Something happened in a Publix parking lot that’s been bothering me ever since
This happened a couple of weeks ago, and I haven’t really talked to anyone about it because I’m still not sure what to make of it.
My husband, our toddler, and I had just parked at a Publix in Florida. During the drive, my daughter had been crying, so before going into the store I wanted to check if she had pooped.
I got out of the passenger seat, walked to the trunk to grab the diaper bag, and then went to the back passenger-side door (the side opposite her car seat). I got into the back seat so I could reach across to unbuckle her and checked her diaper.
While I was doing that, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. A man was sprinting through the parking lot directly toward the back of our vehicle. He wasn’t casually walking. He was running fast.
Just as he got close to our car, he suddenly stopped. It wasn’t like he slowed down naturally, it was an abrupt stop. He then looked across the parking lot aisle toward another man who was standing near the front of our vehicle.
I don’t know if they knew each other, but from where I was, it looked like they were communicating or acknowledging each other somehow. I also don’t think they realized my husband was still sitting in the driver’s seat because our windows had tint.
My husband saw the man running toward our car too. As soon as he noticed what was happening, he immediately drove away. We didn’t stick around to see what happened next because we both had the same gut feeling that something wasn’t right.
I know there could be completely innocent explanations for what we saw, but the timing, the way one man sprinted toward our vehicle and then abruptly stopped when he reached it, and the presence of another man near the front of our car all felt strange enough that we decided to leave immediately.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Do you think we overreacted, or would you have left too?