Bumping into strangers isn’t uncommon, nor is it always scary. Sometimes, a stranger can turn out to become one’s buddy and best friend. However, what can be scary is when you associate with them inappropriately or when they have a wrong approach towards you.
No matter who you are, young, old, busy or carefree, it is quite important to know how to deal with strangers and how to tackle them if you feel threatened. This because there are quite many of them out there who may actually want to harm innocent people for personal gain. They could be anywhere, strolling about freely, despite being charged repeatedly for numerous crimes in the past, and you won’t even know it! Therefore, it is vital to be smart, cautious and alert for your own safety. This way, you save three things: your time, your money, and sometimes, your life!
The Random Stranger
You may not be the only one who has had random people knock on your door. It certainly could be strange, especially when they claim to be salespeople selling the most bizarre items you’ve ever seen. But in some contexts, this could be completely normal and it is something communities deal with every day. Most of the time, these salespeople are genuine and come from small companies. In other words, they are simply doing their job. However, there could be times when they try to dupe you, with false claims and demonstrations, just to get hold of your money. Falling victim to such situations can certainly cost you a lot. That’s why it is important to know how to outsmart them whenever a situation calls for it.
The Helpful Stranger
Have you ever had friendly strangers help you out in critical situations? For instance, when you’ve been desperately looking for missing possessions at a public place, or when you suddenly felt like you were going to pass out at a train station. These strangers can be considered good samaritans who helped you or even saved your life. And that’s how they may eventually become your dear friends. However, as a smart person, you need to think about the bigger picture. Perhaps this was the whole purpose that they helped you: to become your friend – a friend who wants something from you? Not to scare you, but they really could end up stealing something valuable or causing you unimaginable loss. That’s why you need to be a tad bit cautious with people you don’t know well, just so you don’t end up regretting it.
The Stranger at Your Kid’s School
If you’ve come across a random person who’s been trying to get too close to your little one at the school gate, you definitely need to trust your motherly instincts. Sometimes, in these circumstances, you certainly cannot be wrong. These strangers may want to become overly friendly with your child and eve yourself, under the pretext that they find your kids cute, or based on claims that they don’t have children. Once again, it could be genuine affection, but they could also be people with dangerous motives. Such strangers could be anyone, even a kindly looking woman. It can be dreadful dealing with things like kidnappings and similar crimes. Since such cases are certainly a possibility, you need to be highly alert and cautious – a little more where your kids and family are concerned.
The Stranger on Social Media
Isn’t the internet like a playground where you meet not one, but a million strangers every day? Again, this isn’t totally a bad thing, but it certainly involves a huge amount of risk, probably more than any of the cases above. Social media is filled with stalkers and all kinds of other weird people. Some of them basically live to do crazy things on social media and may even have a reputation for it. You don’t have to be a teenager or a child to be exposed to these risks and dangers. Anyone of any age or gender could become a victim of cybercrime. Sometimes, they won’t even know it until it affects them. These crimes can cost a life. Or else, they can lead you to experience lifelong misery and distress where you will need to seek support and therapy. Thus, it is extremely crucial that you have plenty of insight and knowledge before you get too involved with the internet.
The Stranger Providing a Service
There can be many situations where you will need support with domestic matters. You may have issues with plumbing, or broken equipment and damages in your house that need repairs. In all these cases, the only thing you can do is to call up the service guys to come and take a look. Usually, you will have people you know and trust to handle these jobs who are more or less like family. In this case, you needn’t stress over safety issues. However, if there is a new face entering your home, that’s when you could get a little uncomfortable, even if it’s just one time. In such cases, it isn’t just the safety of you and your kids that you need to think about but your belongings and valuables as well. The longer the job takes, the more you will tend to stress and feel uneasy.
It is quite the same thing when you have domestic helpers and nannies coming over. Having a friendly family-helper or nanny you’ve known for ages come and even live in with you is never going to be a problem. But if you ever have to hire someone new, that’s going to be a cause for concern.
If you don’t see to it that you put away all your valuables and cash, and keep your kids close by until the ‘new face’ leaves, you could end up paying a huge price for your mistake. Thus, it certainly is advisable that you be a little more sensible and take all possible precautions before they arrive at your premises.
Being smart and sensible can help you a great deal in life, not only when it comes to careers, but in all aspects of your life. It can not just save money, but a life, too.
