Always Walk in Bright Areas
In college, I went to a convenience store across the street from the dorms.
There were two ways to go: One was basically half a block through this dark, crappy little alley, and the other was well lit, but because of fences and buildings, it was three blocks.
Keep in mind this was in college, so my lazy butt didn’t want to walk that far just to go on a Doritos and salsa run.
I used the shortcut and had no problems. I got my Doritos original flavors, Tostitos medium-strength salsa, and some Mountain Dew. It’s weird how I remember this after 25 years.
I browsed the 7-11 for a few minutes and chatted with the clerk…because why not? It was a Saturday night, and I wasn’t doing anything. I left the store and started to go towards the alley, but then I suddenly stopped.
It was the weirdest thing. It was like my brain was the captain of a ship, and my body was the crew—and the crew mutinied. I literally could not move forward. I tried again, thinking, “What the heck?”
It was like my body just went into open revolt and would not take my orders. I didn’t see or hear anything unusual, and I was thinking about playing computer games while I ate and drank my junk food.
Eventually, I just told myself, “Oh, alright. We’ll go the long way!” So, with some internal disgust, I cruised away at a higher speed than usual, not running, but faster than I typically walked, even if I was eager to get junk food into me.
I made it safely back to the dorm and didn’t think much of it. But the next day, when I went to get lunch in the cafeteria, I noticed a discarded local newspaper and read it.
In the law enforcement blotter, I read about a mugging in the same alley that involved a knife wound, leaving the victim hospitalized. It happened maybe ten minutes after I would have gone through there.
Take the long way home in the light, kids!