GainesvilleMoms.com

After what happened this morning to the woman in Haile Plantation, it might be a good thing for all us ladies to remind ourselves of some basic safety tips. Dangerous situations can happen any time, any where, and it's important to be a little prepared. You never know when it may help.

http://www.safetyforwomen.com/tips.htm

Thanks for the advice. A quick read that could save someone's life. Thanks.

Thanks for that!

About 10 years ago, my sister, friend, and I were driving home late one night and were on the freeway when a man in a big semi was flashing his lights and motioning us to pull over. There were no other cars nearby on the freeway as it was late. In my naivety, I thought something was wrong with my car and was tempted to pull over. But then I decided to try to pass him and he followed us ((mind you my car was a wimpy 4-cylinder and he was in a big rig). As we passed him, he raised himself so we could see that he was "playing" with himself. Thankfully my friend had a cell phone (in the days before everyone had one) and called the police. They ended up pulling him over and found there was another person in the car with him. I am so thankful that we didn't pull over! But I can only imagine what would have happened if we did.

3monkeys, your story reminded me of a situation that one of my friends in Ft. Lauderdale found themselves in. She was driving her mini-van home from a friends party at dusk. The engine began to smoke, so she pulled over and called her husband from the side of the road. He was about 30 minutes away, so all she could really do was continue standing by the side of the road until he arrived. Well, 2 different motorists stopped to try and help, but she let them know that hubby was on the way and things were fine. A 3rd motorist stopped and proceeded to get out of his car even after she explained to him that things were fine. He came at her, and then started looking around her van. He then approached her and asked her if she had a purse. She said no, like a dummy I ran out of the house with my keys and totally forgot my purse. The guy took one more look in the van windows and then took off. She had actually stuffed her purse under the front seat of her van, and thank goodness that she did.

When I was a little girl, my mom worked as an attendant at a laundry mat. I went to work with her one day. I was trying to change the channel on the TV and had to stand on a chair to reach it. As I was turning the channel I looked out the door and saw a man outside motioning me to come to him. I did a 180 with my head because it looked like he was talking to me but I didn't know him from Adam. As a child, my initial reaction was to obey this adult. But it felt odd and I ignored him. Thank goodness I went with my gut instinct, but I think predators expect us to be caught off guard and loose some inhibitions.