JUSTA WALKIN' INA RAIN

I was walking over to Safeway's one afternoon and I noticed a hysterical woman with three men around her. She was telling them that she was over at Taco Bell across the street from Safeway's, in her car, when a young man with a gun demanded all her money. She said that for some reason, when he found out she was a nurse, he apologized and left - without the money. She kept saying, with a bit of amazement in her voice, that "he looked so clean. He didn't look like a robber."

I asked her what he was wearing and she described the clothes (I forget the description now - it's been years and I'm an old man. So sue me.) I forgot to ask what kind of shoes he was wearing.

I finished my business at Safeway and was walking home and I saw this young man on a corner by Carrows Restaurant about two blocks kitty-corner from Safeway's, wearing clothes just like she described. What made me hesitate to go into Carrows and call the police was that he looked so clean. He didn't look like a robber. I noticed he had on clean white tennis shoes. I wished I had asked her about the shoes. As it was, I was so affected by his looks that I thought I must have the wrong guy, so instead of calling the police, I decided to follow him and if I saw a policeman, I would point out the guy and let them handle it.

I followed him down"J" street. He would occasionally look into a store window, like he was window shopping. Occasionally, I would look in a store window to watch him through the reflection. And no, it never occurred to me until after it was all over that he was doing the same thing I was doing. He was watching me while I was watching him. I thought I was so clever.

I followed him like this for about ten blocks until he went down an alley and when I got to where I could see him he was gone.

This was when I realized that he must have been watching me all the time. I realized I must have stood out like a sore thumb - barefoot, wearing bib overalls, carrying a bag over my shoulder.

I felt like an idiot. I went back to Safeway and talked to the guard - who was one of the men talking to her when I first saw her. I asked him if she had described the guys's shoes. He said, "Yeah. he was wearing white tennis shoes."

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I used to walk the streets of Sacramento constantly. I would only go home to eat and sleep. One night about two in the morning, I was walking down 16th street, downtown and I notice a "working girl" ahead of me about a half block ahead. I kept walking and then somewhat of a ruckus occurred - talking, movement, to my left, and three men came out from behind a building, all three carrying clubs, sticks, in their hands. I kinda looked at them wondered who they were looking for, continued my walk, the hooker ahead of me. The three men started acting like the Keystone cops - bumping into each other, seemingly confused, whispering amongst themselves.

Eventually I didn't see them any more, nor did I see the hooker. It was only when a police helicopter shone his light on me that I realized the hooker must have been bait for the three "armed" men. The fact that I must have just seemed mildly curious about them and not at all interested in the hooker, nor afraid of them must have thrown them off their plans. Maybe they thought I was bait for the cops?
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Some months later I was walking again late at night, in another part of town, and when I got near a freeway underpass, this small wiry Black man (individuals not named by color or race are Caucasian like me) ran up along side of me and came to a screeching halt. I think he tried to scare me, but I just said, "Hi."

We walked side by side for awhile, some comments I don't remember, and then he asked if I knew him. I was a little suspicious by this time, so I said, "Yeah, I know you." We walked some more and he asked for money. I offered him a quarter, but he said, "No, I want five dollars." I told him I wasn't going to give him five dollars. If he wanted the quarter, it was his, but that's all he was going to get from me.

By that time we were about a half block from a main street where there were people, and a little more light. he seemed to get very nervous and he started looking around - in my mind, for cops. I figured he had a knife and was trying to get up the nerve to actually "arm rob" me. I put on my angry persona and told him that he was beginning to make me angry and I didn't want him walking with me any more. He left.

So again, I figured that here I was, alone on a dark street, nobody around, and I wasn't scared of the situation when I should have been, and the only way they could figure this could be was that I was once again, "bait."