I Was Approached in the Parking Lot at the Store Tonight

Hey, so I went to the grocery store by myself this evening just to grab a couple of things. In fact, I didn't even need the cart to take the stuff to my car--I just carried the bags in my hands. As is my habit, I used my remote to pop the trunk in order to put the groceries there. I closed the trunk and then clicked the remote once to get in on the driver's side. As I did so, someone called out to me from behind, "Ma'am?"

Well...I felt I needed to jump in and lock the car, so that's what I did. And then this couple, a man and a woman, came up near my window and said something I couldn't quite hear. Leaving my door locked and my window up, I said, "What?" And then she said, "This guy...hit your car." They both pointed to the rear of my car.

Well, I wasn't born yesterday. My mind flashed through a couple of things. First of all, I certainly didn't notice any damage back there while putting the groceries in the trunk, but hey, it was dark, so maybe I missed something. I have heard a lot of stories lately about people loitering around someone's car while they pump fuel or pounding on their car after they get in as if there's an emergency, so I was on high alert. Other questions flashed through my mind. Were they just waiting around like good Samaritans to tell me someone hit my car? How long had they waited? It's cold outside! Why not leave a note on the windshield? Also, there were two of them and one of me. No, I wasn't going to get out of my car. I didn't really think about how to phrase things, but this is what automatically came out of my mouth after she told me some guy hit my car:

"How can I believe you?"

That was it. That's all I said/asked. They both scrunched up their faces, threw their arms in the air while shaking their heads in disbelief, and walked off. Their message could have easily been interpreted to mean, "We're trying to help you, Lady! How dare you question us?"

Well, if they were such good Samaritans, they could have called the police saying they just witnessed a hit and run. Like I said, they could have left a note on my windshield. They could have taken a photo of the vehicle's license plate. They could have told me immediately rather than watching me put my stuff away and then waiting to approach, from behind, just as I had unlocked the driver's side door. Do good Samaritans wait patiently for the driver of the car that got hit to come out of the store and then get all huffy with her if she has trouble trusting them right off the bat?

I thought about calling dispatch from there, but I called my husband instead. I didn't want to get out and look at my car, not knowing where this couple was. I didn't want to call an officer until I knew if it was real or not. My husband advised me to drive home so we could look at it together, and guess what, there is a scratch on my car, however, I'm suspicious enough to wonder if that couple scratched it on purpose before approaching me. It's just a scratch and I'm not experienced enough to know, in the dark, if it's from a vehicle, a grocery cart, or some other object. I did call dispatch when I got home and an officer did call me an hour after the incident, reporting that he saw no one of that description in the parking lot (really, an hour later, probably not). My main concern was to report it in case there are more situations like this that come up in the area. It's just a little scratch so we're not too worried about that.

As I explained to the officer, it could all be legit. Maybe someone hit my car and maybe those people were so incredibly nice and just trying to help. But until I have more evidence of that, I'm calling it a scam. Maybe they wanted to hijack my car. Maybe they wanted to steal my purse (I wasn't even carrying a purse). My husband said he wouldn't have even called dispatch, but I smell something fishy, Fishy, FISHY, so I did call.

Be careful out there!