This afternoon, just before we left work, I got a bit of stress I didn’t need.  Let’s just say I had to call Security.  It was not a pleasantry, and I don’t want to relive it or to have it happen to me or someone else again at work – ever.  It scared me to tears, literally.

I have a large, single-pane (yeah! weather and sound travels like lightening) window in my office.  Although it’s tinted, a person from the outside can still see in if the lights are on inside and it’s darkening outside.  I have mini-blinds, which I keep open most of the time, but I close them in the evenings because it’s just too creepy with them open.  My office, unfortunately, faces a public housing resident park area and the public housing complex, as I have some pretty creepy characters walking past every day.  I also get to enjoy watching them sit around in the park literally from 7:30am until I leave around 5:00pm, as they must not have very much to do with their time.  While I’m at work, they are just sitting there.  It’s weird, and I know some of them work and some are disabled, but it’s a bit disconcerting to be stared at through my window some periods during the day.

Today was no exception.

There is a major creep-o-la who has come literally right up to my window before, to try to look in.  There are usually cars parked in front of my window, and he’s been so brazen as to walk between the cars and look in.  I can guess what he’s doing, and I’m sure that you probably can as well.

Tonight, just before I was getting ready to leave, I was working on an email.  I was alone, as everyone had left for the day.  Major Creep walked by, and then he walked right up to my window and peered in.  I’m not sure he ever saw me, as he never looked directly at me, but he sure gave my less-than-fabulously-furnished office, with its campus map posters hanging on the walls a good once-over. 

That would have been enough, but alas, he had to be a double triple creep this time.  He walked down the sidewalk of our building, and then he tried the door – several times – before he decided to walk back to his hovel.  I called Security, and they were there in less than a minute, but it was a long minute for sure, or it seemed like it to me.

I texted my Sweetie, and he dropped what he was doing to come rescue me.  I was good all the way home, but I broke down when we walked in the door.  This is not the first time this has happened to me, and it’s not even the first time I’ve been accosted at work.  I was the victim of an attempted mugging once about 12 years ago, and it’s still one of those things I think about from time to time.  I also walked in not too long after my house had been broken into when I was about 20, and it was quite frightening.

I am glad I am safe tonight, but I am very worried about ever being there alone again.  It’s not something I’m going to want to attempt – no matter what time of day or night.  The risk is just too great.

I am thankful for a Security force who responded quickly and without fanfare.  They did a great job.  I even called Dispatch back to apologize for my shortness (please send someone now!) on the phone, and she said it was no problem, as that’s what they are there for. 

I am sorry that the path that others have chosen leads them to believe that it is okay to harm others or take someone else’s things.  I don’t know the reasons, but I do know that their mothers and fathers were not like mine.  It’s not an excuse, but it is the only reason I can develop in my stressed mind at present.

Much like those two other difficult days in the past – one 12 years ago and one when I was 20 – the very first thing I wanted to do when I got home was to hold my dog.  She has no knowledge of the bad that people do to one another or to animals, and she loves me, unconditionally.  She gives me hope for the future.