Go with your gut...

I normally am a cautious, yet not overly protective person.  I am a "go with your gut" kind of gal and this story will prove that your gut is usually right!

First off, a little background.  I'm "kinda, sorta" seeing a guy, whom I actually did meet online but got to know very well via the phone and then he visited, etc. but who owns a company that requires him to go out of the country often.  So while we met, really hit it off, really do seem to click, I am always very cautious about getting "involved" and decided that we should wait to do anything more "intimate" until he can be back in the states (which will be in the next few weeks) for a substantial length of time.  So that's the "kinda sorta" part. 

I make friends easily, online, offline, strangers in stores, parties, you name it.  I'm far from shy.  So for me to meet someone online (male or female) isn't all that odd.  I had been talking to a guy for a while that actually grew up in a small NY town near me that I actually spent summers.  We talked a lot about the town and all the things changing, etc. and while I knew I never wanted more than a friendship and ALWAYS told him that, he kept insisting that if me and my friend didn't end up together that he KNEW he and I would work out because he already loved me.  Well, I would AlWAYS tell him that was NEVER an option for me, I viewed us as friends and nothing more and he had to either accept  that or walk away.  He said he'd accept it, but after a few different times of talking I knew he wasn't going to.  I broke things off with him as "friends" and told him why.  A month or so later he contacted me again, apologizing and saying he wanted to remain friends.  I accepted.

So over the past weekend he calls me and says he's at a campground that I actually used to go to as a kid and they had a band coming.  He wanted to know if I wanted to come stay over or, when I said NO to staying the night, he offered to come get me to enjoy the bond fire and music and when I wanted to come home that was fine.  He also had a boat and I grew up on the water so that is always a big YES for me.  I thought it would be a nice afternoon kind of "out in nature" and we could enjoy the company as friends.  This would be the first time I met him in person though.

He came to pick me up and being cautious my daughter knew his name, took the car info down, took his cell number and such and knew where we were going.  We always have a code word if I contact them and she knows that if something is "wrong" in any way and I can't tell her that this is a signal to call for help.  It's just my way of being safe and nothing I've ever even remotely had to use.

So this guy comes to pick me up and I hop in his truck but had an immediate "uneasy" feeling in my gut.  He was beyond nervous and not like the "first time meeting" kind of nervous you usually sense but an odd nervous.  I knew instantly I did NOT want to do this so I said quick, as we turned the corner "oh, damn I forgot my keys, can you go back around the block for me so I can get them?".  He said sure, drove around the block and dropped me off.  I got out and then once I was out said "Look, I don't think I want to do this but thanks for the offer."  I went in my house and my daughter was a bit taken aback that I was back in literally seconds. LOL  I just had a weird feeling.

A bit later I get a call from a small county police station saying they had my purse and this guy "name given" brought it in for me.  I called them back and said I would come get it within a few days when I could get a ride out there and they said that was fine.

Today I go to pick up the purse, it's about 30 minutes from me where he dropped it off, and a long time friend was working there at the station.  She goes "Beverly, you have to come back here and talk to us about this!"  (Not in a bad way)  So I laugh and go "yeah, he was a weirdo" and go back to talk to her and the officer that was there when he took it in to the barracks.  The officer said the guy was "so strange that even HE had suspicions about him and his story".  I told them what had happened and the officer looked at me and said "Good call. That guy gave ME the creeps.  When he came in, he was so odd and nervous that I honest to God thought that perhaps you were missing or something.  I called the Erie police to check on you, see if you were a missing person or if you had called to report your purse stolen.  I even took the guys car info down as he drove out of the lot.  He was too weird."  That confirmed my own feelings, there was something odd about him that didn't set right with me.  When someone who's "in the business" gets that gut feeling, you know something is strange and wrong.  The officer actually said to me "please do me a favor, don't meet this guy again."  I laughed and told him that wasn't even an option at this point but I did have to wonder what the guys true plans were. 

I found it odd that after he dropped me off he took my purse all the way 30 minutes away to drop off a police station, knowing I had no vehicle.  Why wouldn't he do that locally?  I also found it odd that he didn't bother to call me again, even to tell me about the purse.  Instead the cops called.  He was very adamant about being more than friends and for him to suddenly give up like that says something went awry.

I just personally thank GOD for giving me the gut feeling he did and seeing me through safely.  I just KNEW something was wrong and for not only my own gut to tell me but an officer's gut to tell him, I just feel lucky that things worked the way they did.

So next time you get that "gut feeling"... go with it.  I'm a firm believer in this but this incident really made me realize how true your gut can be!