Stalked at Midnight

Exchanging tweets with a nice lady at Flo Tea Room reminded me I have another stalking story I want to share.  She asked if I had to fight off other suitors when I first met my wife.  There actually was a confrontation or two (teenagers!), but this stalking story was the first thing that popped into my head (and the scumbag story).

Some readers know I worked at a burger joint while I was in high school and I walked home after work (about 6 kilometers).  I alternated between two routes.  When I wanted a little excitement, I took the route that often had roving dogs.  I smelled like a burger and...well, I'm sure you can imagine.  Rainy and snowy nights had a silver lining--the smell didn't carry as far. LOL!  That Saturday night (Sunday morning, actually) I took the boring route. 

When I made a right to cut through a subdivision, I saw a shadow a few blocks behind me.  Another soul without a car.  I kept walking and decided to cross the street in front of the YMCA.  It was at the crest of a hill and from there I could easily see cars approaching.  As I crossed the street, I checked for traffic and noticed the shadow was still with me--and just one block away now.  A few blocks later I looked back and saw the shadow had also crossed the street and gotten closer.  I knew what I needed to do.  I turned around.

As I walked back towards the fellow, I could see he was taller than I was (why are they almost always big?).

Me:  Nice night for a walk (annoyed tone).
Shadow:  Uh, yeah, I guess.

I walked past him so he'd have to turn around and I could see his face in the streetlight.  It was a guy from school, a member of my GF's socially awkward fan club (4 friends who'd all had a crush on her long beore I met her).

Me:  So are you planning to follow me all the way home?
Shadow:  What?  No!  I mean...I'm not following you.
Me:  You've been walking in my footsteps for almost a mile.
Shadow:  You're dating Kathy Smith, aren't you?
Me:  Yes!
Shadow:  Is it serious?
Me:  It's too late for you to be out walking around.  You need to go home, now. 
Shadow:  Okay, see you in school!

And off he went.  Clearly I was never in any danger during that stalking event (and yes, I almost always acted like I was 40 during my teen years).  It just gives me something to tease my wife about--the night one of her admirers came after me.  LOL!  When I do tease her about it, she always points out they were nice boys.  And I remind her I'm not the one who used to run into the bathroom to hide from them--she was socially awkward too and didn't know how to tell them no when they wanted to ask her out.  So she hid.

I can never say this too often...teenagers!!! ;P