasions.

[00:22:46] We lived on the back side of the condo building on the ground level.

[00:22:50] Our backyard was a huge park like area with lots of grass divided up by intersecting pathways.

[00:22:59] It was kind of like a square with four quadrants surrounded by other condos.

[00:23:06] The area right in front of my condo was a big field with a path about halfway through

[00:23:12] which ran parallel to the condo complex.

[00:23:15] To the left of that was an area around the same size divided between a large playground

[00:23:19] area and a forested area that also had pathways running through it.

[00:23:25] On this night my dogs and I headed straight out of my condo into the pathway that led

[00:23:30] through the big open field.

[00:23:32] I had just noticed someone, a tall skinny man dressed in all black.

[00:23:38] He was whistling while walking along the path that I just crossed.

[00:23:43] As I ran with the dogs I noticed that the whistling stopped so I looked over my shoulder

[00:23:49] and noticed that the man had diverted off of his path and was now walking in a direct

[00:23:54] line towards me.

[00:23:57] I immediately thought, oh shit this can't be good so I took a heart left and I ran into

[00:24:04] the playground area.

[00:24:07] It was well lit over there but there was also a huge man-made hill in that area.

[00:24:14] I ran around the hill where he wouldn't be able to see me.

[00:24:17] I stayed there for a minute to formulate my plan.

[00:24:21] Luckily I knew the area very well having spent hours walking around everywhere and exploring

[00:24:27] with the dogs.

[00:24:28] The playground was bordered on one side by the forested area so I crept through the trees

[00:24:34] to where the path ran through so that I could circle back towards my condo.

[00:24:40] I kept close to the shadowed area and I hoped and prayed that I had lost him or that he

[00:24:47] had lost interest.

[00:24:49] The forested area basically ends right where the backyard area is, where the four quadrants

[00:24:54] of grass are at my condo.

[00:24:58] Still hidden in the forest area, I looked at the open area ahead.

[00:25:02] I couldn't see anyone so I made a break for it and started running like hell.

[00:25:08] Up to this point, for my dogs it was still just any other walk.

[00:25:14] They had been happily galloping alongside me the entire time seemingly unaware of any

[00:25:20] potential danger.

[00:25:22] As I left my hiding spot in the forest, I saw this guy jump out of a cluster of bushes

[00:25:28] nearby.

[00:25:29] I had a good head start on him but I had no idea how fast he was so I just kept running,

[00:25:36] not looking back.

[00:25:38] What happened next still amazes me to this day.

[00:25:42] As I was running with the dogs, still at my side, Smokey suddenly stopped dead in her

[00:25:46] tracks.

[00:25:48] She turned around and assumed a don't fuck with me stance and started snarling and growling

[00:25:53] at the man that was chasing us.

[00:25:55] This caused him to stop dead in his tracks as well.

[00:25:58] Meanwhile, bandit stuck right by my side like glue until we got to my patio.

[00:26:04] I turned around and looked back and almost laughed as I saw Smokey.

[00:26:09] She was still standing her ground in full on guard dog mode.

[00:26:14] All he could manage to do was stand there looking at her with his hands up in surrender.

[00:26:19] I called Smokey to come so she backed away slowly but continued barking and growling until

[00:26:24] she got further away from him.

[00:26:27] She then turned around and trotted right back over to me.

[00:26:30] I kept my eyes on the guy the entire time.

[00:26:34] He didn't move a muscle until the dogs went back inside.

[00:26:38] I immediately called 911 and within minutes, the entire area was swarming with cops.

[00:26:44] The cops who interviewed me said that there had been numerous reports of assaults in

[00:26:48] the area and they figured that it might have been the guy they were looking for.

[00:26:53] Unfortunately, the only descriptors I clocked were tall, skinny and wearing all black so

[00:26:59] honestly, I had no useful information on his appearance.

[00:27:06] After the cops left, I had a good long cuddle with my wonder dogs, complete with them

[00:27:11] licking away my tears.

[00:27:14] And as my adrenaline wore off, the gravity of what could have happened to me and how damn

[00:27:18] lucky I was to get away finally hit me.

[00:27:22] I had done lots of different trainings with my dogs but I had never trained them on anything

[00:27:28] that involved protection.

[00:27:30] What they did was 100% instinct so I'm grateful that they naturally had that in them.

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[00:29:37] Now back to the show.

[00:29:49] This happened back in 2015 when I was 20 years old.

[00:29:55] I was a scrawny thing at 4 foot 10 and I didn't have much weight or muscle to myself.

[00:30:01] My family and I had just moved to a new town that had a population of about 1,000 people

[00:30:07] or so.

[00:30:09] Before doing so, we checked the crime rate and it seemed pretty low so we thought that

[00:30:13] it was a safe town.

[00:30:16] The first few weeks we lived there were rather uneventful and nothing bad happened so on

[00:30:21] a cold winter day my parents decided to let me walk to the little store in town.

[00:30:27] It was about 3 blocks away from our house so it was only a 5 minute walk.

[00:30:33] I didn't own a cell phone at this time so I took my parents phone and credit card to

[00:30:38] get whatever we needed at the store.

[00:30:41] The pants I was wearing didn't have any pockets so I had the card and phone in my hand

[00:30:46] making both highly visible which looking back was an oversight on my part.

[00:30:52] I walked to the store and got what I needed pretty quickly without incident.

[00:30:57] When I walked outside I slid the credit card into the grocery bag before starting to walk

[00:31:02] back home since I didn't want to lose it.

[00:31:06] The sun had started to set around this time but it wasn't dark out yet.

[00:31:11] I was walking between the store and an abandoned building almost at the end of the block when

[00:31:17] I saw three young boys who appeared to be in middle school or possibly high school.

[00:31:22] I knew I had to continue past them to get home so I had no choice but to walk past these

[00:31:26] boys.

[00:31:27] At first, I didn't have a bad feeling about them and they weren't saying anything

[00:31:33] to me.

[00:31:34] I honestly don't think that they saw me until I had almost passed them.

[00:31:40] They were between the store and the abandoned place and as soon as my back was to them

[00:31:45] I got this very bad feeling.

[00:31:48] Then I heard one of the boys yell,

[00:31:50] You!

[00:31:51] Yeah you!

[00:31:52] I looked back and they were now headed my way but I just ignored them and didn't answer.

[00:32:00] I heard footsteps coming up behind me but they seemed to be at a distance quite a ways

[00:32:05] away.

[00:32:06] I heard them yell again, You!

[00:32:09] Come here!

[00:32:11] I decided to ignore them again but this time the footsteps got louder and faster.

[00:32:16] They were jogging to get up to me.

[00:32:18] The last time they yelled out to me was a lot louder and a lot more aggressive.

[00:32:24] I didn't turn around but I could hear the footsteps.

[00:32:28] They were now at a running pace and they were almost right behind me.

[00:32:32] I peaked back and all three of these boys were almost on me but they weren't quite

[00:32:38] at arm's length yet.

[00:32:40] I was scared since I didn't have any weapons or anything on me to defend myself and there

[00:32:45] was nobody else on the road.

[00:32:49] It was just me and these three boys.

[00:32:51] I didn't know what to do so I gripped my parents' cell phone tighter with one hand and I

[00:32:56] clenched my other into a fist.

[00:33:00] I was getting ready to fight and I was going to use the phone as a weapon since the boys

[00:33:04] had reached arm's length but then an ambulance came around the corner and they were driving

[00:33:10] really slow.

[00:33:12] They looked at me and then three boys.

[00:33:15] The guy sitting in the passenger seat looked at me and smiled then they drove away.

[00:33:21] I went to look at the boys again but they had taken off.

[00:33:24] They were gone.

[00:33:26] I'm not sure why I didn't yell at the ambulance or flagged them down for help.

[00:33:31] I think I was too shocked or scared.

[00:33:34] I called my family and told them what happened.

[00:33:36] I asked if somebody could pick me up or meet with me to walk me home.

[00:33:41] I then continued walking.

[00:33:43] As I walked, I gripped the phone tight and constantly looked over my shoulder to make

[00:33:47] sure that I wasn't being watched or followed.

[00:33:50] I walked so fast that nobody in my family had any time to come to my rescue.

[00:33:55] When I got home, someone was about to head out to come and look for me and I let them

[00:34:00] know I just made a break for it.

[00:34:03] Thankfully the boys didn't follow me home and I didn't see them again after this incident.

[00:34:09] To this day, I believed the men who drove by in the ambulance saved me.

[00:34:14] I had a really bad feeling about these boys.

[00:34:17] I had a gut feeling that they were going to try and rob me or worse.

[00:34:21] Also being in a new town, I didn't really know my way around.

[00:34:25] When this happened, I could have crossed over to another straight but I didn't.

[00:34:29] I now have better directional awareness and I always listen to my gut.

[00:34:34] It has never been wrong.

[00:34:36] My gut has always steered me in the right direction.

[00:34:47] This happened when I was 13.

[00:34:57] For some background, I transferred to another school that was further away from my home.

[00:35:04] Instead of taking only one bus to school, I had to take a bus, then a train and then

[00:35:10] another bus.

[00:35:12] With my longer commute, I had to leave my house at around 7 just to get to school by

[00:35:17] 830.

[00:35:18] For the most part, I was never worried about my safety since public transit was so busy

[00:35:24] in the morning.

[00:35:26] Whenever I got off of the train, I had to cross a bridge in order to get to the area with

[00:35:31] the different bus routes.

[00:35:34] There were three major bus routes that I could take.

[00:35:37] It didn't matter which one I got on as they all passed by the school before breaking

[00:35:42] off into separate directions.

[00:35:44] So one morning, as I was waiting for one of the buses to show up, some random construction

[00:35:50] worker, also waiting for the bus, started talking to me.

[00:35:55] He appeared to be in his mid-30s.

[00:35:57] I didn't think much of it as it was easy for me to strike up conversations with people.

[00:36:03] After I first met him, I started seeing him more frequently at the bus stop.

[00:36:08] He began complimenting me every single time he saw me.

[00:36:12] So I started to find our interactions a bit strange.

[00:36:17] The compliments started innocent enough.

[00:36:20] He would compliment me on my bag or jacket.

[00:36:23] But then it got weird when he started complimenting my features saying that I had pretty eyes

[00:36:28] or acute smile.

[00:36:31] Although this made me uncomfortable, I brushed it off and decided to start avoiding him.

[00:36:36] I figured this would be easy as there were always other people around.

[00:36:40] And I had a cell phone in case I had to call my parents or the police.

[00:36:44] After I started avoiding him, I noticed I wasn't seeing him around so I began to think

[00:36:49] that I was in the clear.

[00:36:52] As I was starting to forget about him, things really began to escalate.

[00:36:57] One day I was sitting by myself at the bus stop with my earbuds in.

[00:37:01] When suddenly somebody tapped me on my shoulder, then sat beside me.

[00:37:07] It was the guy and he was talking to me with a strong familiarity as if we were friends.

[00:37:14] This made me very uncomfortable since I had been avoiding him.

[00:37:17] I tried to dismiss him by walking to the other side of the bus stop but as I was walking

[00:37:22] away, he said something that caught me off guard.

[00:37:26] He said, What would you do if I tied you up and never let you go?

[00:37:33] I was appalled.

[00:37:35] He then got up and started to follow behind me.

[00:37:38] Thankfully two buses pulled in.

[00:37:41] I got onto one of the buses and he of course followed me but I wasn't having it.

[00:37:47] I got off and hopped onto the second bus.

[00:37:51] I was getting ready to let the second bus driver know that I needed help but luckily, the

[00:37:56] guy didn't follow me.

[00:37:59] As the bus pulled away, I was so confused.

[00:38:03] I went to school and the first thing I did was tell my friend about what happened.

[00:38:08] At the time I didn't understand the severity of the situation since I was a 13 year old

[00:38:12] male.

[00:38:13] I didn't think things like this happened to guys.

[00:38:17] The more I retold the story, the more I downplayed it because everyone kept giving me this

[00:38:21] dumbfounded look.

[00:38:24] One of the teachers at my school ended up hearing about the story.

[00:38:28] The teacher brought me to the principal's office so that I could explain what happened.

[00:38:33] I missed the first entire period of the day since I had to explain what happened to the

[00:38:38] principal and a police officer.

[00:38:41] My parents were contacted as well and I was driven to school the next few days.

[00:38:47] The police were able to find the footage of the guy on transit cameras and they tracked

[00:38:52] him down and talked to him.

[00:38:54] There wasn't too much the officer could do aside from telling him to stay away from me.

[00:38:59] The officer said that the police would be patrolling the train station around that time

[00:39:05] and he said if the guy ever approached me or talked to me again I should call 911.

[00:39:12] After I started taking the bus again, I saw him a few more times but he never spoke

[00:39:16] to me or even looked at me which I am thankful for.

[00:39:21] I'm glad that this situation has made me to open my eye is a lot more when it comes

[00:39:26] to being aware in public.

[00:39:37] This happened before Christmas in 2019 when I was 26 and it sticks with me to this day.

[00:39:44] My then boyfriend now husband and I decided to meet for dinner at a Christmas market here

[00:39:49] in Switzerland.

[00:39:51] He planned to pick up our dog from Doggie Daycare first and I planned to get there after

[00:39:56] work.

[00:39:58] At this time the dog had been with us for about a year his name is Bean and he has a medium-sized

[00:40:03] dog.

[00:40:05] Before he came to Switzerland, he was a street dog in Italy.

[00:40:09] He was about two and a half years old at that time.

[00:40:12] He loved and still loves to get all the attention that he can get.

[00:40:17] Christmas markets are incredibly busy here especially after work since they are a popular

[00:40:22] meet up during the holiday season.

[00:40:25] People frequently meet their friends at Christmas markets after work to eat dinner and drink

[00:40:29] mold wine.

[00:40:31] On this particular day when we got to the Christmas market we realized that it was way too busy

[00:40:35] to walk through with the dog so I waited at the edge of the market with Bean and I sent

[00:40:40] my boyfriend off to get my favorite street food.

[00:40:45] Bean likes to greet everyone who looks at him and by that point I had gotten used to

[00:40:50] just talking with strangers since Bean is so friendly and eager to meet them so when

[00:40:56] a guy came up to us I wasn't too concerned at first.

[00:41:00] I remember that Bean happily greeted this guy.

[00:41:03] He tried to lean up against him and lick his hands.

[00:41:06] The guy asked me for his name and what breed he was and I told him that Bean is a pincher

[00:41:11] mix of some sort.

[00:41:14] That's when the situation started to turn.

[00:41:17] The man insisted that he must be a different breed.

[00:41:22] All of a sudden his demeanor completely changed.

[00:41:25] He just straight up switched right before my eyes.

[00:41:28] There's no better way to explain it.

[00:41:30] He was adamant and even a little offended how could I say Bean is a pincher.

[00:41:37] Then he grabbed Bean's leash and said, I'll go now and try to walk off with my dog.

[00:41:44] Thankfully I had a firm grip on his leash.

[00:41:47] I was incredibly confused and flustered.

[00:41:50] I just stood there and stammered that he couldn't take my dog.

[00:41:54] He got increasingly angrier with every second that I didn't let go of the leash.

[00:41:59] I loudly told him to leave me alone and Bean was angry and scared so he started barking

[00:42:06] at the man.

[00:42:07] I had never seen Bean this angry.

[00:42:11] The man finally realized that we were starting to draw some attention so he let go of the

[00:42:16] leash and slipped into the crowd.

[00:42:19] I was left standing there as a dumb-founded mess with the dog.

[00:42:24] Bean was barking and shaking so I knelt down to his level to calm him down, holding him

[00:42:29] and talking to him.

[00:42:31] My boyfriend was still somewhere out in the crowd waiting for our food.

[00:42:36] After a while a woman walked up to me and told me to be careful as she had just seen

[00:42:41] someone put a firecracker on the ground nearby.

[00:42:44] It was one of those small ones that makes a little popping noise on impact when they

[00:42:48] thrown on the ground.

[00:42:51] Apart from the woman who warned me, nobody stopped to help when I was being harassed

[00:42:56] by the strange guy.

[00:42:58] Even though I was loud in my attempts to make him go away, the people who were standing

[00:43:02] nearby were just watching.

[00:43:05] Bean was the one who finally scared the guy off in the end.

[00:43:08] Luckily, the events of that evening have no lasting impact on my sweet Bean.

[00:43:14] He still loves to greet strangers but I still remember that stranger and I don't think

[00:43:19] I will ever forget him or this whole bizarre interaction.

[00:43:42] The final story contains violent content involving children in domestic situations.

[00:43:47] The story happened when I was very young.

[00:43:52] It started around the time that I was 5 back in the 80s and was beginning the worst 5 years

[00:43:58] of my life.

[00:44:01] I came into this world as a result as an unplanned teenage pregnancy so my mom was a single

[00:44:07] mom for the first few years of my life.

[00:44:09] It wasn't too bad since my mom and I weren't alone.

[00:44:13] We lived with my mom's parents.

[00:44:15] My mom's younger sister was also still living at home.

[00:44:19] We were all safe and happy.

[00:44:22] Then my mom met this guy who we'll call Joe.

[00:44:27] Joe seemed like a dream come true.

[00:44:29] He was nice to me and my mom.

[00:44:31] He took us places and bought us gifts.

[00:44:35] It was awesome!

[00:44:36] So when he proposed to my mom, she and I were both very happy.

[00:44:41] They got married and my mom thought that we would now be a happy family, but we didn't

[00:44:47] know how wrong we were.

[00:44:50] Things were great at first.

[00:44:51] We had left my grandparents and moved into a different home with Joe.

[00:44:56] We had some really good times, but things really took a turn for the worse after the first

[00:45:01] few months.

[00:45:03] Joe had a really bad temper and it would come out when my mom or I upset him.

[00:45:08] He would yell, throw things and break stuff which escalated into him hitting my mom and

[00:45:15] me.

[00:45:17] He would kick and punch us.

[00:45:19] Once he started doing this, he got worse and worse.

[00:45:23] He started beating me up to get back at my mom.

[00:45:26] It was a nightmare for three years.

[00:45:29] My mom was too scared to leave home or tell anyone what was going on.

[00:45:35] I was really young, so when I accidentally slipped information to people they thought

[00:45:40] that I was lying because I wanted to go back to my grandparents.

[00:45:45] It was especially strange because Joe was a lot like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[00:45:50] We did have some really good times, especially when we would go on vacations and spend holidays

[00:45:55] together.

[00:45:57] When he was nice it was amazing.

[00:46:00] When his other side came out it was hell.

[00:46:02] As the roller coaster continued, my mom got pregnant.

[00:46:06] She was happy about the news and I was excited to be a big brother.

[00:46:10] But this also meant that we were further tied to Joe and who knew what he would do to

[00:46:16] a baby.

[00:46:18] When my baby brother was born things were good for a while.

[00:46:22] We were pretty happy.

[00:46:24] I had withdrawn from our situation a lot though.

[00:46:28] I stayed in my room watching TV and reading.

[00:46:32] I figured if I was out of sight I was out of mind.

[00:46:35] I thought that if I avoided Joe he wouldn't bother me.

[00:46:39] And I should have continued this plan.

[00:46:41] But I was blinded by the happiness and peace that came with my baby brother's birth.

[00:46:47] Then one day Joe had a toothache and was in a foul mood.

[00:46:53] He had been yelling at my mom all day.

[00:46:56] My baby brother was having tooth problems as well since he had been teething and he was

[00:47:01] being fussy.

[00:47:03] Since Joe was extra grumpy he yelled at my mom to quiet the baby down.

[00:47:09] As this was going on, my mom called me to dinner so I walked out of my room and into

[00:47:14] the dining room.

[00:47:15] I was walking slowly and quietly because I didn't want to make Joe any more upset than

[00:47:20] he already was.

[00:47:22] Well, I guess I was going too slow because I accidentally got in his way.

[00:47:29] He got mad, yelled and through the remote control hitting me in the side of the head

[00:47:34] and the eye.

[00:47:36] He had thrown the remote so hard that I was bruised and bleeding.

[00:47:41] My mom finally had enough so we left him and went to my grandparents house.

[00:47:48] It took pictures of my eye and called the police but the police wouldn't do anything.

[00:47:53] People's services launched an investigation but they didn't do anything either.

[00:48:00] We were happy being at my grandparents since we were safe but Joe was very slick.

[00:48:06] He called my mom and said all of the right things and after some coaxing he got her to agree

[00:48:11] to come back with promises to be better.

[00:48:15] And he was for a while.

[00:48:17] But then he went back to his old ways.

[00:48:20] He even tried to start beating my little brother but I wouldn't allow it.

[00:48:24] I took a lot of beatings for him because I loved him and I wanted to protect him.

[00:48:32] But it all came crashing down one December night when I was 9 years old.

[00:48:36] My mom had forgotten to pay the phone bill so the phone got turned off.

[00:48:41] She was working double late night shifts and Joe was due to go into the same plant she

[00:48:46] worked at for his third shift in a different department.

[00:48:50] He was enraged when he found out that our phone service had been cut off.

[00:48:54] When he realized this, he dragged me out of bed and we drove to the store just up the road

[00:49:00] from our house.

[00:49:01] He called my mom at work from the payphone at the store.

[00:49:05] He was yelling and cussing at her about the phone bill.

[00:49:10] Then he said something that sent chills down my spine.

[00:49:13] He told her that if she didn't get home in an hour, he would kill me.

[00:49:19] Obviously I was terrified.

[00:49:23] When we got back to the house, I quickly went to my room while Joe kept ranting and raving.

[00:49:30] Even though I was so scared when he called me into the living room, I did as I was asked.

[00:49:36] He started attacking me right away.

[00:49:39] He was hitting me with a belt.

[00:49:40] Then he grabbed me and threw me into a wall, and then grabbed a broom and continued to beat

[00:49:47] me.

[00:49:48] The beating continued on and off for several hours.

[00:49:51] I was in pain, covered in blood and bruises.

[00:49:54] I'm convinced it only stopped because it was time for him to go to work.

[00:49:59] He got dressed up to go and told me that if I went to school in the morning, he would

[00:50:04] beat me when I got home.

[00:50:06] I guess he knew with all of my wounds that the school would know something was up and

[00:50:11] do something about it.

[00:50:13] I was scared, but I also knew that I needed help.

[00:50:17] The next morning I couldn't change out of my pajamas because I was in too much pain,

[00:50:22] but I decided to make a break for it.

[00:50:25] I slowly limped my way to the bus even though I was barefoot and still in my incredible

[00:50:32] Hulk pajamas.

[00:50:34] The bus driver pulled up, opened the door, took one look at me, got me on the bus and immediately

[00:50:39] drove to school.

[00:50:41] Everything moved so fast after that.

[00:50:44] Before I knew it, I was talking to social services again as well as the police.

[00:50:49] They ended up taking me to my grandparents who eventually got custody of me.

[00:50:53] I was happy to be with my grandparents and I was happy to be safe, but I did miss my

[00:50:58] mom and my brother.

[00:51:00] Strangely enough, the police still never did a thing.

[00:51:04] I was sad about Joe.

[00:51:05] I guess it was just a different time back then.

[00:51:08] It was a few more years before my mom got the courage to leave him, but I'm grateful

[00:51:14] she finally did.

[00:51:16] She ended up reconnecting with the high school sweetheart and getting married.

[00:51:20] I later found out that Joe had been orphaned at the age of five because his parents and

[00:51:25] older sister died when his dad's small plane crashed.

[00:51:30] He was then raised by a very physically and mentally abusive aunt and uncle.

[00:51:35] It did shed some light on his behavior but it doesn't give him any excuses for what

[00:51:40] he did.

[00:51:42] I finally found him on social media.

[00:51:44] I reached out to him to let him know that I forgave him.

[00:51:47] I told him, I let go of the anger and hurt that I had been holding on to.

[00:51:52] He let me know that he had got a lot of mental help and seemed to be doing well.

[00:51:57] Joe also reconnected with his mom's family and some other extended family who he lost

[00:52:02] touch with after his parents died.

[00:52:05] I'm glad that he did since it has been helping with his healing.

[00:52:20] Thank you for listening and make sure you stick around after the music for your extended

[00:52:24] to add free version of this week's episode if you're a patron.

[00:52:27] If you want to get access head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to

[00:52:31] sign up and support the show today.

[00:52:33] You'll get access to hours and hours of bonus content with stories you won't hear anywhere

[00:52:38] else.

[00:52:39] Also make sure to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like Odd Trails, my true

[00:52:43] paranormal podcast and the old time radio cast at crypticcountypodcasts.com and follow

[00:52:49] me on twitch at twitch.tv forward slash cryptic county.

[00:52:53] This week you have heard woman to woman I'll make sure you get home safely by sighting.

[00:53:00] Creepy Guy at my job by Ella the Champagne, the man in the red pickup truck by broken

[00:53:07] wisdom 77, saved by smoky and the bandit by schmardi party.

[00:53:14] Never walk by yourself in a new town by anonymous.

[00:53:17] The creep at the train station by story unwined.

[00:53:22] A nightmare before Christmas by Naja Colette.

[00:53:25] And finally the monster that married my mom by geek dad in sc.

[00:53:32] All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission

[00:53:35] of their respective authors.

[00:53:37] Let's not meet a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message

[00:53:41] boards online make sure you send your stories into let's not meet stories at gmail.com

[00:53:46] to hear them on the show.

[00:53:48] We'll see you all next week for a brand new episode of Let's Not Meet.

[00:53:52] Stay safe.

[00:54:18] This happened last year at an event called Halloween.