9x25: Sketchy Locksmith - Let's Not Meet

[00:00:00] This podcast contains adult language and content. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. My name is Andrew Tate and this is Season 9, Episode 25 of Lets Not Meet, A True Horror Podcast.

[00:00:50] I am a young woman of 30 now but this took place when I was just 19. I was living in Scottsdale, Arizona at the time. Not by choice but by convenience. If you know anything about Scottsdale, you'll know that it's been ranked 4th on the list

[00:01:06] of snobbiest US cities and it's known for being one of the most prestigious golf destinations in the world. It's full of country clubs, fine dining, and high-end fashion boutiques. As a broke 19 year old surrounded by millionaires and snowbird retirees, it wasn't the scene for me.

[00:01:27] It was the scene, however, for one of the most frightening moments of my life. I was living with my older sister who must have been about 27 at the time since I was getting on my feet.

[00:01:40] We were sharing one car, which was always tricky between our work and social lives. My relationship with my older sister has always been rocky, which will be relevant shortly. I had gotten a job at a gelato and coffee shop in Old Town Scottsdale, which is a bougie

[00:01:57] strip of bars, restaurants, art galleries, etc. The shop I worked at stayed open until 11 at night to catch people after dinner or drinks. On this night, and most nights, I was closing the store with one other girl.

[00:02:15] I was supposed to text my sister when I was done with my closing duties so that she could come and pick me up. I only lived about a 15 minute walk from the gelato shop, but since I got out around midnight usually, I of course prefer to ride.

[00:02:29] My sister and I had been texting and she told me that she was flaking on picking me up because she had somewhere to be. Before I could plead my case and convince her otherwise, my cell phone died.

[00:02:42] As a teenage millennial who grew up with cell phones, I didn't have any numbers memorized, so I had no way to try and pick up our conversation from another phone. I asked the girl working with me if she wouldn't mind dropping me off before she went home since

[00:02:58] she lived only 5 minutes away. She seemed annoyed that I even asked and refused. We hardly knew each other as I had just recently started working there, but I was taken aback by her strong reaction.

[00:03:12] She couldn't have known what would happen next when, out of desperation, I walked into the night alone without a cell phone. Scottsdale has 330 days of sun, but the desert climate still gets much colder at night.

[00:03:29] I wasn't prepared for this, but I was really focused on getting home as quickly as I could to charge my phone and confront my sister for abandoning me. It was a weekday night, and the street was a ghost town.

[00:03:43] I didn't see a single soul on the entire main street of Old Town. Until there was a man. He was tall and thin with dark hair. He was wearing dark clothes as well.

[00:03:57] He was walking on the opposite side of the street going the same direction as me, about a block behind. I had caught a glimpse of him out of my periphery and saw that he was looking in my direction. I immediately looked away.

[00:04:12] This was before my true crime and horror movie obsession, so it was a time of real naivety for me. My gut was saying, danger, danger, but I talked myself out of listening to my gut. I vividly remember thinking, you're just being paranoid and freaking yourself out.

[00:04:30] Not every person walking at night is dangerous. He's probably headed home from work too. Relax. And then I summoned the courage to take another look at him. I cast my gaze to the other side of the street where he had been.

[00:04:46] In what felt like one slow second, I was relieved because he wasn't there anymore. And I thought it confirmed that I was being silly. But in that same slow second, the smile of relief on my face twisted into utter fear.

[00:05:04] As I turned back to look where I was going, I caught a glimpse of him out of my periphery again, except this time he was mere feet behind me and picking up his pace.

[00:05:16] My gut had been right about him and now something awful was about to happen to me. We were no longer walking. We progressed through speedwalking and even started jogging. He continually matched my pace while neither of us said a word to each other.

[00:05:35] As I mentioned, this was before my true crime obsession so I wasn't carrying anything on me. No pepper spray, no self-defense keychain, nothing. As my mind launched into hypotheticals and how I was or wasn't going to survive them, a miracle act of kindness appeared.

[00:05:53] A cab pulled up onto the curb and the cabbie yelled, you want a ride? While nodding with very wide alert eyes as if to say, get your ass in here. I'm not even sure what words blurted out of my mouth at that moment but as I reached

[00:06:09] for the door handle, I looked over my shoulder at the man who was pursuing me. He had stopped dead in his tracks only a few feet behind me. He stared at me with this rage as I slipped into the cab and we sped off.

[00:06:24] I drove past going the other way and I saw him on the other side of the street from you, the cab driver explained. Something in my gut just knew that I needed to turn back around and check on you.

[00:06:35] I thanked him profusely and told him what my address was. As I said, it was a very short drive so we were at my door in just a few minutes. I asked him what I owed him for the ride.

[00:06:46] He told me that the only thing that I owed him was to be more careful and added that I should forget about the cab fare. I don't believe in angels. I do believe that there are very bad people and very good people and that night, I witnessed

[00:07:01] them both. I also believe in looking out for each other and keeping each other safe. Pick up your annoying sister from her late shift even if you have to interrupt your night. Offer co-workers and friends safe rides home.

[00:07:16] I can't imagine how my older sister or my co-worker would have felt if they found out that I was missing the next day. They're lucky they didn't have to experience that. My eternal gratitude goes to the man driving the cab that trusted his gut when I didn't

[00:07:31] trust mine. He made a selfless choice to get involved. To the man who followed me through Old Town Scottsdale, let's never meet. This happened three hours ago. To preface this story, my sister has always hated taking me to the recycling place.

[00:08:02] Every time I ask her to take me, she either delays going or completely ignores my request to go. She promised me recently that she would take me and after three days of asking, she finally cracked. I excitedly loaded bags into my car as my sister got ready.

[00:08:18] I'll call my sister Julia for privacy reasons. Julia and I went to the recycling place. Once we got there, I had this strange feeling but I shook it off since the place was odd and I had always got weird vibes there.

[00:08:33] I noticed a guy in a black hoodie speedwalking towards us. By the time I noticed him, he was probably 80 feet away. I kept an eye on the guy and calmly informed Julia about him when he was about 25 feet away. We took a good look at him.

[00:08:51] We noticed that his hoodie pockets were filled with something and he was very dirty. He was wearing black shorts and his legs were so dirty that from a distance it looked like he was wearing pants.

[00:09:05] The guy looked at us skeptically as he passed us and we saw that he had a thin, frail physique. As we unloaded the car, I saw the guy walking in circles, just staring at us. We then turned to walk towards the gas station by the recycling center.

[00:09:24] We were parked right next to a big dumpster and a utility box. I realized that if the guy went behind the dumpster, he would have my sister within arm's length. We switched spots and once we did, my sister saw the guy out of the corner of her eye.

[00:09:41] She saw that he was running towards our car. Julia and I rushed to finish unloading the cans. We noticed something behind the utility box when we were walking back to the car though. Behind that utility box, we saw the guy crouching down. He was hiding.

[00:09:59] I guess he didn't realize that we made it to the car because he was surprised to see us. We noticed he had something in his hand but we couldn't tell what it was and we were

[00:10:11] not about to stick around to find out so we sped out of there. He stood up from where he was crouching behind the utility box and stared at us as we drove away.

[00:10:22] As we were speeding away from the recycling center, my mom sent us a message saying that she wanted us to pick up some things from the store so we went to the store in the same area as the recycling center.

[00:10:33] We walked in and we shopped for a few minutes when we noticed this big guy who was easily six foot one, maybe 250 pounds. He was noticeable to me because he looked exactly like the actor that played Randy from My Name is Earl.

[00:10:51] We walked past him and he turned around and was now following us. I looked back and he immediately darted into some random aisle. Randy followed us around for a good five minutes. I saw him talking to a man in a red shirt.

[00:11:07] I'm not sure what he was saying to the man in the red shirt but Randy pointed at the wine aisle. I assume he was telling the man in the red shirt to stand there and wait because that's exactly what he did.

[00:11:22] Randy kept acting like he was going to approach me and my sister but every time I looked at him he would turn into a different aisle. Our mom called telling us what to buy but I whispered, mom there's this creepy guy

[00:11:37] following us around can you put dad on the phone? I told them what was happening in the middle of my sentence Randy started walking towards us. He stopped and stood still. Impulsively improvising I said, so yeah I'll see how much these things cost and I'll let you know.

[00:11:58] I felt like I was put on the spot and I had to say something so he didn't know that we were onto him. Julia and I walked to the front of the store because our dad told us to have security escort us to our car.

[00:12:11] At checkout I leaned towards the cashier and asked, do you guys have security working right now? They replied, sorry not right now. Wait are you guys in trouble? Randy and the man in the red shirt rushed towards the checkout line that we were using

[00:12:29] and thankfully a family got in line right behind us so we were separated by them. I let the cashier know that we were being followed. She replied, yeah that's been happening a lot around here. She continued to talk loudly about sketchy people hanging around the store without realizing

[00:12:49] that Randy and the man in the red shirt were just a few feet away from us waiting in line. I asked, if there isn't any security is there anyone else that can walk us out to our car?

[00:13:01] The cashier got on the PA and asked for a male employee to meet us in the front of the store. Once Randy and the man in the red shirt heard this they knew that we were onto them.

[00:13:13] Randy got out of line and walked out of the store abandoning his full cart. I knew that wasn't normal because no one ever does that. As we were finishing up paying the guy in the red shirt was still in line.

[00:13:28] He took Randy's abandoned cart and backed out of the checkout line. The guy in the red shirt stuck the cart in a random aisle and then stared at me and my sister from the produce department with an earshot of us.

[00:13:43] Thankfully the male employee came to the front of the store to escort us to the car. When the man in the red shirt saw that we were being escorted he disappeared into the store. We were now on the final stretch to the car.

[00:13:57] My sister and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary on our way out. Randy was nowhere to be seen so I walked slightly ahead of my sister to protect her in case either of these men showed up.

[00:14:10] Then like in a horror movie Randy stepped out from the side of a car and was now walking towards us. He probably thought that it was just me and my sister. I stepped back so that he could see that we were with a male employee.

[00:14:27] Randy's eyes widened as if he just saw a ghost. I don't think Randy was afraid of the male employee from the store. I think he was just surprised to see that we weren't alone and we were onto him.

[00:14:41] As Randy turned away we saw that he was pressing buttons on his car keys and acting as if he were looking for his car. But his car made noises very far from where we were in the parking lot.

[00:14:55] His car was right by the exit of the parking lot in the perfect getaway parking spot. Randy knew he was caught and he walked back to the store where the creeper in the red shirt was standing and watching us.

[00:15:11] Thankfully the store employee loaded our items into the car for us as we kept lookout. We got in the car and started to drive away. My sister looked in the rear view mirror to see Randy and the man in the red shirt standing

[00:15:23] in front of the store staring at us as we drove away. We reported this incident to the store and they said that they have a 24 hour security camera so they're going to find these guys and ban them.

[00:15:36] Thank you so very much to the store employee who escorted me and my sister to our car. And to those crazy possible kidnappers, traffickers, whatever you were, I hope nobody naive ever falls into your trap. So yeah Randy and whoever you were with, let's not meet.

[00:16:12] This happened during the spring after I graduated college. I'm a female and I was 22 years old at the time. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life so I decided to take a pause and ride my bike down the entire west coast.

[00:16:29] I was going to go from Canada to Mexico. I was pretty nervous to be going by myself but for the majority of the time, I felt safe. About halfway through or so, I got pretty comfortable with sleeping alone in fairly vacant campsites, parks, etc.

[00:16:48] There were even some stretches on the trip where I rode with other bike tourists. This one encounter, however, made me bring my guard back up for the remainder of the trek. I was halfway down the Oregon coast and I was approximately a mile away from the campground

[00:17:06] that I had planned to stay at for the night. There was this notable car that had passed me. It was headed in the opposite direction. It was a vintage yellow Ferrari. When I pulled onto the campground, I stopped at the information board to look at the map

[00:17:23] and the campsite fees. As I was standing there, I saw that vintage yellow Ferrari come down the road. It stopped where I was. An older guy, maybe in his late 50s or early 60s got out of the Ferrari and started looking at the information board with me.

[00:17:42] He was friendly and seemed completely normal, charismatic even. He asked me about my trip and mentioned how he was from the area but has never stopped to check out this campground. At this point, I was still pretty naive plus there were plenty of nice people that I had

[00:17:59] met on this trip that chatted me up and asked me about my west coast bike trek so I didn't think too much of it. He was talking to me and getting closer. This part is where he started to make me feel uneasy.

[00:18:14] He repeatedly reached out his hand to shake mine like he was about to leave. Every single time he shook my hand, he would also grab my forearm with his other hand and do this weird gasping laugh thing.

[00:18:29] The way that he did it looked insane and the grasp that he had on my arm was very firm. It sent shivers down my spine. He then dove into other topics while repeating this freaky handshake arm grab thing maybe two or three more times in between topic transitions.

[00:18:52] I realized that I was completely out of sight of anyone else at the campground. I didn't have any phone service either and I was now very close to him and his open car door. There was a knot in my stomach.

[00:19:07] I was on the verge of tears and my voice was shaking with every response. I didn't know why but something seemed so off about this man. I finally spoke up loudly, hoping somebody nearby could hear me. I told him, I've got to get going now.

[00:19:26] I ran to my bike, got on and sped to the campground. When I arrived there, I didn't even try to find any spots for hiking or biking. I just threw my tent down directly across from the campsite host.

[00:19:41] Again, I have had a lot of encounters with random strangers on this trip by this point but none of them ever terrified me the way that guy did. I fought with the idea that he was probably just an over friendly local guy but the fact

[00:19:58] that he came to the campsite after spotting me on the road while driving in the opposite direction and then repeatedly grabbed my arm while laughing oddly. It was just so unsettling.

[00:20:10] All in all, most of the people I met on this trek were very sweet which put me at ease and made me feel very trusting of others. Even if this man was harmless, his actions were a good reminder that I had to be more

[00:20:26] mindful of my vulnerable situation and be more alert. I'm a 35 year old female and a new homeowner. I recently had to call a plumber, not knowing anyone in the area I did the usual. I pulled out my phone and googled who was near me.

[00:20:49] I found a local plumber and he came out that day to unclog a pipe. He seemed decent enough so I scheduled a needed sewer scope inspection with him for the following day. He missed the appointment time with no communication.

[00:21:04] After a couple of hours, I called him and he rescheduled the inspection for the next day. He missed the rescheduled appointment also by a couple of hours so I called him to tell him not to come at all.

[00:21:18] He apologized and explained that he was the only one working. He said that he was going to be back in a few days but he was not coming. I allow him to complete the sewer scope inspection and he told me that I need to replace the

[00:21:36] pipes from my house to the street. A month went by as I tried to make it through the holidays before this pricey pipe replacement expense. I decided to give this guy another chance, which I now regret. He missed the first appointment once again with no communication.

[00:21:57] He rebooked the missed appointment for the following morning at 11. Not surprisingly, he missed that appointment as well. He wouldn't respond to my texts or calls. I had a family member call from their phone and he answered.

[00:22:12] He said that he would be at my house at 4 in the afternoon. By this point, I was fuming because time is money for everyone. So 4 in the afternoon rolled around and he never even showed up.

[00:22:25] Finally, at 7 in the evening I decided to send a strongly worded text to him explaining how he had no regard for anybody else's time. I let him know that it's not a good way to run a business.

[00:22:38] I also stated that I would be reporting him to the Better Business Bureau so hopefully he doesn't waste somebody else's time and money. Here's where it gets creepy. He called me immediately and said that he was on his way over to my place with the machinery

[00:22:57] to dig up my yard. I live in a family-friendly neighborhood and it was already dark outside. I said no and I told him not to come, adding that I would hire somebody else to do the work. As I was mid-sentence, he just hung up on me.

[00:23:15] I was sitting in my living room on the phone with my dad when I noticed the plumber's truck parked in front of my house. He didn't get out of his truck, he was just sitting there for at least 5 minutes.

[00:23:28] I was getting creeped out while I closely watched him sitting in front of my house. My dad told me not to open the door for him. Finally the plumber called my phone asking to speak with me.

[00:23:43] Then he got angry with me and told me how he didn't appreciate me contacting the Better Business Bureau. He told me that he spent a lot of money on renting the excavator.

[00:23:53] He told me that since he was at my place now, he would start digging up the yard, even though it was dark out. When I tried to get a word in, he cut me off in an agitated tone. At this point I hung up on him.

[00:24:08] He continued to sit in front of my house after I hung up on him. He just sat there. He then texted me apologizing for his attitude and getting angry with me. He tried to make excuses for his behavior and asked me to please let him have the job.

[00:24:26] After I didn't respond to his texts, he eventually left. And I've never really felt so unsafe in my own house before. I'm a 39 year old woman and a new homeowner. It didn't take long for me to do the unthinkable.

[00:24:59] I accidentally locked myself out of my home shortly after moving in. Zero out of ten, I do not recommend locking your door while your keys remain inside your home. Before living in my new home, I had lived in several other places before and I have

[00:25:15] never had to call a locksmith, so this was my first time. I consulted Google and pulled the first number for a locksmith in my area from the search results. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of calling a locksmith, let me tell you about them.

[00:25:32] They need very little to no information to essentially break into a place for you. For real. They're just like, oh, you're out here and you need me to be there? I got you. Money please. It's pretty wild if you think about it.

[00:25:48] I didn't have cash on me, so after my locksmith busted my door open, he had to have the locksmith office email me a link to pay online. This was going to take a few minutes, so I was stuck having a conversation with the locksmith in the meantime.

[00:26:05] He started asking me personal questions about where I worked and who I lived with. He hadn't been creepy yet, so I answered honestly. I was unemployed at the time and living by myself. Since the door was open and we were standing in the entryway, he started making comments

[00:26:23] about my place, which quickly segued into him making comments about me. He said that he thought it was really cool that an attractive woman was able to buy a place all on her own. I laughed nervously and said, thanks, as I frantically refreshed my email waiting for

[00:26:43] this damn link to pay online so that I could send him on his way. Of course, the link had not come through yet. For some reason, the locksmith thought that it was okay to just continue conversation despite my awkward, nervous laughter.

[00:26:59] In fact, he thought that it was the perfect time to ask me out. It wasn't. It was very uncomfortable, so I quickly shifted gears. I started to keep my answers curt and even unfriendly at this point because fuck politeness in situations like this.

[00:27:17] Unfortunately, fucking politeness isn't always a deterrent. Creeps do not pick up on social cues. When I let him know that I wasn't interested in going out with him, he invited himself to stay for coffee. What?

[00:27:34] I declined that offer as well and finally received the link to pay online for this sketchy service in part ways with this creep. Of course, I reached out to this locksmith company and let them know what happened afterward.

[00:27:48] They felt bad about my interaction with their employee and actually refunded me for the service which I thought was nice. Getting a refund wasn't necessarily my goal, I just wanted these people to know that they had a creep working with them.

[00:28:01] I wish this is where I could say the story ends but it did not quite end there. Fast forward barely a month later and I was still in the process of getting into the habit

[00:28:11] of quintuple checking that I had my key on me before I locked my door from the inside and pulling it shut. I guess I was confident that I had my keys on me because I pulled my locked door shut without even checking for my keys and guess what?

[00:28:27] It happened again. I locked myself out for a second time. This creepy interaction I had with the locksmith from just a month prior was still fresh in my mind and I consulted Google for a second time.

[00:28:41] I bypassed the first phone number for a locksmith in the area and went for the second locksmith listed. I figured I was safe going with a different company. Well maybe not safe but I figured at least I had a zero chance of seeing that creepy

[00:28:56] locksmith again by going to an entirely different company, not a bad strategy on my part. I waited outside for yet another locksmith to show up and break me into my place. Then 45 minutes later, guess who shows up? The same creepy locksmith from before.

[00:29:15] I thought to myself, what the fuck does this city only have one locksmith? This time was slightly different though. He showed up, almost like a dog with its tail between its legs. It seemed like he felt maybe a little remorseful for how he spoke to me before.

[00:29:35] I even started to think perhaps he forgot all about me and our interaction. He quickly opened my door while engaging in very little conversation with me. Luckily processing the payment for the transaction was much quicker this time so he didn't have time to say much to me.

[00:29:51] But he turned to walk away and said, if you lock yourself out a third time and I have to come out to rescue you again, you're going to owe me much more than a cup of coffee.

[00:30:05] If you recall, during the first interaction he invited himself in to stay for coffee. What a creepy callback. Needless to say, I have not locked myself out since. In summation, sketchy locksmith who invited himself in to stay for coffee after getting

[00:30:22] me back inside my place then tried to escalate what I would owe him if it happens again. Let's Not Meet Ever Again First off, I am a long time listener of Let's Not Meet so I feel as though I should have

[00:30:49] known there are plenty of creepers out there. I live in the Pacific Northwest in the United States where cities are small and people are relatively safe. As an older teenage male, I definitely had the sense of invincibility that most people my age have.

[00:31:07] This experience opened my eyes to how naive I really was. I wanted to visit my brother during Christmas vacation. He lived in a different state and with the gas prices being so high, I decided to take a bus instead of driving.

[00:31:22] It was the cheaper option and meant that I didn't have to drive 6 hours in the snow alone. I booked a seat on the night express bus from a city near me to a city stop near my brother's

[00:31:36] On the bus ride down to my brother's place, I of course listened to Let's Not Meet the entire 7.5 hour trip. It might not have been the best listening content for a bus ride that ran from 10.20 at night to 5.30 in the morning but I didn't care.

[00:31:54] I was really glad that none of the Let's Not Meet stories I was listening to were about buses. However, I did not realize that I would soon be experiencing my own situation on the ride back home.

[00:32:08] After having a fun visit with my brother and his family, it was time for me to go back home and it was time for another overnight bus ride. The first part of my return trip on the midnight bus ride went smoothly with no problems noticed by me.

[00:32:25] The only thing I noticed was the person across the aisle from me. They were sleeping, hunched over the seat vertically, which I thought was an odd occurrence because they didn't seem to move from that spot the whole ride.

[00:32:39] I slept through most of the ride myself, listening to an audiobook the whole time. The bus arrived in my home state and most of the passengers de-boarded the bus at the first bus stop past the state lines, which happened to be at an airport.

[00:32:55] Many of the passengers got off the bus. In fact, it was only the person sleeping in the uncomfortable position left on the bus and me. The driver asked me where I was going and I told him that I was going to the airport drop-off area.

[00:33:11] At that time, the other person on the bus woke up and told the driver that's where she was going as well. I didn't think anything of it at the time, seeing as many people go to the airport for many reasons.

[00:33:25] I was dropped off and this was where my nightmare started. As I stepped off the bus, I noticed it was around 7.30 in the morning. I walked to the pick-up area to wait for my ride and this is where the years of listening

[00:33:39] to Let's Not Meet were triggered for me. I looked back and I saw this woman following me. Now this concerned me, but I wanted to make sure that it wasn't just a coincidence. I turned and walked toward the parking garage.

[00:33:55] I looked back, hoping that she had headed for the airline ticket counters, but she was not. She turned and started to follow me. I walked around a statue in an open area and stood by the right side of it to call my parents

[00:34:12] and check on what time they would be arriving to pick me up. I looked back to see if she was going to the parking garage and to my dismay, she was also walking around the statue, like me.

[00:34:27] I decided to go back down to the parking garage by stepping over the curb into a quiet garden section of the stairway to get down into the passenger pick-up area. I knew that if she followed me through this odd path that I chose, this would confirm that

[00:34:42] she was indeed following me. I looked back again, hoping against all hope that she was going to the parking garage, but she was not. She came down the same way that I did and continued to follow me.

[00:34:56] I continued walking back towards where I came from in the pick-up area. I needed to buy time until my parents arrived at the airport to pick me up. The problem with this plan was that this was a smaller airport so I was quickly running

[00:35:12] out of room to walk around. I kept looking back and continued to see this woman following behind. I got to the pick-up area and knew that I had run out of places to go. She was approaching me quickly and I needed a way out.

[00:35:28] I noticed there was a ledge where I could circumvent her and get around. I took it, then finally she spoke. Waiting for the bus too? she asked. No, I got a ride coming. All the buses stop here though, I replied. So you're just walking around? she wondered.

[00:35:52] Yeah, I said with a tone of finality in my voice hoping to signal that I did not want to speak any longer. Oh, she replied. I thought that this was the end of the situation so I walked off. Then she said something odd.

[00:36:10] So I guess you know my husband? she inquired. I stopped for a moment, confused. I had no idea who this woman was or who her husband was for that matter. No, I have no idea who your husband is, I replied. Oh, she said.

[00:36:29] Now I thought that this was really it this time so I started walking again. I looked back and saw that she was still following me. Fuck, she's still there, I thought as I made multiple loops around trying to lose her and still seeing that it was ineffective.

[00:36:47] Fuck, where's my mom? I kept thinking as I turned the corner. Then this woman, she started jogging toward me. Why the hell are you following me? I thought. I continued to walk in an attempt to appear not as freaked out as I was and it seemed to work.

[00:37:08] But now she was right next to me. She had a dark puffy coat and reddish brown hair. She looked to be middle-aged and seemed relatively normal. She then called out, hey kid, do you have a car or is someone picking you up?

[00:37:27] I got someone picking me up, I replied. Do you think that you could give me a ride? She requested. At this point I was done. I did not want to talk to this person anymore and I wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.

[00:37:41] I decided to be safe and I said firmly, no, I will not give you a ride. The buses pick people up right where they dropped us off or you could call a cab. Oh, a cab is no good, they charge a fortune, she said.

[00:37:56] Well, there is a complimentary shuttle service out here as well, I said, trying to keep the sound of desperation out of my voice. But I was really freaking out now. This lady would not leave me alone even though I said everything that I could.

[00:38:11] I tried to walk away but she still followed me. She stayed right next to me. I knew I couldn't escape without showing that I was actually freaked out so I just did what I could. That's when she said, there's almost no security here. I'm glad we paired up.

[00:38:32] Hell no, I thought. You did not just say that. Now my nervousness and trepidation turned to fear. I did not know what this woman would do next or what might happen to me.

[00:38:45] All I could do was wait for my parents to show up but it had already felt like 20 minutes had passed. Then the woman said, don't worry about me. I looked around and I saw that she had gone to the airport to warm up for a bit.

[00:39:04] This is my chance, I thought. I got some distance away from the door and when she came back outside to catch up with me I continued walking the loop but this time I walked into the airport and immediately went up to the second floor.

[00:39:17] I called my parents, was finally retrieved from the airport and returned home. I told my parents about what happened and got a reasonable lecture about how I should have gone to the TSA but I was really just glad that I had gotten out of there.

[00:39:35] So to the lady who decided to follow a teenager around an airport busing lane, I may not know what your motives were but let's not meet again. I've been listening to this podcast a lot and I decided to share something that happened to me.

[00:40:05] I'm from New York City and I am used to seeing crazy things. I usually just ignore it since crazy things are so common. I'm a lesbian woman, more on the masculine side style wise.

[00:40:17] I have encountered many men who are straight up creepy and ask me the craziest things. Unfortunately I'm used to it but I don't let these creeps get too close to me or ask me things that are too out of line.

[00:40:30] Getting to the point, this happened on a spring day 5 years ago. I was walking my dog while I was on FaceTime with my friend. I decided to take a route past my old elementary school because I hadn't done that in a long time.

[00:40:45] I was walking and talking, showing the neighborhood to my friend. A block away from my old elementary school, I passed a house with two guys outside. They clearly had been drinking. I was across the street from them so I didn't really pay attention to them.

[00:41:04] I avoid drunk men at all costs. I was walking when I heard one of the guys yell some homophobic things at me. My friend that was on FaceTime heard everything. I told her, this drunk is saying some mean shit but I'm just going to keep walking.

[00:41:21] I kept walking and then I heard the man running towards me in the middle of the street. My fight or flight senses kicked in and my body decided to stand its ground. I put my phone in my pocket so that my friend could listen to everything.

[00:41:37] This man ran up to me, saying some crazy shit and pushing up on me. He was wearing black boots, navy pants and a navy shirt. He smelled like straight up alcohol. I said, can you back the fuck off you fucking weirdo?

[00:41:55] This whole time my dog was right next to me. I thought to myself, if this psycho touches my dog I'm going to lose it. No one messes with my dog. The man kept pushing up on me and he got in my face. At this point I was scared.

[00:42:11] I felt hot and my heart was beating a thousand miles per hour. There was another lady with two kids outside who saw everything happening so I looked at her with these eyes that were screaming, please help. But she didn't. She just kept on walking.

[00:42:31] The man continued to say these disgusting things to me then he looked at my dog. He said, I'm going to kill your dog. I glared at him and said, you're not fucking touching my dog. I pushed him back hard. I'm 5'2", 125 pounds.

[00:42:51] This guy was around 5'8", at least 180. My anxiety was so bad. I pushed him hard one more time. Then his friend came and told him to stop. I finally got to walk away but I was terrified.

[00:43:09] He could have knocked me out and done God knows what with me. I turned the corner and called my other friend who lived close by, sobbing. I was frightened and I couldn't believe this guy was trying to assault me in broad daylight.

[00:43:24] My friend told me to call the cops. I called 911 and the police arrived 15 minutes later. I saw the cop car and I went up to them. I cried like a baby saying that it was a very scary situation. I showed them where the guy lived.

[00:43:38] They told me to stay out of view of his house so he wouldn't see me. I watched as they knocked on his door. A woman opened the door and the police asked for the man to come out.

[00:43:51] They explained what happened to the woman at the door and she stuck up for the man. She said that he would never do anything like that. I overheard this and I was fuming. The man came outside. He was still drunk.

[00:44:05] The officers asked him about everything and he denied it all. As he kept denying it, I couldn't take it. I got closer and yelled, you know what the fuck you did, don't lie you creep. The woman cop that was with me told me to stay back.

[00:44:22] She tried to calm me down and asked me if I was okay. She also asked if the man hurt me. I said physically no but mentally I'm a mess. I asked the woman cop what was going to happen with the guy and she said, well you don't

[00:44:37] have any physical injuries so the best we can do is just write it down, make a report and you could file a restraining order. I responded, so because I'm not on the floor dying you guys can't do anything? What if he approaches me again?

[00:44:52] Am I supposed to just throw the restraining order papers in his face to make him stop? She apologized and said that's all they could do. I was so mad. My dad came to get me and walked me home.

[00:45:05] I couldn't bring myself to pass by that street for years after that. This situation has made me hyper aware of every man around me. I never trusted men and this didn't make it any better. I keep thinking I should have done my own justice.

[00:45:22] I should have called someone to come and beat him up, who knows what else this man could have done. Finally, five years later I passed that street again. I was nervous but I had to do it for my own sanity. I felt okay when I did it.

[00:45:38] I continue to avoid all creepy drunk men though. So disgusting drunk man from that day, let's not meet again because I won't be calling the cops next time. I remember your disgusting face. Don't forget to stick around after the music for your extended ad-free version of

[00:46:11] Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast. If you'd like to get access to that as well as all of the other bonus content, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to sign up and support the show today.

[00:46:23] You'll be getting access immediately to hours and hours of bonus stories. Again that's patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast. This week you have heard near miss abduction by Rebecca. The two for one creeper day by a listener that asked to remain anonymous.

[00:46:43] Encounter on the Oregon coast by teat spy doctor. I just wanted a plumber by tattoo giraffe. Sketchy locksmith by Hollywood. Stalker on the midnight bus by Colin. And finally, I won't be calling the cops next time by Kemp.

[00:47:00] All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet, a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online.

[00:47:12] As always, if you have a story to share, send it to let's not meet stories at gmail.com and don't forget to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts, odd trails, my true

[00:47:21] paranormal podcast, as well as the old time radio cast at cryptic county podcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. I'll see you next week. Stay safe. I've been binging this podcast for a while now, so I thought it was finally time to submit.