Is Abilene Safe?

I've spent my entire life feeling pretty safe and secure. As a teenager whenever a friend or I wanted to do something dangerous we always said "it's Abilene, it's not like anything bad will happen," and usually we were right. (as a side note I should probably point out that- when we did do dangerous or otherwise stupid things; they were NOT illegal)

Now as I get caught up working on different stories I can't help but think how wrong my friends and I were. Sure Abilene is not Dallas or Detroit, but we do have murders, people do get robbed and others that are out being stupid do get injured. But nothing made me doubt the safety of my hometown more than last Friday night.

I got home a little after 11p.m. and as I started to put my key in the door I heard a person yell (something to the sound of "boo"!) I gave a startled yell and dropped my keys, as I reached down to pick them up I started to explain to the person that they had startled me but as I looked up I realized that the guy who was less than 3 feet away wasn't wearing any clothes.

In fact, besides his baseball cap and the t-shirt he was holding over his face, he was completely naked!

He stood there for over a minute making eye contact with me.

Everyone keeps asking why I didn't walk over and kick him or something, but truth be told, I was terrified! I had no idea whether or not he was going to turn violent, so my only thought was getting my front door between him and me.

After I got in and locked the door I called the police.

Since Friday I've become a lot more cautious; if I don't get home till dark I call a friend and make them talk to me until I get inside, I've gotten a new can of mace (my last one got taken away when I forgot to take it out of my purse before a flight) and I'm a lot more aware of my surroundings whenever I'm outside.

The truth is, while I do feel like Abilene is a much safer place to live then almost anywhere else, bad and crazy things can happen anywhere. So it's important for us, to help law enforcement protect us.

Till next time-Courtnee