Once, when I was living in La Crosse, Wisconsin, I took the bus to the grocery store. As I came out of the store with all my groceries, I saw the bus driving past. I raced out towards it, but it did not matter. I missed the bus. A stranger witnessed this, and offered to give me a ride in his car. I thanked him. It was very nice of this stranger to give me a ride.
When I was about 4 or 5 I was cautioned by my city bred mother to ‘beware of strangers’ to the point of terror for me. We lived in the country by then, and she being a city girl had an innate fear of Men In Trucks. We had company one week, a cousin and her husband came to stay, and one night asked if I’d like to go the lake, for the fireworks. I said “sure”, but was a bit uncomfortable. To me they were strangers, but mum said it was okay…the longer we stayed at the lake the more uncomfortable I got. I was now sure that these two tall people were kidnapping me. When we got home they seemed puzzled about my behavior. Later on Mother asked me if I was okay. I told her those two strangers scared me. She finally realized I had no clue as to who they were, and had to explain that they were really relatives… Lesson learned? make sure your kids KNOW who people are. You can’t assume.
Things We Forget 
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