As the wife of a cop, I hear a lot of crazy stories. I heard a pretty crazy one just the other day, but ironically, and even a little more scary, this story is from a co-worker. Here is the story:
Just a few nights ago, this woman's daughter's boyfriend (we'll call him Bob for the sake of avoiding long soap opera relationship chains) decided to stop by the gas station and pick up a pop and a snack before heading to his girlfriend's apartment. Apparently after purchasing his pop, Bob got into his truck to find a homeless man (whom he has given money and food to in the past)sitting in the passenger seat with his hand in his pocket. Not knowing if he really had a gun or not, Bob willingly agreed to give him his wallet and was coerced into driving the man up Provo Canyon. After a long night driving around rural side roads, stopping at ATM machines, and pleading with the man to let him go, Bob finally saw a large group of people (probably camping) near the side of the road. It was morning and Bob pulled over to the people, told the man if he didn't get out immediately, he'd make a big scene, and the man got out. Of course he then called the cops, but the man was still on the loose.
Crazy story. Scary story. It reminds me of all the scenarios my mom always used to theorize about with my siblings and me as kids.
Mom: "If some guy grabs you at gunpoint at a store and tells you to come with him, tell him, 'Kill me now while there are witnesses!!' It's better than being dragged off, assaulted, and tortured where no one can help or find you."
Mom: "What do you do if a guy attacks you? Squish their eyes out. Just keep pushing and pushing until they pop out!"
Us:"Ewww, Mom! That's gross"
Mom: "Well you have to visualize yourself doing it. It's gross, but you just have to keep pushing and pushing until they pop out, otherwise, you won't be able to do it."
Mom: "If you are carjacked, crash into something before they take you out to the middle of no-where. At least that way you have a chance of surviving and people can still find you."
And so on. My mom is a true fighter. And so is my husband. Both of them visualize scenarios and picture themselves reacting. That way, when the worst happens, the adrenaline kicks in, and you can no longer think clearly, you have trained yourself to respond appropriately. When I heard this story I thought about how I probably wouldn't have taken off at the gas station. That I'd probably jump out of the vehicle, start screaming and resolve the situation right there. Maybe he really did have a gun, but at least that way someone could probably help me right away, arrest the culprit, and worst case scenario, at least my family would know what happened. But maybe that is a risk not worth taking? Russell says you do what you need to do to stay alive--that even if you are raped, tortured, at least you're still alive. But I think as a woman, though, I'd rather not put myself through the torture of what can happen. I always picture those poor women I heard about on America's Most Wanted, raped, cut open, and stuffed with broken beer bottles. Yuck! And what if he didn't have a gun at all? So I don't know.
And who knows, maybe I'd be too chicken to be so bold. How do you think you would react? What's the best way to react?
5 comments:
First, it is sad that in helping someone he became a victim. I don't like feeling fearful of being kind.
Second, I don't know how I would react. I hope I would be strong and a fighter. Fight for your virtue, etc. I guess the only thing I can think is like mom hints, if someone is dumb/brave/crazy/wicked enough to harm you in public, what will stop them from doing it once they have you where you want?
It's true... sad that the guy became a victum over helping someone out.
My dad who is a police officer told me to always fight. He said that most rapist and stuff, if they harm you with a weapon, hit you and all that stuff will more likely have more time in jail, so they are looking for easy targets, women that won't fight. I rather fight... cause then at least I did my part. You can never be prepared in situations like that, but like you said... making a scene can scare a criminal off cause they don't want to get caught. I'd almost want the guy to show me the gun... cause all you know it could have been a marker. Did you hear about that guy who held up a 7/11 with a marker. But being prepared in situations like this is always good!
Driving off would be the last thing I would do. I am white personality so I guess I refuse to be controlled. I may have tried to talk to the guy first and try to assess what he really wanted. Does he want money? attention? a desparate ride somewhere? To kill me? If he refused to tell me anything but kept threatening me, I would have just taken my chances and jumped out of the car. As Amber said, I have already made a choice that I will NEVER allow someone to drag me off where they can do what they intend to do with me in secret. I would rather die in my sleep when I am 114 years old but if faced with this type of situation, I prefer to be killed in public, quickly, than out in the tullies, getting carved to death piece by piece.
Oh the childhood memories.
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