Monday morning I decided to take a day trip up to an outlet mall in O.C. Unfortuantely this is like an hour and half drive from my house, that is if there is no construction. But it's summer so of course there is construction, and lots of it. Anyway after about an hour of driving I decide that well I don't think I can make it to the Mall before I need to pee. What can I say I have a bladder the size of a walnut.
I'm pretty much out in the middle of fucking nowhere, and honestly don't think I can make it to the next exit, so I decide to get off at a rest stop. Now normally I wouldn't consider it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Surprisingly the rest stop is quiet and more importantly clean, with soap, running water and towels thank god.
While I'm in the restroom doing my duty, I hear a voice. Kinda took me by surprise since I thought I was alone. Anyway at first I thought it was a woman talking on her cell phone since I didn't hear any responses to what she was saying.
But this one sided conversation quickly took a bizarre turn. As I am sitting there I hear her praying, I think ok she's praying, kinda a weird place to get one with your maker but to each his own.
For some reason I just sat there and listened, I don't know what compelled me to, but it was like I was intrigued by her private conversation, I felt a slight twinge of guilt for eavesdropping but hell this was a public restroom after all, what was I supposed to do plug my ears and try to wipe at the same time?
So I'm sitting there listening and the conversation just begins to become more and more bizarre....."you gotta stick with me Jesus, you hear, I need you, my babies are good, they are good kids, I am not going to listen to you, my babies are good, I am not going to kill my kids, I won't listen to you. My babies are good."
My heart was in my throat the minute I heard "I'm not going to kill my kids". At that point I was sort of in this weird limbo, part of me wanted to get the hell out of there, and part of me was intent on seeing if this woman was really alone.
I quickly pulled my skirt up, exited the stall and looked under the stall doors. There she was about six stalls down in the handicapped stall. I could tell she was alone, I didn’t see any other feet under the stall, and from what I could tell she was just standing up against the wall. All the while she keeps up her montra, “My babies are good, I won’t listen to you”
I quickly and quietly washed my hands and dried them, praying myself she didn’t come out of the stall before I exited. All the time I am thinking what the HELL, I can’t believe what I just heard, and why does this crazy shit always happen to me? I went to my car and waited, waited for the delusional woman to emerge from the restroom hoping she parked on the same side I did. Within a few minutes she comes out. I knew it was her I recognized her black and white canvas sneakers.
I was half expecting this monster to appear, but she was ironically normal looking. Well groomed and not someone whom I’d suspect would vocalize such insane statements. But that’s the thing about mental illness, it can strike even the most normal looking of person, Drew is a perfect example of this.
I watched her get in the passenger side of the car she was riding in, and decided I would not be able to live with myself unless I “did” something. I pulled out and started following her onto the expressway, dialed 911 and reported what I had heard and described her vehicle and plate number.
I felt kind of weird about calling and was having a hard time explaining what happened, the 911 operator sort started to blow me off, until she heard the urgency in my voice. Basically I told her that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I read in the papers in the near future that this woman actually carried out this act upon her children, and secondly I would be the first to call the media to explain my run in with her in a public highway restroom and explain how my concerns were blownoff by a certain 911 Operator. She assured me she’d dispatch an officer to the area, but couldn’t guarantee anything would or could be done. Fair enough was my response and I hung up.
I’ve told a few people about the incident, with mixed opinions being offered. Some say I was just being nosey, that the woman just was rambling incoherently and it meant nothing. Others have said I did the right thing, better to be safe than sorry. I don’t know I just think that if I hadn’t done anything that I would always wonder, this way I know I did what I could within my miniscule power. But I guess I will never really know.
