So here's a fukked up, but true, story...(serious)

[TheClips]

So there was a thread just now asking what you do when you catch someone staring at you, and my answer was, "I stare back for two to three seconds and then smile a bit and give a head nod. 99% of the time, I receive one right back."

So this got me thinking about a freaky time I did NOT get the head nod back:

I was at LAX, sitting on the floor in a crowded-ass terminal, waiting for my plane to arrive. I started reading a magazine while waiting and then outta NO WHERE this girl kneels down next to me and says, "Are you a Christian?"

I look at her suspiciously, over my shoulder, and then back at her and say, "Uhhhh, yeah..." half expecting some of the inflammatory bull$hit you get on here from atheists.

And she goes, "Oh good. I just wanted you to know that I'm praying for you. I was walking by and got a real strong urge from God and I felt that He wanted me to pray for you and to tell you that He's with you and has big plans for you..." (Now, this is a whole separate mind-blowing story in itself, and it is linked to why I was out in LA in the first place, but I'll tell that another time...)

So I go, "Are you trying to get money from me?" because it was all very weird. She reassured me she wasn't, and I had made sure I had all my bags in my line of sight so one of her buddies couldn't steal 'em if it was a scam.....Realizing that there was no way she could have seen me from where she'd been walking, I start getting curious and ask, "Did God tell you what the plans were? lol," She laughed and said things similar to what was said above and finally I was like, "Can I take your picture?" because I seriously wondered if she was an angel and wouldn't show up on the picture (She did though).(no pics)

So she smiles and leaves and I'm left bewildered, wondering, "What the hell are these big plans? How big are they? Will I be rich? Famous? It could be anything!!"

Just then I see him again--a person I'd seen a few minutes before that girl had approached me, and it was a guy that had given me a very uneasy feeling.

He was a young twenty-something Arab male about to board the same plane as me and he had a couple Arab male friends with him too. They were all clean shaven and well-dressed and all sat quietly together. I had looked up from reading my magazine when I'd first settled in and this man was giving me the most hateful, sharp-eyed stare I'd ever received...like this one from "Bad Santa" (very similar eyes to this guy, too):



So I looked at him, nodded and smiled like I do, and he did.................nothing. He continued to look straight into my soul.


So I pretend like I'm going back to my mag for about 30 seconds and look up again to see what he's doing......same $hit! He's been staring at me the whole time.


This was around a time when terrorist threats were starting to resurface again on the news, so naturally I start getting paranoid and started wondering if this dude and his friends are going to try to hijack the plane and he's eyeing me with hate because, to him, I am America....

So there I am, looking at this guy eyeing me up again and I couldn't help but start thinking about what that girl had said to me....I soon abandoned my thoughts of fame and fortune and now wondered if I was somehow going to be called upon to fight with these dudes on the plane if $hit went down.

My mind started racing with possibilities as I wondered if all of this had been some random coincidence, or if $hit was indeed getting real....It was a mind fukk to say the least as I had to sit there and ask myself not only if I was imagining this, but also if I had the balls to do something about it if this was really happening.

It was a pretty scary, adrenaline-provoking reaction to build enough resolve to fight for my life, and those of others, if I had to, and it was even scarier knowing that I'd never know the truth until it was happening....No one had suspected the 9/11 terrorists...or maybe they had, but did nothing until they could no longer do anything. I didn't want to have that, so I made up my mind: If this was really what God wanted of me, I was going to do it.

I pulled out my cell phone and called my family and girlfriend and briefly told them what happened. I tell them I love them "just in case anything weird happens." As I'm saying this, I'm looking at this guy from across the terminal and he's STILL staring a hateful glare....I stare back and bite down hard as I feel the fight-or-flight response swirling in my stomach.

Finally I decided I had to feel this dude out (no homo) by talking to him, and that maybe being a hardass right back wasn't the best approach. "Kill them with kindness" was a phrase I'd always employed as a server, so I decided to use this mantra and figure this dude out. So I go sit down right next to him and start shooting the $hit about the sunflower seeds I see him eating.

"So, you a baseball player?" is what I ask him and he quickly turns to face me. "Oh no..." he says, a bit uncomfortable. He's a tiny bit sweaty on his brow.

"You nervous at all about flying?" I ask him. He assures me he's not and I joke with him about how afraid I am. Things loosen up and I show him my true good nature, but he's still a bit tense and weird the whole time. I figured if I could get it in his head that I wasn't afraid of him--or even that I noticed him, or that I wasn't a bad guy--that he might be cool or have second thoughts if he was up to no good.

Eventually, we got on the plane--I made sure to be the last one on--and I gave him a wave and nod ("I see you") as I passed by his seat. I said a prayer for strength as we took off and I kept an eye on him the whole time.


Thankfully, nothing ever happened and we parted ways at the next airport.

So was this guy planning anything but decided against it? Was this part of the "big plans" I was apparently part of?

I guess I'll never know, but it was probably the most afraid--and simultaneously "game"--that I've ever been.

And I wanted to share it with the misc.

[TheClips]

No cliffs, btw. Read it or don't. But please respect the serious tag to a certain degree. Let's not bitch about religion.

[Malice84]

by reading this post you delayed me from getting into my car by 3 minutes which has had an affect on me for better or worse ... naw good read tho

[dces000]

I AM NAAT GAY
scary. story.

[blackgtprix]

read

[McGillacutty]

read it, took me like a half hour though. good stuff, way to stay strong.

[enigma662]

Wow you are one crazy person

[Meskeet]

the fuk do u mean no pix?

[Devian]

This sounds like racial profiling tbh.....I don't care about the religion part but it's sad you think an arab man looking at you is going to blow up your plane.

[CinciBoy23]

i woulda piitb christian girl then put the terrorist in a choke hold

ALPHA

but srsly good story dave man i read it. weird ****.

[MrPayday]

This a true story?

If it is, cool man. It was good of you to go up and to him and show kindness. Very strange turn of events, and showing someone kindness is always a good thing. I remember reading once this person who locally commit suicide left that a note that simply said, "if anyone smiles at me today, I won't do it." He did do it.

Kindness can travel such a long way and mean so much, we don't even realize it.

Also I agree it was kind of strange of you to think he was going to bomb the plane because he was staring at you and he was arab. That's pretty extreme. He might have just been in a bad mood. It was borderline poor of you to assume you prevented a hijacking because an arab man was staring at you. But still, cool story.

[localfool]

Hm, definitely a good read. Sometimes you can only wonder what would have happened if you hadn't shown any kindness.

[Shoester]

What you didnt see was the guy right behind you that he was having an eye-staring contest with.

You did nothing but interrupt his game, gjdm.

[LiftBig315]

Wow you are one crazy person

so were you sober when this happened? or were you paranoid because some sort of drug?

sounds like a case of paranoia more than anything, and that chick was most likely a little loony...that's my take.

[mtomjr14]

read it, took me like a half hour though. good stuff, way to stay strong.

this

[SD500]

So there was a thread just now asking what you do when you catch someone staring at you, and my answer was, "I stare back for two to three seconds and then smile a bit and give a head nod. 99% of the time, I receive one right back."

So this got me thinking about a freaky time I did NOT get the head nod back:

I was at LAX, sitting on the floor in a crowded-ass terminal, waiting for my plane to arrive. I started reading a magazine while waiting and then outta NO WHERE this girl kneels down next to me and says, "Are you a Christian?"

I look at her suspiciously, over my shoulder, and then back at her and say, "Uhhhh, yeah..." half expecting some of the inflammatory bull$hit you get on here from atheists.

And she goes, "Oh good. I just wanted you to know that I'm praying for you. I was walking by and got a real strong urge from God and I felt that He wanted me to pray for you and to tell you that He's with you and has big plans for you..." (Now, this is a whole separate mind-blowing story in itself, and it is linked to why I was out in LA in the first place, but I'll tell that another time...)

So I go, "Are you trying to get money from me?" because it was all very weird. She reassured me she wasn't, and I had made sure I had all my bags in my line of sight so one of her buddies couldn't steal 'em if it was a scam.....Realizing that there was no way she could have seen me from where she'd been walking, I start getting curious and ask, "Did God tell you what the plans were? lol," She laughed and said things similar to what was said above and finally I was like, "Can I take your picture?" because I seriously wondered if she was an angel and wouldn't show up on the picture (She did though).(no pics)

So she smiles and leaves and I'm left bewildered, wondering, "What the hell are these big plans? How big are they? Will I be rich? Famous? It could be anything!!"

Just then I see him again--a person I'd seen a few minutes before that girl had approached me, and it was a guy that had given me a very uneasy feeling.

He was a young twenty-something Arab male about to board the same plane as me and he had a couple Arab male friends with him too. They were all clean shaven and well-dressed and all sat quietly together. I had looked up from reading my magazine when I'd first settled in and this man was giving me the most hateful, sharp-eyed stare I'd ever received...like this one from "Bad Santa" (very similar eyes to this guy, too):



So I looked at him, nodded and smiled like I do, and he did.................nothing. He continued to look straight into my soul.


So I pretend like I'm going back to my mag for about 30 seconds and look up again to see what he's doing......same $hit! He's been staring at me the whole time.


This was around a time when terrorist threats were starting to resurface again on the news, so naturally I start getting paranoid and started wondering if this dude and his friends are going to try to hijack the plane and he's eyeing me with hate because, to him, I am America....

So there I am, looking at this guy eyeing me up again and I couldn't help but start thinking about what that girl had said to me....I soon abandoned my thoughts of fame and fortune and now wondered if I was somehow going to be called upon to fight with these dudes on the plane if $hit went down.

My mind started racing with possibilities as I wondered if all of this had been some random coincidence, or if $hit was indeed getting real....It was a mind fukk to say the least as I had to sit there and ask myself not only if I was imagining this, but also if I had the balls to do something about it if this was really happening.

It was a pretty scary, adrenaline-provoking reaction to build enough resolve to fight for my life, and those of others, if I had to, and it was even scarier knowing that I'd never know the truth until it was happening....No one had suspected the 9/11 terrorists...or maybe they had, but did nothing until they could no longer do anything. I didn't want to have that, so I made up my mind: If this was really what God wanted of me, I was going to do it.

I pulled out my cell phone and called my family and girlfriend and briefly told them what happened. I tell them I love them "just in case anything weird happens." As I'm saying this, I'm looking at this guy from across the terminal and he's STILL staring a hateful glare....I stare back and bite down hard as I feel the fight-or-flight response swirling in my stomach.

Finally I decided I had to feel this dude out (no homo) by talking to him, and that maybe being a hardass right back wasn't the best approach. "Kill them with kindness" was a phrase I'd always employed as a server, so I decided to use this mantra and figure this dude out. So I go sit down right next to him and start shooting the $hit about the sunflower seeds I see him eating.

"So, you a baseball player?" is what I ask him and he quickly turns to face me. "Oh no..." he says, a bit uncomfortable. He's a tiny bit sweaty on his brow.

"You nervous at all about flying?" I ask him. He assures me he's not and I joke with him about how afraid I am. Things loosen up and I show him my true good nature, but he's still a bit tense and weird the whole time. I figured if I could get it in his head that I wasn't afraid of him--or even that I noticed him, or that I wasn't a bad guy--that he might be cool or have second thoughts if he was up to no good.

Eventually, we got on the plane--I made sure to be the last one on--and I gave him a wave and nod ("I see you") as I passed by his seat. I said a prayer for strength as we took off and I kept an eye on him the whole time.


Thankfully, nothing ever happened and we parted ways at the next airport.

So was this guy planning anything but decided against it? Was this part of the "big plans" I was apparently part of?

I guess I'll never know, but it was probably the most afraid--and simultaneously "game"--that I've ever been.

And I wanted to share it with the misc.

or... most likely... the girl who approached you was a whackjob... and the guy staring at you was S***ing his pants and just happened to be looking at you while doing it. That explains the bad santa face. As for the sweat on his brow... that further solidifies my pants s***ing hypothesis.

[Shoester]

This sounds like racial profiling tbh.....I don't care about the religion part but it's sad you think an arab man looking at you is going to blow up your plane.

You kiddin? I would be suspicious too. I'm suspicious of all Arab's walking on the street. Does that make me a racist? Or is it because of recent events that have led to me thinking this way?

[SirTerrythe3rd]

I've met questionable people and some really eerie people in my life. I won't go into details, but I'm sure Good vs. Evil is very real. That is all.

[matwarrior]

gj anti-terrorist man

[Al.Capone]

So some happy clappy nutjob approaches you in the airport and tells you god has big plans for you. Meanwhile some dude is eyeing you up?

Story cool Hansel bro.

[Devian]

You kiddin? I would be suspicious too. I'm suspicious of all Arab's walking on the street. Does that make me a racist? Or is it because of recent events that have led to me thinking this way?

I understand the fear but should I think every black man that walks into the corner-store with me is going to rob the place? Just because others of similar race have done such actions, doesn't mean ALL those people or even the majority of them will do similar things. That IS racist and that IS racial profiling. I just wish people had the balls to say they are racist instead of trying to cover it up with excuses.

[mudrock]

[jonhizzle]

or you just saw what you wanted to see (stereotypes). If they were white you wouldn't have approached the group. and that lady is a weirdo.

[EHSTennis]

damn crazy story if true. I had this thought in the back of my mind though: maybe he's just staring you down because you were looking at him, and he automaticially thinks that you suspect him of being a terrorist. Not saying you did at all, but thats probably what he thought.

[SD500]

You kiddin? I would be suspicious too. I'm suspicious of all Arab's walking on the street. Does that make me a racist? Or is it because of recent events that have led to me thinking this way?

Racial profiling and racism are two completely different things. The fact that you are suspicious of all Arabs makes me lol. People need to realize that terrorists are a very small minority. You realize we have Ku Klux Klan members still in this country? Doesn't mean I am suspicious of every white person.

[Beatnik5]

Not sure whether to say GJDM or to comment on how you assume an arab is a terrorist because some psycho chick said god has plans for you.

[Shoester]

I understand the fear but should I think every black man that walks into the corner-store with me is going to rob the place? Just because others of similar race have done such actions, doesn't mean ALL those people or even the majority of them will do similar things. That IS racist and that IS racial profiling. I just wish people had the balls to say they are racist instead of trying to cover it up with excuses.

I sure as hell do. I live in Kansas City, and you bet your ass I am more cautious when walking by a black male. I don't know of any better way to put this, but when you live up to the stereo-types that people talk about, I have no choice but to think your a threat, and prepare my self accordingly.

If I'm walking down the street, and a black male or an Arab man is walking towards me, my hand automatically moves to my back pocket where I keep a knife. I don't even think about it.

[Jburn]

it's sad you think an arab man looking at you is going to blow up your plane.

[.PeTeR.]

Strange.....

[SD500]

I sure as hell do. I live in Kansas City, and you bet your ass I am more cautious when walking by a black male. I don't know of any better way to put this, but when you live up to the stereo-types that people talk about, I have no choice but to think your a threat, and prepare my self accordingly.

If I'm walking down the street, and a black male or an Arab man is walking towards me, my hand automatically moves to my back pocket where I keep a knife. I don't even think about it.

I feel bad for you... I think its time to get out of Kansas and experience the world.