My friend told me about something that happened to her last week that still sends a chill up my spine. Her experience is a good reminder to everyone to listen to that voice inside. Your intuition can warn you of danger.
My friend was playing inside her house with her daughter on sunny midweek morning. She lives in a nice community with friendly surrounding neighbors. The doorbell rang and she expected to see another mom from her street stopping over for some morning coffee or to borrow something that she had run out of. Instead, as her head peeked out of the door, she saw a man who she didn’t know holding a stack of books and a shoulder bag. She stood patiently and listened as he began to talk about books that he was selling. She didn’t open the door far because her dog was jumping from the inside, trying to get out. This caught the man’s attention and he asked if the dog was friendly. “Oh, yes. He is friendly.” She told him. With this, before she realized what was happening, he bent down to pet the dog, pushed open the door and was inside her house.
He continued with his sales pitch but she could only pretend to listen because her head was spinning as her mind was searching for ideas about how to get him out of the house. Something felt very, very wrong. By now her 4-year-old girl had wandered into the room, curious about the books. He told her that he could do a demonstration and motioned to move towards her kitchen. “Actually, we have to leave. We have friends that are expecting us.” She told him in a strong and clear voice.
“Oh.” He said, sounding a little disappointed. “I don’t want to waste your time. Should I take you off my list?” He asked. “Yes, I think so. I’m sorry but we are not interested.” She told him firmly. Then he took out some “list” of his and made a few notes. As he bent over his bag, he reached in and pulled out an empty plastic bottle. He stood up, a little too close to her and asked if she could fill up his water bottle.
She could actually hear the voices in her head screaming, “Don’t turn your back on him!” He was taller and bigger than her and she knew that he could over power her if he wanted. As she shifted away from him, she told him, “I could give you a bottle of water.” She quickly asked her daughter to get a bottle of water from the fridge. This time, the dog who was latched inside with rope string was leaping for the door and was in just the right position that the rope was almost forcing the man out the door. As she opened the door for the dog, the man stepped out to free himself from the rope. She handed him the water and quickly closed and locked the door without another word.
She peeked through the blinds to see him running for his car and she wrote down the out-of-state license plate, along with the make and model of the car. Next, she called the non-emergency police and reported her odd visitor.
I believe it was her intuition that warned her and kept her on the defense. It is a good thing. I shudder when I think of what could have happened to her and her daughter. Listen to your inner voice. It could save your life.
Edited by Alison Stanton