Anytime you’re driving anywhere, you’re apt to see men and women wearing florescent safety vests.  Usually, it means they’re involved in some type of construction, street work or  any occupation that requires public consideration or respect.  It never occurred to me that such vests can be purchased by anyone,  and not always for a good reason.  They may be a decoy to fool you into trusting them.  Beware of strangers in  safety vests.

Here’s what happened to me after the big snow storm of 2022..  I drove  out the lane to go shopping, and stopped to get my mail.  A mound of ice/ snow between the car and the mailbox made me stumble and nearly fall.  As I clung to the mailbox, I heard a voice cry out, “Do you need help ma’am”, and before I knew it, a middle aged woman wearing a florescent safety vest came along and  helped me to my feet.  She even  put my mail in a bag.  I assumed she worked in some capacity with the city parks or street department..

As she followed me  to my car, she said she was walking home.  Since she had been so kind, I offered to give her a ride.  I assumed she lived nearby, as it was sub zero weather, and the snow was a foot deep.

Turned out,  she lived miles away (or so she said).  I swallowed hard, but continued on, determined to do my good deed for the day.  She wanted to chat, told me her name and asked mine.  But after we crossed the highway, she casually mentioned that she had just got out of jail, and it wasn’t very clean.

“Have you been vaccinated?” I asked.  She said, “oh no, I would never let them put that poison in my body.”  At that point, I rolled down the windows as freezing air swept through the front seat.  Accelerating to reach the speed limit, a plan formed in my mind.  Soon, I pulled into a busy  gas station.  “Sorry,” I said. “I have to drop you off here because you haven’t been vaccinated.”

She seemed startled and hesitated a moment. But we were surrounded by other vehicles.  Without further argument, she opened the door and got out of the car.

My husband was waiting at home in a sweat.  He had seen us drive away  and was ready to call the police.  I’ll never know what was on that woman’s mind, but I didn’t want to find out.

Beware of strangers wearing safety vests.