what a day

[damn_cynic]

In light of the recent events surrounding the boca town center mall serial killer (not excluding possibilities at any other mall in the south florida area), my family has been incredibly careful when we go out in public, especially parking lots, and we try to get home before sun down (even though that doesn't matter anymore). My brother or my father will try to accompany us and never let us go alone. Our sense of security and freedom feels robbed living in south florida. Despite recent events in the news, my mother and I went to the galleria mall today so I could buy a few things for my birthday from my grandmother and for my trip to see my boyfriend. Everything was fine until we got home and went to sam's to pick up groceries right here in sunrise. Without going into too much detail, there was a late 20s black male that stalked us around the parking lot with a dead dirty stare as we walked into the building and he dropped off his friend that worked there. I asked my mother if she noticed it and she said no, so I figured ok it was just a guy being a guy. Twenty minutes later, he found us in the store and circled us the entire time like a shark circles his prey. I thought it was coincidental, so I started to test him. I told my mother to come to a certain area of the store, and he followed, we backed up and went to the other side of the store, and he followed, we went to the hygiene area, and he followed and circled and stared, we went towards the meat department, produce department and he followed and picked out apples as we picked them out. All the while, he was staring dead and coldly at us, like he had blood on his hands. It was creepy, it was NOT a flirty stare, it was not an admiration stare. It was creepy.. It was no longer coincidental. It got to the point where we were really scared, distracted and didn't want to shop anymore. We wanted out, but we were terrified to get out and we had no idea how, as we were parked off center of the store and felt incredibly unsafe. We went to check out and he of course started to pretend to find a line to check out his popcorn and apples. All of a sudden he disappeared. I said to my mom, I bet you he dropped his crap and left the store and is in his car since he saw us getting ready to leave. She said, where is he? look for him. She started freaking out. She wanted to call the police or get someone to escort us out. I looked for him and all of a sudden I saw him, empty handed, leaving the store quickly. He did drop his crap and left to his car. We started freaking out even more. We told the cashier to hold our stuff in the freezer and that we needed an escort. The stupid lady went and got a cart boy to escort us out, but little did we know (until later when the cops came) that the boy she got was the guy the creep dropped off when he first saw us. So my mother yelled at the lady and told her to get the store manager. The store manager agreed to walk us out, they all felt so skeptical of our concern and felt like we were just so over paranoid. But we weren't and the store manager was really surprised. So we walked out with the manager and sure enough I spotted him. I kept saying, "THERE HE IS THERE HE IS TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT" and it registered... and there was the creep in his car, next to mine waiting for us to come out. The store manager approached him and asked him what is he doing and if he was following us. He said "heh, you know man" and he later said he was just "waiting on someone" The manager asked him to leave and he left out on sunrise blvd but we were so freaked and convinced he drove back in the back of the lot near TGIFridays and hid in the parking garage. We called the police, the manager was creeped out himself. He described him as someone who was up to no good that was truly "breaking his neck to watch us." So the police came and he was a black cop. He got out of his car and completely disrespected us to begin with by not giving us eye contact or taking us serious when we were completely shooken up -- let alone he didn't even believe us. He said it was too coincidental and that it was an "isolated incident." We wrote down his tag number and since my mother works with the federal law enforcement, she demanded him to run his license plate. Sure enough, that plate # doesn't exist. What a surprise, you'd expect this to raise even more red flags to this cop, but he insisted we were wrong. We didn't get the wrong plate #, we got it two times. It's a fake or stolen plate that has no record, but the cop insisted we just wrote down the wrong # and didn't want to file a police report. My mother contacted her co-workers that are federal agents and they insisted a report be filed. And it was. The store manager ran the tapes around 4:30 when the guy pulled up and when we walked in and he went and found his employee and had the cop speak with him. The employee wouldn't give us his name or last name and wouldn't give any details about him, said he knew him for two years but didn't know where he lived or his last name. He knew he was up to no good. He couldn't do anything but look down and mumble. It was the most terrifying experience. And so through all this I just want to IMPLORE YOU WOMEN to NOT think it could NEVER happen to you. I feel completely TRAUMATIZED and SCARED to leave my house alone or be alone and nothing physically happened to me. I could NOT imagine how I would be today if something did happen. PLEASE, girls be ALERT AT ALL times and watch around you ALL the time. This happened at SAMS in WEST SUNRISE -- out of ALL places in S. FLA!!! On top of that, we were dressed down, looked like hell and it was bright as day with a million cars around. The guy was suspicious as hell and his friend KNEW he was up to no good. the cop didn't want to do anything about it but the store manager was pushing him to. (my mother's federal agent is going to look further into it because thats a felony against a federal agent) PLEASE stay alert ALL THE TIME and don't put your goodies on display -- it only draws more attention. Please be careful. Please. It can happen to anyone anytime anywhere. Get your heads out of the clouds and look around you.

But most of all, I feel like these men just need Jesus in their life. They're lost and I forgive them, though I am completely terrified by the experience. God is stronger and more powerful than all of this and I will continue to put my faith in Him.

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty

Bed time, calclululus test in the morning. PRAAAAAAAAAAY for me :)