Creeptastic Situation

Last week I got caught in a scary situation. I was supposed to meet a local milky mama at Walmart on her way home to pickup her milk. I brought Sophie & Noah with me since I had a few things to do there too & let Maddy stay home with Brian.

I got there around 7:15 (which was a bit early for our meeting time) and pulled into an empty spot in the end of an isle to make it easy to find her. About 2 minutes later a van pulls up next to me & I was confused. I thought the mama drove a black car, but sometimes there are last minute changes. Then a man gets out. Um, this was not what was supposed to happen, so I stayed in the van. He asked if I was Brian's wife. This was definitely NOT my milky mama, but he knew my hubby, so I played nice & tried to figure out who he was. He said his name was Jay & asked about where we were living (I vaguely responded with answers like "on top of the mountain" & "not far from the library") & asked if I was alone. I said Brian was inside the store & should be coming out soon (even though he wasn't even there). I was getting freaked out.

Then my milky mama arrived, so I had to get out to talk to her & get the milk from her. I was glad someone I actually did "know" was there, but the guy didn't take the hint to leave & I started getting scared when the mama had to leave. I kept praying for a way to get out of this strange situation.
The creepy guy kept going over the (fake) info I shared about us as if he was mentally storing everything. Like Bill Murry did in the movie Groundhog, where he randomly asked questions, repeated the info & asked another personal question.

He asked what was taking Brian so long a few times too. How did he even know of Brian? Let alone be waiting for him at Walmart, when my hubby was at home!? And he just kept talking about being down on his luck & depressed & acting very strange. It creeped me out bad & I knew I needed to get me & the kids out of this situation. I felt foolish for putting us in this situation at nighttime & all alone. I told him I needed to go into Walmart to return a few things, hoping he'd leave us alone, when he said he'll just follow us inside to wait for Brian. Crap!

So we drove over to the entrance w/him following in his van. I told Sophie to not say a word to the stranger & hold my hand once we got out of the van. And she did so great listening to me. Not a word & she held on tight. I think she understood it was a serious situation.

We waited in line & I kept praying for an out. It instantly came to me. We all stood there to return my items & just before she had me sign the slip, I told him to just go back to the electronics awhile, since that's where Brian should be & we'll be right there. I signed the slip & saw him heading back, so we booked it out of the store & into the van, locked the doors & left. Sophie fussed a little on the way out since we didn't get to look at toys like I had promised, but I promised a special treat once we got home if she quietly went to the van. I took the long way home just in case since I was so freaked out still. (And yes, Sophie did get a special treat: a cookie, for her bravery).

When we got home, I was telling Brian about it & he had no idea who this guy was & drove the van right back to Walmart to see if the creepy guy was still around, which he wasn't. He went through his facebook friends, his phone, everything & everyone he could think of with the same description & nada.

I was shaking for about an hour after we got home & had to play cool to not freak out the kids. I had no time to process what we'd just been through. I was proud of myself for acting calm & focused in a difficult situation & thanked God for getting us out safely.

I don't know who this man was, what his agenda was, if he knew another Brian & this was just a huge coincidence, or if he had a mental disability. All I know was that it was one of the scariest situations I've ever been in, especially since my children were right there with me. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to them.

We live in a small town, and I think we get too comfortable here sometimes thinking bad stuff won't happen here. But this situation was an eye opener to be more defensive & aware of my surroundings better. Oh, and I don't think I'm ever meeting up at night again with anyone again!!