[milliecorrales]

I have been the victim of assault on three different occasions. I had a man get in my parked car, which I did not discover until I was driving. He had a mask on, a knife, a length of rope and some bath towels in my car. I jumped while the car was moving, got scraped up, but scared me to death. On another occasion, I was leaving a grocery store at 9:00 pm, had just cashed my Xmas bonus check and was held up at gunpoint and my money taken. Further, I went out to empty the trash the day after Thanksgiving and a man entered my apartment, hid in my room and when I discovered him there, attacked me. I know the feeling of fear. The car incident happened 29 years ago and to this day, I will not leave my car unlocked while I run into 7-11 for acup of coffee and I never enter my car without checking the backseat. I do not leave my apartmetn unlocked to walk the 50 feet to the mailbox or to take the dogs for a ten minute walk. All I can tell you is to be aware. Look around you all the time, (don't the windows lock for gods sake) and if you feel that something is wrong, it is! The police told me that if you feel that something is wrong that it is your basic human animal sense protecting you and telling you to flee. I listen to my instincts nowadays, if I don't feel comfortable if a man gets on the elevator with me alone, I get off. If I feel uncomfortable walking to my car across the street from my night job, I either get a security guard or I call the police to escort me. The cops told me that they would rather come out and escort someone to their car than to come out and find a dead body later. Listen to your instincts, talk to your boss about hiring a security guard. Have the police come out and check out your so-called security systems. And by the way, my mom was in a nursing home for 18 years, and CNAs are the unsung heroes, but no patient should be keeping any valuables especially money in their rooms!