13x21: Tinder Girl

Lily is a proud partner of the iHeartRadio Music Festival for Lily's duets for type 2 diabetes campaign that celebrates patient stories of support.

Share your story at mountjaro.com slash duets.

Mountjaro terzepatide is an injectable prescription medicine that is used along with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar, glucose, in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Mountjaro is not for use in children.

Don't take Mount Jaro if you're allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, stop and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or vision changes.

Serious side effects may include inflamed pancreas and gallbladder problems.

Taking Manjaro with a sulfinal norrrea or insulin may cause low blood sugar.

Tell your doctor if you're nursing pregnant plan to be or taking birth control pills and before scheduled procedures with anesthesia.

Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and may cause kidney problems.

Once-weekly Manjaro is available by prescription only in 2.55, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 milligram per 0.5 milliliter injection.

Call 1-800-LILLIRX 800-545-5979 or visit mountjaro.lilly.com for the Mount Jaro indication and safety summary with warnings.

Talk to your doctor for more information about Mount Jaro.

Mountjaro and its delivery device base are registered trademarks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and Company, its subsidiaries or affiliates.

It's time to head back to school and forward to your future with Carrington College.

For over 55 years, we've helped train the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Apply now to get hands-on training from teachers with real-world experience.

And as few as nine months, you could start making a difference in healthcare.

Classes start soon in Pleasant Hill, San Leandro, and San Jose.

Visit Carrington.edu to see what's next for you.

Visit Carrington.edu slash SCI for information on program outcomes.

This podcast contains adult language and content.

Listener discretion is advised.

If you have a story to share, send it to let's not meetstories at gmail.com.

Enjoy the show.

My husband and I like to go for walks after dinner.

The neighborhood that we live in is generally safe, even when walking around after dark, so we've never felt like we needed to be guarded or we never felt afraid.

One night during our walk, at around 8:30 p.m., a woman who was coming towards us began arguing with the man that she was walking with.

It was a rather heated argument, but something about it felt like they were putting on a show for us.

The street that we take on our nightly walks has a slight incline, so you could see them coming downhill towards us.

I noticed her from a little over a block away since her outfit looked familiar to me.

A few months before this happened, a woman wearing a pink fake fur jacket, with one of her shoulders exposed and a tank top, kept trying to take my husband's pizza box away from him jokingly.

When we were crossing the street, she kept grabbing his pizza box and saying, Oh my god, thank you, I'm starving.

So when I saw this woman coming up the street towards us, wearing a similar style of jacket, also with one of her shoulders exposed, the first thought I had was, Huh?

I wonder if it's the same lady that tried to take our pizza.

As soon as they reached us, they went from walking together quietly to screaming at each other.

It was like they hit their marks on the stage and someone yelled, action,

and they began this almost rehearsed fight.

They were so loud that I could see people on the other side of the street looking over at them.

I remember thinking, if they had been arguing like this all along, we definitely would have heard them long before we saw them.

They also switched the direction which they were walking.

Originally, they were walking downhill towards us, but as soon as they reached us and began arguing, they turned around and began walking alongside us.

They boxed us in.

The woman was walking slightly in front of us to the left of my husband, and the guy yelling at her was to my right.

I could tell that my husband was freaked out, because he had a vice grip on my hand.

Get away from me, Josh, the woman screamed.

We broke up.

God, leave me alone.

Why are you like this?

You're always starting shit in public, the man yelled.

As they continued shouting, they kept pace with us.

I tried walking faster to get away from them, but they sped up.

When we reached the intersection, even though we had the light, I pulled my husband back for a second to stop, just to see what would happen.

When we stopped, they stopped as well.

It was clear that they weren't anticipating the stop.

This is because they continued walking for just a bit more and then stopped suddenly when they realized we were standing still.

The funny thing is, as soon as we all stopped, I saw a brief look of confusion flash over the woman's face.

Then, they proceeded to stand on the corner for a few seconds, staring at each other completely quiet.

It was like they weren't sure what was going on, but then, as if they heard someone yell action again,

they abruptly resumed yelling at each other.

On top of all of that, the woman was wearing dark colors head to toe.

He was wearing black and navy blue.

He had the hood on his hoodie nearly pulled down to his eyes, and he had one of those neck face combo mask things that pulled up past his nose.

He was basically dressed like a ninja in 60 degree weather.

Maybe she was walking alongside us because she was genuinely scared.

That was why I didn't just leave and pull my husband away with me.

As they continued keeping up with us, she kept calling out to us, now and then, to say, you see what I put up with?

He won't leave me alone.

After this happened a few times, I said, hey, come with us.

We're going to an area where there are a bunch of stores and restaurants that are still open.

There are a lot of people over there, so it'll be safer.

But she ignored me.

Just when I decided that this had to be fake, she suddenly asked my husband to tell the masked man to leave her alone.

So my husband said, Dude, I do think you should back off and give her some space.

Whatever's going on, you're not helping.

And just like that, the creepy ninja guy left.

He didn't put up a fight, he didn't tell my husband to mind his own business, nothing.

He just yelled, Jessica, I want my stuff back, and then ran off.

I found it strange that he gave up so easily.

The woman then thanked my husband and begged us to walk her back home since she was still scared that he would be outside her building waiting for her.

We immediately said no.

Between where we were and where her place was, there were a lot of churches, schools, and parking lots of medical offices that were closed.

If we walked her home, we'd be passing by a lot of dark, unpopulated places where we could get jumped by that ninja guy or whoever else was in the darkness, and no one would be around to hear us scream.

I kept suggesting walking to the populated neighborhood that I mentioned before, since there would be plenty of places where we could wait together while she called for a police officer to escort her to a friend's place.

She said, but that's in the opposite direction of where I live, and that's inconvenient for me.

I'd end up having to walk so much.

Who worries about convenience over staying safe after having a heated argument with what I guess is an ex?

Also, if you were concerned that your creepy ninja boyfriend was going to be waiting for you outside your home to harass you, why would you want to go home instead of staying with a friend?

She just kept repeating the address.

After a certain point, it was like she was trying to reassure us that we would be escorting her to a real place and that this definitely wasn't a plan to rob us or harvest our organs.

After offering to walk her to a restaurant or 24-hour store over and over, she finally told us that she was going to call her mother to get her.

She then pulled out her cellphone and quickly walked away from us.

Hey, we'll wait here with you until your mom gets here to pick you up, my husband called out.

She didn't answer, and instead started running.

We watched her until she turned a random corner and then disappeared.

Even after that, I wasn't completely convinced it was fake.

I felt guilty.

I thought maybe she needed our help, and we let her down.

Maybe she was following us because she felt safer around a boyfriend.

Maybe they weren't really boxing us in.

Maybe she just put us between her and her boyfriend so that he wouldn't be able to grab her.

After we arrived home and for a few days afterward, my husband and I struggled with wondering if we had left a poor woman alone to contend with an abusive stalker boyfriend.

But the way she and the man she was arguing with acted seemed more like a scam than someone trying to get away from an abusive partner.

She was more concerned with convenience rather than safety.

She wouldn't take our offer to accompany her down to a safer, more populated path, to a public place.

She didn't even want us to wait while she called her mother.

Plus, the guy's outfit was so suspicious.

It seemed like he wanted to ensure that none of his features were visible.

Just like a lot of people who have stories like these, I've been made to feel unsafe by creepy people in the past, so if I see someone in a similar situation, if I can, I want to help them get to safety.

But at the same time, I think it's important to remember that not everyone who appears to be a victim is one.

Some people may take advantage of your kindness and empathy to steal from you or worse, so please be safe out there.

This happened in 2017 after I had just moved to Washington State.

I was recently single, so I was talking to people and going out on dates.

I had matched with the girl on tender, and she asked if I wanted to go to a bar and hang out.

I don't remember the name, but I can still remember her face as clear as day, but not necessarily in a fond way.

We met at the bar and she and I hit it off pretty well, so she mentioned that she had a kid.

Honestly, it didn't really bother me at all.

Our conversation went well, and I asked her if she'd like to hang out again and get to know each other a little more, and she agreed.

She was pretty excited when I asked her about getting together again, so she gave me her number.

We essentially texted all night, and then again the next morning.

A week later, she asked if I wanted to go to dinner with her, and I was excited to meet up with her again.

I picked her up at her house, and we went to a local place and had a great time.

But near the end of the night, she kept checking her phone.

She was looking at her watch as well.

I noticed she was also acting fidgety, so I eventually asked her what was going on, and why she was acting so nervous.

She explained that she was worried about her kid, who she had left with a new babysitter, so I asked her if she wanted me to take her back to her house.

She smiled and said that she was fine, and it was just motherly instincts kicking in.

For some reason, I immediately got a bad feeling in my stomach when she told me this, but I shrugged it off.

We finished our dinner.

and got back in the car.

It was about eight o'clock, so it was pretty dark out.

As I was driving her back to her house, she asked me if I wanted to go walk around at her favorite place.

This gave me a bad feeling in my stomach again, but I shook it off for a second time.

She was giving me directions, but I wasn't sure where I was going as I was still new to Washington State.

We pulled into a parking lot and she told me the walking path was down past a very dark entrance.

The bad feeling in my stomach intensified to the point where I felt like I was going to throw up.

I looked over at her and asked her why she wanted to go down that path.

She explained that it was really pretty, and said there were a lot of things to see.

Meanwhile, my feeling of dread kept getting worse and worse.

I was honest with her and said that I didn't feel comfortable going out there, but I made up an excuse as to why, and said it was because I was afraid of the dark.

For the next ten minutes she was trying to convince me to get out of the car and go for this walk with her.

Her adamant attempts of trying to get me to go on this walk were not doing anything to make the feeling in my stomach go away.

My gut was saying, do not go.

She kept texting someone as we were talking, and I noticed that she was still keeping a close eye on the time.

The conversation then devolved into her sending a text and then telling me to get out of the car.

This went on for another 10 minutes.

Finally, I clearly told her I didn't feel comfortable and I wasn't going to get out of the car.

She then got very upset and got out of my car herself.

As she got out, I immediately locked the doors right after she closed hers.

She then walked around the car and started to pull on my door handle, which made my bad gut feeling even worse than it already was.

Just then, I looked to my left because I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I saw that there were two people in dark clothing stealthily walking towards my car.

I immediately started my car, threw it in reverse, and slammed on the gas pedal.

I knew right then that that was the reason I was having this bad feeling.

As I peeled out of there, I looked in my rearview mirror and I saw two men in dark clothing and the girl I went on the date with with calmly standing next to each other.

Thank God I trusted my gut because I could tell something bad was about to go down.

To the Tinder Girl and her accomplices who were likely going to try and hurt me, let's not meet again.

Lily is a proud partner of the iHeartRadio Music Festival for Lily's duets for type 2 diabetes campaign that celebrates patient stories of support.

Share your story at mountjaro.com/slash duets.

Mountjaro terzepatide is an injectable prescription medicine that is used along with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar, glucose, in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Mount Jaro is not for use in children.

Don't take Mount Jaro if you're allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2.

Stop and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or vision changes.

Serious side effects may include inflamed pancreas and gallbladder problems.

Taking Maljaro with a sulfinyl norrhea or insulin may cause low blood sugar.

Tell your doctor if you're nursing pregnant plan to be or taking birth control pills and before scheduled procedures with anesthesia.

Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and may cause kidney problems.

Once weekly Mount Jaro is available by prescription only in 2.55, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 milligram per 0.5 milliliter injection.

Call 1-800-LILLIRX-800-545-5979 or visit mountjaro.lilly.com for the Mount Jaro indication and safety summary with warnings.

Talk to your doctor for more information about Mountjaro.

Mountjaro and its delivery device base are registered trademarks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and Company, its subsidiaries or affiliates.

Top reasons data nerds want to move to Ohio.

High-paying careers for business researchers, analysts, project managers, and more.

So many jobs, you can take your pick.

What else does the data say?

How about a bigger backyard, a shorter commute, and a paycheck that goes further?

So crunch the numbers and our world-famous pickles.

It all adds up.

The career you want and a life you'll love.

Have it all in the heart of it all.

Dive into the data at callohiohome.com.

Booking a trip?

Don't skip the travel insurance part.

Insure My Trip makes it super easy to compare plans that actually fit your trip.

Whether it's a weekend getaway or a semester abroad, we've got you covered.

From cancellations to lost luggage and medical emergencies.

No shady providers, just smart tech and real help from licensed agents.

Plus, we don't play favorites.

Just what's best for you.

Be the main character when you travel.

Protect your trip at InsureMyTrip.com.

That's insuremytrip.com.

This happened when I was maybe eight years old.

My older sister was about 12.

We also have a younger brother who's nine years younger than me, so he wasn't born.

Our parents were out for their anniversary dinner and knew that meant they would be out until probably midnight.

My sister was very responsible and capable, so she was babysitting me.

I didn't find out about this until years later, but before going out, my parents warned my sister that our grandma, my dad's mom, was manic depressive, which is a clinical way of saying bipolar.

They told her that she was mad at my dad for holding some boundaries with her, and that my sister should not let her in or even respond to her if she came by the house.

Of course, none of this was communicated to me, and that makes sense.

I mean, how well can an eight-year-old process something like that?

Anyway, a couple of hours into the evening, we heard a knock at the door.

My sister immediately shushed me by holding a finger to her lips.

Robbie, I know you're in there, we heard the voice say.

Robbie, come open the door.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I could tell that it was my grandma, but I could also tell that something wasn't right.

My sister then moved us into the hallway where we sat quietly out of sight of any windows.

Meanwhile, our grandma kept pounding on the door demanding that my dad let her in.

It went quiet for a bit, so I started to relax.

But of course, that did not last.

Then suddenly we heard a loud slamming on one of the bedroom windows.

Our grandma was sounding like a fucking demon out there, screeching for our dad.

I had never seen such anger before, and I honestly haven't seen it since.

She moved around the whole house, pounding on every window.

If she wasn't as old as she was, she would have surely broken a window with the absolute fury she was exuding.

Then it all went quiet.

But I knew better than to relax.

My sister and I stayed huddled together in the hallway in complete silence.

I was shaking like a leaf.

So was my sister.

My grandma had played games with my sister to hurt my family in the past, such as taking her to the mall and going to the register with some jewelry and then saying, Never mind,

or just buying the jewelry for our cousin instead.

That's just an example, but it was some seriously twisted stuff.

So it had been quiet for a while, and then out of nowhere, we heard our grandma putting on this sweet voice and addressing us specifically.

After screaming for my dad, she was now trying to coax us with candy to get us to open the door.

She always had a lot of candy around since she was also diabetic.

It was the most surreal experience to hear her go from sounding like Satan himself to now sounding like a sweet old granny again.

It was so convincing that she almost got me.

Thankfully, my sister was wise beyond her years and held me tightly.

Finally, after it had been quiet for about an hour, my sister said that it was time for bed.

My bedroom faced the back yard, which had a pool and a high wall, beyond which was a vast empty field with an old railroad track running through it.

So I was used to hearing coyotes, foxes, and other animals outside.

Right as I was winding down to fall asleep, I heard the absolute loudest scratch on my window.

It was as if Freddy Krueger himself was trying to haunt my dreams.

I slowly opened my eyes and I could see the silhouette of my grandma in the moonlight as if it were a full moon that night.

No other windows were scratched, just mine.

And then it was over.

I woke up the next day and my sister was telling our parents all about it.

The thing is, I couldn't even be in the room while it was being discussed.

A few weeks later, our grandma died from an E.

coli infection.

At her viewing, they put on one of her classic flowy blouses and there was a breeze that lifted it a bit, causing one of my cousins to shout, She's alive.

After the funeral, I told my mom and dad that I was glad she was gone and, according to my mom, kept saying, grandma really stressed me out.

She later told me that no children my age should ever have to say their grandma stressed them out.

But unfortunately, grandma did more than stress me out.

She terrified me more than any other horror film, scary story, or freaky night in the woods could ever do.

And I had plenty of those with my dad, who was an absolute wild mountain man.

Both of my parents are gone now, and I wish I had told them about my experience that night, but I trust that my sister told them what they needed to know.

I now have a four-year-old daughter, and my wife's parents are the complete opposite of my grandparents.

Both sides of my family had seriously messed up histories.

It makes me cry when I look at pictures of my daughter with her grandma and grandpa at their farm, riding a horse or chasing a chicken.

I'm so glad she gets to have the classic grandparent experience.

In conclusion, I want to stress that I don't think that mental illness equals more violence.

My wife and I both work in the mental health care field, remember that.

And despite the experiences I had with my grandma, I don't project how she made me feel onto anyone else who suffers from mental illness.

It manifests in so many different ways, the vast majority of which are non-violent.

In fact, mentally ill people are far more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators.

This happened about four years ago.

For some back story, I'm from Australia and lived there during this event.

At the time my girlfriend, who is now my wife, lived in another country, but was visiting me over Christmas break.

I lived in a big city, from which if you drove about an hour in any any direction, you'd be led to another big city or beautiful nature.

My friends and I decided to take my girlfriend to see some of the beautiful nature nearby, and we decided on a national park that was about an hour and a half away from where we lived.

This place wasn't a secret location of any sort.

It's very well known, but there are a ton of different areas to it.

All the areas are different, with rural and windy roads taking you through through various areas of the park.

We had gone in two different cars, my friends in one, and me and my girlfriend in the other, so that we could have some time together.

We finished out the day of hiking and were heading home down one of the lesser common roads, and I remember seeing this exceptionally beat up old seventies sedan with a wild looking dude in the driver's seat.

He drove past us going in the other direction.

Now this wasn't too uncommon of a sight, as there are a lot of smaller, less economically sound towns splattered around the area, but for some reason this car stood out, and my girlfriend noticed this as well.

About 200 meters further down a very windy road, there was a little pull-off area.

It was just a semicircle of gravel you could pull onto to look at all of the beautiful views towards the ocean.

There was a camper van belonging to a rental company that rented out colorful vans to backpackers parked there.

A woman was standing in front of it, and as soon as she saw us, she jumped out onto the road and flagged us down.

Now by this point, I've read enough stories with similar plots to know that pulling up to help her on such a quiet road might not be the safest idea.

But back then, I hadn't heard so many stories starting this way, and my friends were in the car directly behind us, so I went ahead and pulled over.

Luckily, she wasn't the person I didn't want to meet.

She was quite obviously upset and scared when we pulled in, so I told my girlfriend to wait in the car, and I got out to speak to her.

This lady was almost in tears.

I can't remember where she was from, but from memory, it was a Central European country.

My wife later confirmed that she was from Switzerland.

She was touring around with her four or five year old daughter.

She told me that her van had broken down and she had pulled off of the road to call the van company's assistance line and was waiting for help.

By this time my friends had pulled in behind us and a few of them had come over to see what was up.

The lady proceeded to tell us that a scary man had driven past her a few times already.

The first time that she encountered him, he pulled over to offer to take her and her daughter to the nearest town for help.

She thanked him and declined, as she had called for help and was waiting for the assistance vehicle.

He left, but then kept driving past every ten to fifteen minutes, in opposing directions.

He kept slowing down and looking at them, before driving off again.

She begged us to stay with her while she waited for the assistance vehicle, since the guy terrified her and her daughter.

I agreed, and my friends, being the awesome people that they are, decided just having me and my girlfriend stick around with them was enough, and they ditched us.

Thanks, guys.

We stayed with the woman for a little while, and the next thing we knew, the car that my girlfriend and I had seen earlier drove past slowly, coming from the opposite way that we had seen him go the first time.

As soon as he had driven around the bend, the lady told us that that was the scary man she had been seeing before we got there.

This made me and my girlfriend take her much more seriously due to the feeling that we got from the guy just seeing him on the road.

A few minutes later, he came back from the other direction and pulled in behind us.

Just for some context, I should mention that I am not an intimidating man.

I'm somewhat tall, but I have almost zero muscle and fairly soft features, so there was not at all intimidating me, a terrified foreign woman, her tiny daughter, and my girlfriend who doesn't look very intimidating either, but she is tough as nails.

And now this wild-looking dude was approaching us on a quiet road in a remote location.

He got out of his seventies sedan, and I could tell that he was not friendly looking at all as he approached.

As he strolled over to us, I walked towards him to put myself between him and the girls.

To this day I couldn't tell you where this bravery came from, as I ordinarily would not describe myself as a brave person.

He looked at the girls and then me and asked if he could help.

I told him no and explained that we had it covered, and we were just waiting for the assistance vehicle.

He then said that he could stay and wait with the woman and her daughter so we didn't have to.

I told him we were more than happy to stay and thanked him again and repeated that we had it covered.

He then just kind of stood there for a while staring at us.

He wasn't really saying anything, but he was giving off very creepy vibes.

After what seemed like forever, another car drove past us and looked at us on the side of the road, but they kept going.

This seemed to startle him for some reason.

So he mumbled, good luck, and then got into his car and drove off.

We waited with this poor scared woman and her daughter for almost ninety minutes.

We ended up talking a lot as we waited, and hopefully we had made her opinions of Australia a little brighter after crossing paths with that mega creep, who drove past once more after about fifteen minutes.

Finally, when assistance arrived, a bigger dude who could definitely handle himself emerged from a vehicle.

I asked to see his ID and credentials just to be safe, even though he was in a car marked by the company.

Everything seemed legitimate, so we gave the lady my number and asked her to text me when she was safe.

She was very grateful that we stayed with her for such a long time.

It made me feel good to know that we made her feel more comfortable while travelling around a strange country, especially with that sketchy guy continually slowly pacing by.

I'll never know if he was genuinely trying to help, but I truly don't think that he was.

I believe he was up to no good.

I did get a message from the lady later on, indicating that she was safe, so everything ended well.

But to that creepy mountain dude, let's not meet again.

Lily is a proud partner of the iHeartRadio Music Festival for Lily's duets for type 2 diabetes campaign that celebrates patient stories of support.

Share your story at mountjaro.com slash duets.

Mountjaro terzepatide is an injectable prescription medicine that is used along with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar, glucose in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Mount Jaro is not for use in children.

Don't take Mount Jaro if you're allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2.

Stop and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or vision changes.

Serious side effects may include inflamed pancreas and gallbladder problems.

Taking Manjaro with a sulfinyl norrhea or insulin may cause low blood sugar.

Tell your doctor if you're nursing pregnant plan to be or taking birth control pills and before scheduled procedures with anesthesia.

Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and may cause kidney problems.

Once-weekly Manjaro is available by prescription only in 2.55, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 milligram per 0.5 milliliter injection.

Call 1-800-LILLIRX-800-545-5979 or visit mountjaro.lilly.com for the Mount Jaro Indication and Safety Summary with warnings.

Talk to your doctor for more information about Mount Jaro.

Mount Jaro and its delivery device base are registered trademarks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and Company, its subsidiaries or affiliates.

Top reasons your dog wants you to move to Ohio.

Amazing dog parks to stretch your legs.

All four of them.

Dog-friendly patios.

Even gourmet hot dogs loaded with the good stuff.

Bone appetite.

And Ohio has so many high-paying jobs, you'll be top dog in no time.

Jobs in technology, engineering, science, advanced manufacturing, and more.

The career you want and a life you'll love.

Have it all in the heart of it all.

Go to callohiohome.com.

Booking a trip?

Don't skip the travel insurance part.

Ensure My Trip makes it super easy to compare plans that actually fit your trip.

Whether it's a weekend getaway or a semester abroad, we've got you covered.

From cancellations to lost luggage and medical emergencies, no shady providers, just smart tech and real help from licensed agents.

Plus, we don't play favorites.

Just what's best for you.

Be the main character when you travel.

Protect your trip at InsureMyTrip.com.

That's InsureMyTrip.com.

I was a seasonal worker at the Grand Canyon.

This happened on a night when I had been really enjoying the night sky.

The way that the stars were in place in the sky that night has always stuck with me.

I was with my partner, a fellow seasonal worker, and we decided that we would hike down to the rest point about a mile and a half away.

We figured that it would be the perfect place to stop, smoke, and star watch.

We got down the trail, which was rather steep, and my partner was enjoying the view while I rolled up.

When we were sure we saw no one else around, we lit up.

We were able to vibe in peace for about twenty minutes before we saw lights coming down the trail.

Now it was a felony to possess what we were possessing at the time, so we put out our lights, packed up, and headed back to the trail.

We passed the lights that we saw coming down, and that's when we saw them.

A man with a grisly beard, who appeared to be maybe in his mid forties, staggered by.

He had his arm around the woman that he was with, and his hand gripped her arm so hard that I could see skin welling over his hand.

She looked young and old at the same time.

She was dressed very young, but physically looked to be somewhere in her thirties, but she was completely trashed.

She was stumbling and mumbling, so the guy was helping her stay upright.

Assuming that they were heading deeper down, we settled about 150 yards from the rest house where we started and turned out our lights.

We wanted it to be dark so that we could see the stars.

As we settled into our new spot, we laughed about this little bat who kept coming by to make sure that we weren't food.

Yeah, I guess the guy wasn't used to people sitting still out there.

Well, eventually, we saw their lights when they were coming back.

We were just chilling out, so we just sat back and gave them a nod as they passed and turned the corner of the trail.

The trail was maybe five feet wide where we were, and on one side there was a deep drop down a very rocky slope.

On the other side was a winding cutback trail, so basically one side had a long drop and the other side had a rock wall.

Now where we had stopped was a bit of an inlet, so to speak, since a water station had been put in.

So the path was carved larger where we were resting, right before the corner that cuts back.

A few minutes went by, and we both heard gravel scattering nearby.

We quickly tried to shake it off as an animal, but we could both feel it in our gut that something was deeply wrong.

I never spoke to my partner about it then, since it's best to act like nothing is wrong, especially out in nature.

Doing so usually results in drawing danger to you.

It's not safe, but my gut was screaming at me, leave this place now.

We then finally decided to quietly head out, so I turned my flashlight on and pointed it straight down, since I didn't want to blind the others on the trail.

As we rounded the corner, out of the corner of my eye I saw them.

The woman was attempting to emulate some kind of seizure, but I have seizures, so I'm well versed in what they look like, and this just wasn't quite right.

I almost stopped to help.

If I had an episode out there, I would want help too.

Then I saw the man that she was with, posted up on a wall behind her, pretending to be asleep.

Neither my partner nor I acknowledged them, even though they were less than ten feet from where we had been sitting.

We just stayed focused on heading out, not wanting to be part of whatever was happening out there.

We got about 100 yards past that point and I asked my partner if they saw what I saw.

They did and their gut was warning them of danger as well.

Just then we saw two lights hauling ass after us.

There's no way she was traveling that fast after a seizure, I thought, no way in hell.

These lights were gaining on us fast, so we booked it, which was tough since I have low vision.

While I could generally make that hike just fine by taking my time and having ample time to rest, I couldn't do that with these two sketchy people chasing us up the trail.

So my partner put my hand in his backpack pocket to guide me and tell me where I needed to step up.

We went as fast as we could, but I had to stop every so often to breathe and try to locate where they had gone.

Their lights still followed and continued to get closer.

They even passed other people and didn't stop, which for me further confirmed that they were up to no good.

We were convinced that we were going to get marked out there, but we made it out of there.

We made the hike back up in thirty minutes, which was pretty good considering getting away from them felt like the longest time of my life.

I live in a small town.

A few years ago, our local market had been taken up by new owners.

They completely overhauled everything.

They even fired the old staff and hired an entirely new roster of employees.

At the time, I had been a regular at this market for around five years or so.

It was very convenient for me to go there since I just lived down the street.

I didn't have a car back then, so I shopped there daily and sometimes went multiple times a day.

I had built up a rapport with the original owners who were elderly, and I bantered with the original employees who were older locals.

I only knew one person's name because she finally asked for mine after a year of exchanges, and it turns out, we shared the same name.

Moving forward, By the time the new owners reopened the market with their new staff, I had a new car, so my business there wasn't as frequent.

But I was still pretty consistent about going in there to search for a drink, snack, or missing ingredient for dinner.

I'm a relatively friendly person, but I'm also very anxious, especially with men that I don't know.

So after the new staff was in place, I kept my interactions with them very generic.

I would wait in line, smile, say hello, pay, say thank you, and then dip.

The new staff was friendly for the most part, but one cashier was a little too comfortable when he interacted with me.

He would even lean over the counter, and if I'd say that I didn't need a bag, he would always put my stuff in one anyway and make a point to caress my hand when handing it over.

This always felt very off to me.

It was super awkward.

At the time, I was also taking yoga classes.

After class, some of the other women and I would go get drinks at the market, walk around and and chat.

Whenever the creepy cashier saw us, he would always make weird comments about our class.

I stopped going to this market for a bit after that,

but when my car stopped working I had no choice but to start frequenting the market again.

On my first visit back to the store after not going for a while, the creepy cashier lit up when he saw me, and he asked where I had been.

I don't remember what I said, but I remember keeping it very general.

While he had been showing an obvious interest in me, he never asked me for my name, but had asked if I was married when he saw my ring.

He also asked me if I had Instagram or Facebook.

I glazed over saying anything about Instagram and just said that I haven't had Facebook since high school, which was true and sort of helped me opt out of having to lie about not having an Instagram account.

When I saw him again, I was so exhausted from evading his questions that I caved when he asked about Instagram.

I told him that I had an account, but I didn't use it often.

During that interaction, the register happened to be, as he said, on the Fritz.

My card wouldn't swipe, so I had to hand it over to him so he could manually input my card's information.

I didn't think anything about that, and I went on my way after he completed my purchase.

I then went home and ate dinner and put on something to watch while I scrolled through my phone.

When I saw that I had a friend request on Instagram, my jaw dropped.

It was the cashier.

I instantly lost my appetite and felt so uncomfortable.

After deducing that this happened since he got my full name off of my debit card, I denied the request.

I felt sick knowing he had memorized or somehow saved my personal information so that he could use it to search for me on Instagram.

Several hours later, I received another friend request from him along with a message that said, What are you up to?

I denied the second request and ignored the message.

Over the following two days, I had multiple requests with multiple messages from him attempting to start conversations, and the messages were accompanied by multiple selfies.

I continued ignoring him and blocked him.

I ended up talking to a friend who also goes to the market, and she said that she always felt uncomfortable around him, especially since he tried to walk her home one night.

He stopped working there a couple of weeks later, since, allegedly, too many complaints were made about him, which I can't say is very shocking.

I'm glad he no longer works there, since it was so unsettling knowing that he could be right down the street from my home at any given time.

This story took place when I was twelve.

I still get uneasy whenever I think back to it.

It's been hard not to guess what could have happened if it weren't for two kind strangers.

I was walking home from school alone one day, which was a four kilometer walk along a busy road.

At one of the intersections that I had to cross, there was a tall man who noticed me.

Being a kid, I struggled with being able to tell the age of adults, but if I had to guess, I'd say he appeared to be in his 30s.

He immediately started following me and tried to strike up a conversation.

He kept telling me that I was beautiful and he wanted us to be friends.

This gave me a very weird feeling since adults usually did not speak to me that way.

He asked me where I lived and if my parents were home.

He asked me so many other questions, but I tried to shrug him off while remaining polite, and I increased the pace at which I was walking.

When we were nearing the block I lived on, I became even more uneasy.

He seemed intent on following me home and I didn't want him to.

The only way I figured I could get rid of him was to give him my cell phone number and tell him I'd answer when he called.

So I gave him a fake number and hightailed it out of there.

A few months passed without me running into him again, so I eventually put this out of my mind entirely.

I assumed this was probably just a random encounter.

However, as you can guess, things did not stay that way.

About four months later, I found myself walking home after school alone again.

I will admit that on this particular day, I wasn't paying too much attention to my surroundings.

As I was walking, I suddenly heard what sounded like footsteps running up behind me.

I reflexively turned around to look, and it was that same creepy tall man who I had encountered before.

When he reached me, he began yelling.

He had figured out that I had given him a wrong number, and he was furious.

He kept yelling, you must think you're better than me.

That's why you gave me a fake number.

He was so angry, and I was terrified.

I was afraid that he was going to hurt me, but couldn't grab the attention of any motorists.

So I speedwalked to the closest gas station with him following behind me.

Luckily it wasn't too far.

He was yelling the entire time.

When I got to the gas station, I immediately got the attention of two burly men standing next to their pickup truck.

They must have seen the terrified look on my twelve-year-old face as this man continued to follow me.

They immediately ran over to ask if I was alright.

I was too scared to speak, so I just shook my head frantically as I tried to get behind them.

They then turned to the man and demanded to know why he was following me.

He tried to feed them some bullshit about being my brother, which shocked me as I silently kept shaking my head.

The men at the gas station understood what was going on and they started accusing the man of something, but I didn't stick around to find out what it was.

Since the man who was following me was distracted, I took it as an opportunity to run away.

The man noticed that I was leaving and tried to take off after me, but the two burly men tackled him and threw him in the back of their pickup truck.

He was screaming as they sped off with him at an inconceivable speed right past me and kept going.

I was happy that they took him away, but I was so shaken that I took off running and didn't stop until I reached my house.

I had no idea what to make of this entire exchange, but it really shook me.

I don't know where those men took the creepy guy or what might have happened to him after, but in all honesty I don't want to know.

I told my parents about this and altered the route I walked home from school.

I never saw the creepy, tall tall man again after that, and I'm very thankful.

I'm also thankful that even though I couldn't say what I needed at that moment, those two kind strangers saw that I was in distress and came to my aid.

Even all these years later, I still remember the sheer terror as well as the relief I felt when they took him away.

Lily is a proud partner of the iHeartRadio Music Festival for Lily's duets for type 2 diabetes campaign that celebrates patient stories of support.

Share your story at mountjaro.com/slash duets.

Mountjaro terzepatide is an injectable prescription medicine that is used along with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar, glucose in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Mount Jaro is not for use in children.

Don't take Mount Jaro if you're allergic to it or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2.

Stop and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or vision changes.

Serious side effects may include inflamed pancreas and gallbladder problems.

Taking Maljaro with a sulfinal norrrea or insulin may cause low blood sugar.

Tell your doctor if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be or taking birth control pills and before scheduled procedures with anesthesia.

Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and may cause kidney problems.

Once weekly Mount Jaro is available by prescription only in 2.55, 7.5, 10, 12.5, and 15 milligram per 0.5 milliliter injection.

Call 1-800-LILLIERX-800-545-5979 or visit mountjaro.lilly.com for the Mountjaro Indication and Safety Summary with warnings.

Talk to your doctor for more information about Mountjaro.

Mountjaro and its delivery device base are registered trademarks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and Company, its subsidiaries or affiliates.

Mornings look different for everyone.

Some are big, busy, and a little chaotic.

Others, slow and easy.

But whether you're racing around with school drop-offs or easing into the day with a cup of coffee, Belveda offers a delicious way to start your day.

Belveda breakfast biscuits are a convenient and tasty breakfast option when paired with low-fat yogurt and fruit that gives you steady energy all morning long.

Need a pick-me-up?

Belveda Energy Snack Bites are a great option for the mid-morning refuel.

Velveeta breakfast biscuits pair great with coffee, fruit, and yogurt for a quick sit-down breakfast at home.

And Velveeta Energy Snack Bites are a great pick-me-up for a quick mid-morning break.

Either way, you'll feel a little more prepared for whatever the day holds.

Whether it's carpooling, family fun, or knocking a few items off your to-do list, pick up a pack of Velveeta at your local store today.

Top Reasons Your Dog Wants You to Move to Ohio.

Amazing dog parks to stretch your legs.

All four of them.

Dog-friendly patios.

Even gourmet hot dogs loaded with the good stuff.

Bone appetite.

And Ohio has so many high-paying jobs, you'll be top dog in no time.

Jobs in technology, engineering, science, advanced manufacturing, and more.

The career you want and a life you'll love.

Have it all in the heart of it all.

Go to callohiohome.com.

Travel insurance sounds boring.

Until you need it, Insure My Trip makes it easy.

Compare top-rated plans, get expert help, and travel with confidence.

Whether it's a last-minute trip or a bucket-list adventure, we've got your back with unbiased guidance and smart tech.

No pressure, just peace of mind.

And if you're not sure what you need, our licensed agents are here to help.

No bots, just real humans.

Be prepared, not paranoid.

Visit insuremytrip.com and travel like a pro.

InsuremyTrip.com.

Last year, I started law school in Los Angeles.

I've never lived in a big city before and I was excited to be in a massive city with over 4 million people.

Ever since I was little, I always knew I had a half-sister in LA, but my parents had this weird anger toward her, so asking them about her always felt like a taboo topic.

Of course, I looked her up on social media and knew exactly what she looked like, but that was about all.

She was never that active on social media, so there wasn't much to go by.

Out of nowhere, one day during my first year of law school, I got a friend request on Facebook from my sister.

Her profile seemed legitimate, she had plenty of friends on her friends list, and her profile picture looked just like the person I had lurked on before.

She sent me a message inviting me to a little dinner party at the park with her friends so that we could finally meet each other for the first time.

I was and still am, new to LA, so I had no idea which parts of the city to avoid at night.

I especially didn't know which parts were unsafe upon receiving this invite, since it happened so quickly after I moved there.

I was excited about the idea, but I had a lot of anxiety as well.

On one hand, I figured, it would be nice if we met, totally clicked, and became best friends for life.

But on the other hand, what if we ended up sobbing like we were in some dramatic movie?

What if I tried to talk with her and she just didn't click with me?

And she started showing me an attitude?

Or what if it's all going well until some kind of disagreement leading to someone saying something hurtful?

Honestly, if she had suggested a cozy little bakery for desserts instead, it would have been an easy yes.

I would have gone.

But going to a park with other people for our first meet up didn't feel right.

I thought that meeting her for the first time was too precious of a moment to share.

And I wasn't interested in experiencing that in front of a bunch of people that I didn't know.

So I couldn't bring myself to go.

I didn't want to risk having a meltdown in front of strangers.

I was too worried about how messy it could get.

A few weeks later, I did a little research on that park just to see what it was like.

I figured maybe my sister and I could meet up there together just one-on-one.

And that's when I learned that something was very wrong.

Now I won't say the name of the park, but anyone who has lived in LA for long enough will tell you that it's not a safe place for girls to be having a dinner party at night.

The area surrounding that park has very high violent crime rates.

The area is seemingly controlled by gangs.

Even people who do business in that park are forced to pay a tax to the gang in exchange for being left alone.

This really concerned me, but I was also curious.

So I then tried to get a hold of my sister.

She was an undergrad at the time, attending a local college.

I had a friend who went to her school.

I asked my friend to reach out to her on campus and asked her if she'd be okay with meeting us.

They connected and the three of us met at my friend's house.

It was great.

We got along so well.

My friend was also very happy to do that for us.

The three of us had so much fun, and thankfully we didn't burst into tears, but we did let out a few.

We had dinner, we watched a movie, and spent the night at my friend's house.

When I told my sister about the dinner party invitation, she said that she had not used Facebook since high school.

Somebody had been impersonating her.

I would have told her to report it, but the fake account had already been deleted by the time I brought this up to her.

She was aware that she was being impersonated on social media, though.

Another one of her friends had been scammed by someone pretending to be her.

It was some scheme involving fake concert tickets or something like that, so I'm not sure who was impersonating my sister or how they knew I was in town.

but they literally tried to lure me into one of the most dangerous parts of LA at night by myself.

I have no idea what their motives were.

I don't even know if I want to find out.

Meeting my sister after all these years ended up being a beautiful thing, but the whole lead-up was so terrifying.

Thanks for listening and stick around after the music if you're a patron for your extended ad-free version of this week's episode.

If you want to get access, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to sign up and support the show today, where you'll get access to ad-free versions of all of our episodes at a higher bitrate and bonus content with stories you won't hear anywhere else released every single week.

Remember, if you're an iPhone user, sign up with a browser like Safari, Chrome, or Firefox instead of the Patreon app through the Apple Store if you want to save 30% and skip the Apple fees.

This week you have heard, I think a couple tried to rob or scam us by CPunt 2000, Tinder Girl by Tyler, Granny by Bears Live in the Woods, Might Have Saved a Woman and Her Daughter from a Nasty Encounter by Alex Super Tramp89,

Bright Angel by Fat Assets,

Found Nameless Me on Instagram by Cup of Clouds, Taken Away by Kind Strangers by Lulakus, and finally, Someone Impersonated My Sister by Alba Michelle23.

All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors.

Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online.

And if you have a story to share, send it to Let'sNotMeetStories at gmail.com to hear it on the show.

And finally, make sure to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like Odd Trails, My True Paranormal Podcast, Cryptic Encounters, and the Old Time Radio Cast, all at crypticcountypodcasts.com.

And if you're a Twitch user, I now have a regular schedule for streaming every Monday and Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Pacific over at twitch.tv/slash cryptic county.

I'll see you there, and I'll see the rest of you next week for a brand new episode of Let's Not Meet.

Everyone, stay safe.

Thanks for sticking around, and welcome to the Patreon extension of this week's episode of Let's Hot Me.

Top Reasons Your Dog Wants You To Move to Ohio.

Amazing dog parks to stretch your legs.

All four of them.

Dog-friendly patios.

Even gourmet hot dogs loaded with the good stuff.

Bonapete.

And Ohio has so many high-paying jobs, you'll be top dog in no time.

Jobs in technology, engineering, science, advanced manufacturing, and more.

The career you want and a life you'll love.

Have it all in the heart of it all.

Go to callohiohome.com.

Today on Hey Culligan, sustainability and better water.

Here, Sam.

Hey, Culligan, I'm really into sustainability: my clothes, my utensils, my food.

But how do I get more sustainability from my water?

Super question, Sam, and the answer is an always-on drinking water system from Culligan, which helps eliminate the equivalent of 15 billion single-use plastic bottles a year.

Whoa, that's a ton of sustainability.

416,000 tons, Sam, and we're already on the way.

Let us help you out with a free in-home water test with the local Culligan water expert at Culligan.com.