Creepy Guy

I had my first run-in with a creepy guy last night in small-town safe shack Kassel, Germany.

It happened at about 8 PM my time, which makes it about 1 PM, your time.

I was waiting at the tram stop at Katzensprung (the name of a street), and to wait for the tram stop, you have to stand on the median of the street, where there is a booth and a bulletin-board schedule. The tram pulls up right alongside the median.

Well, I had been standing there for no more than 2 minutes, when I caught glance of an awkward fellow out of the corner of my eye.

He was standing kitty-corner on the opposite side of the intersection as me, waiting for the traffic light to change so he could cross.

It turns out he wanted to cross the street to get closer to me.



I kept watching him out of the corner of my eye; my woman's intuition kicked in and I just knew he was not right in the head, or at least not all there.

He was walking like a ghost. Just sort of....gliding. He'd walk and stare straight ahead, not once even moving his head to look for oncoming cars when stepping out into traffic. Not once blinking his hazed-over eyes. And, he didn't swing his arms when he walked.

Yes, he float-walked.


He ended up floating across the street, over the median, over the tram tracks...and made a beeline....right to me.

He stopped about 1 foot away from my face.








With the intuition still there, I clicked into defense mode and stood firmly with my feet shoulder-length apart. I did not make eye contact with him, and tried to ignore him for the longest time, even though he was *thisclose* to my poor face.

He kept staring.

And staring.

And staring.

And not blinking. Just staring, dead at my face.


Finally, he sofly said, "Hi."

I looked away, out of the corners of my eyes and down to the ground, watching his hands to see if he was readying to jump on me and grab my backpack or my plastic shopping bag in my hand, since I had just got done shopping.

I simply said, "Hi." back in return. Short, curt, but pleasant.


I knew to make no sudden movements.


He then rambled something out to me in German, and I quickly flickered my eyes to his and said, "Ich spreche nicht Deutsch. Sorry." (Meaning, "I don't speak German. Sorry.")

He still did not move, blink, or barely breath. He just softly said, "Oh."


He was silent for 30 seconds more, and I still tried to ignore him, looking around and pretending that street traffic was entirely the most entertaining thing ever.

Finally, he abruptly asked, "Have you accepted Jesus?"

In my head I thought Oooohhhh boy...one of THESE kind. Must be some sort of German Jehovah's Witness. Time to play the game and give him the answers he is looking for.

I, again, curtly said, "Ya. You?"

He said, "Yes."

Silence followed again. I was tapping my toes against the inside of my shoe, waiting for that damn tram to come around the corner and pull up. My pulse was shooting up into my ears.


He then said, "I can see it in you."

I said, "What?!"

He said, "The holiness. I can see it in you. I saw it in you, that is why I came over to you."

I fought as hard as I could to not blush, but I did nevertheless, and just curtly said, "Danka."

He kept staring.

And staring.

And staring.

And not blinking. Just gaping at me, his mouth slightly hanging open, with some leftover drool hangin' out on the beard hairs at the corners of his mouth.

Then, he really creepily leaned in towards me and whispered, "I bless you," and then started walking sideways away from me, keeping his head turned towards me and his eyes locked on my now totally FREAKED OUT face.

I looked to the ground, blinked hard, and swallowed. He was gone. It was all over with, and the tram could come annnny second now.





Except he came back.

I saw him float-walking out of the corner of my eye, and he made a beeline right back to that cobblestone square one foot away from me.

He asked me point-blank, "What makes you so holy? What do you do, that makes you so holy???"

I kept my mouth closed and licked the insides of my teeth. This guy was clearly on something. I had to play his game to get ahead of him.

So, I answered, "Uhhh...well...you be nice to people. You stay happy, and you work hard. Honesty. You be honest. Ya?" Hoping he'd understand, feel satisfied, and just walk away.

Instead, he softly nodded and said, "Ya."


"Do you ever feel it? The holiness, inside of you??"

I sighed to myself in my head. These were certainly some loaded questions.

But, I kept on, and said, "Well...sure...when....the sky is blue and the sun is shining and I am outside. I feel it. I feel peace. You?"

He said nothing. Just kept staring.

And staring.

And staring.




And then he quickly said, "DID YOU JUST FEEL THAT?"


I flickered my eyes towards him and said, "No."

He said, "I felt it. The holiness. I just felt it pass between you and I."


Fighting off a giggle that started inside at my bowels, I just plainly said, "Oh."


He held out a glass bottle with a liquid inside of it that had the consistency of chocolate milk. He offered to me, "Want some coffee?"

OBVIOUSLY, you don't take drinks from strangers, and I briskly said, "Nein danka." ("No, thank you.")

Except I must have said it a little too panicked, because he leaned in and kept his eyes locked in on mine, and whispered, "Do I put you on nerve?"

I leaned backwards, and tried as nicely/sweetly as I could to say, "Ya. Only because I do not know you."



He only stared at me, and offered no apology or common sense to knock it off and just get away from me.



Somewhere in there, my mom from the USA called my phone, and I picked up to talk to her. After all of the eerie talk and getting my hair to stand on-end all up and down my body, the tram FINALLY pulled up.

But, he got on it with me. More than one tram stops at each stop on the medians, and with my luck, he got on my particular tram.

I kept my parents on the phone, and Jack-Bauer-style dashed to the front of the tram, my back facing him, ducking my head down into my coat, and my body into my seat. I half turned my head, just enough to see him sitting down at the rear of the tram.

Then, I faced forward and kept my Mom (and now, Dad, since my mom did this conference call thingy) on the phone, whispering the narration to them.

Creepy Guy ended up getting off the tram about 8 stops later, at Königsplatz, or the street stop at the center of the city where there are a a few strip malls and shops.

He got off the tram and never knew I was on it, or at least never bothered to corner me and keep talking to me.

I watched him get off the tram, and use the same float-walk as he had used on me, to walk across the cobblestone arena that is the city center, and up the hill to the row of shops beyond the arena.

I got to the host house safely, with no other interruptions.





The cutest part of it all, though, was when I stepped into the foyer of my host home, and Mamma and Pappa Meetz were in the living room right there. I told them all what happened, but in simple sentences so they could understand me. ("I got scared today at the tram. A scary man talked to me and would not leave me alone.") Mamma Meetz immediately reached her hand up to her coat on the coat rack and said, "Wheearr? Outside???" She had a fire in her eyes and was ready to go outside and kick some Granny Panty ass, dragging that creep by the shirt collar and club him over his head with her umbrella. Hee hee, I had to motion with my hands "No no no," and told her, "Nein, at Katzensprung. By the university." She understood and said, "Ahhhh," and let her hand drop from the coat rack.

:)


Anyway, all else went fine, even though I felt like a four-year-old for the rest of the night and freaked out that Creepy Guy would be hiding under my bed, or standing like a ghost right outside my bedroom window, had I opened the shades.





I'm about to leave the computer lab now, too, to get to the host home for the night. I'm already on Defcon-5 look out, I hope I do not run into him again.


I will keep you all posted and I hope you enjoyed my story!! I love a good story, especially when they are 100% true like this one.