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Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Breaking My Back to Prove a Point

I once did something stupid(imagine that) to prove a point to a girl that worked with me a few years back. We both worked night shift then, and she was a rather young headstrong girl who liked to always come out on top of an argument. Several of us somewhat older guys used to like to give her a hard time and to get a rise out of her, which didn't take much effort.

One night we were discussing carjackings since several had occured in that area at that time. The gist of the argument was that it wouldn't be a difficult thing to pull off and that women(she) had to be careful when going to their cars at night, and going home. She loudly stated that it couldn't happen to her, and that criminals only picked 'vulnerable' people and that she didn't fit into that category.

Later that night, I and two fellow employees was standing outside talking about the night's earlier conversation. Trina, the female employee that worked with us, pulled up in her Dodge pick-up and walked by us and went inside to turn in her paperwork. I said to them, "watch this" I jumped into the back of her pick up, and waited for her to come out. In a few minutes, she returned jumped into her truck, and proceeded to drive off. As we drove away, I gave a thumbs up to Greg and Will, and started home with her.

Being young she drove quite fast, and I was bounced around in the back pretty good. By the time we got to her house about ten minutes later, I was thanking God that I survived the trip. Anyway, as she got out of her pick-up, I jumped up as best I could, and reached up and grabbed her shoulder, as she had her back to me. She let out a holler, and then started cussing me for a few minutes. After she settled down, I told her "see, I told you that you need to be more careful". She admitted "yea, you're right, but now you have to find a way back to work".
Needless to say, we ragged her for a good while about that.

The point to all of this is that people should check their vehicles before climbing in. Women, and people who work at night and have to walk out to a parking lot should be extra careful. As you're leaving the building, look around at your surroundings, and when getting to your vehicle glance in the back, and if you have a pick-up, take a quick look to make sure no one is doing one of my tricks, but for other purposes.

Another common sense tip is MAKE SURE you have you keys out before leaving the building. Most of the new vehicles come equipped with 'panic alarms' and if you're approached by someone, you can push the button and bring attention to yourself, and more than likely scare off a potential problem.

The bottom line is to use common sense when out at night. Be aware of you surroundings and be careful.