So it's that time of year again where we go back to college, but the pre-move-in day routine wouldn't be complete if our parents didn't insert even a sentence about staying safe in college into normal conversation. Quite understandable; lots of crazy nonsense goes on and our parents want you to stay as safe as you'd want yourself to be. But then my mom recounted a story that was just a few days old.
She said she stood in our living room and as she glanced out the side window, she noticed our neighbor, a woman, bending over something, washing it inside of a bucket with the garden hose next to her. The woman was just doing her thing; probably washing a clothing item so that when it dried the owner of the item would be able to wear it fresh and clean again. She wasn't bothering anyone; she was just carrying on with her day-to-day life, though she left her door wide open.
And then the plot thickened, as they say. My mom spotted a young man who had been passing by but stopped to stare at the woman. I know what you're thinking, there's no harm in a casual glance. That's true, but this man stopped and WATCHED this woman, completely unbeknownst to her. He STOOD and WATCHED her intently. How many of us have had a stranger of the opposite sex steal a long, wolfish look at us as we walk by? That doesn't feel good, now does it? So imagine that look going on and on behind our backs.
He lifted his head up only to nervously look around to see who might've been watching him and then he returned his gaze to the oblivious woman. Was he plotting to attack her because he thought no one was around so there were no witnesses? Maybe he was planning to enter her home since she had left the door open. Maybe steal a few things and give her a good scare when she walked back in. Or maybe both.
The devil didn't take the reigns on this one; the man ended up just walking away and the woman still had no idea that anyone was ever there. My mom was ready to bang on the windows and call the cops had the man sprung into any type of action. Our neighbor was lucky that the man decided -- maybe just on a whim -- to not perform whatever actions may have been going through his head, and that man was lucky he didn't -- it would've been the last thing he did.
Hearing this story, made me annoyed. Angry, even. It's crazy to think that one minute you might be carrying about your normal life, doing things that you probably do every day, and then the next minute your life might be turned upside down by some a**hole who thinks it's okay to violate other people just because no one may be watching, and there's just no way they'd be caught.
I understand that not all offenders and attackers are caught, and sometimes the ones who are caught aren't always brought to justice in the way that they should be. But sometimes there are witnesses; witnesses who make potential attackers think twice about doing anything.
But not committing a crime just because of the possibility that there's a witness doesn't make someone citizen of the year. If by some chance that vile man is reading this right now, you're still an a** for even thinking about whatever you wanted to do to that woman; you're just an a** who isn't behind bars.
