There is a man with a scissor over there...Minding my own business

I was minding my own business, enjoying a lovely evening at a local ocean side community. Three of us had gone to support a young man in his budding profession.
I met a woman who had a "God story" by which I was uplifted because of her faith.  Her story was one of struggle and survival after years of relatively easy living  She told me of the friendship of strangers (local Christian church) after Hurricane Sandy.   Her husband had died suddenly just a year or so before the wind and water storm.  His last words were "I see two lights."  Words of comfort from a dying man for a shocked and grieving wife.  She has testimony to share as well as tears of joy after sorrow.  
The room was small and the air warm, so my friends and I went to sit on a bench for some cool air.  A gentleman offered to share some space.  We sat and talked for a moment and then he got up.  He was going to his car for something.  As he walked away, I glanced in his direction for a moment and saw that he was engaged in conversation and walking with a tall, thin man.  The scene registered in my mind that he struck up another conversation with someone from the event or he joined again with someone he knew.  The picture of two men walking together seemed natural.  Nothing was out of context.......

The man who had offered us a bench to share came back to sit with us.  He re-told the conversation he had with the tall, thin man with whom he walked for a brief time.  My new acquaintance's heart was troubled.  As he spoke, he said he had an inner uneasiness about it.  He was thinking out loud as to a course of action.  He was thinking and talking out his options with us.
While the concerned man explained the scenario that was bothering his sense of intuition, the tall, thin man came along.  He waved into the location where the event was happening.  I didn't see anyone wave back, and neither did I see anyone chase him away.  It would appear to be an eccentric, older man who needed compassion.
That is, unless one heard about the conversation that had occurred between the man who offered us a seat, and the scissor  in the tall, thin man's hands held behind his back- opening and closing as he walked past us, looking at all of us. 
The gentleman who shared with us had a right to be concerned.  The conversation involved "luring behavior".  It may have come out of some sort of mental illness or aging process, but it was still "luring".
As the tall, thin man passed us, our new acquaintance was looking for support.  He needed support to follow his intuition that there was more to this conversation.  So, the concerned man called the authorities to report the incident.  Not knowing the information number for the local station, he called the emergency number known to all.
He explained to the police (with us sitting near by) what had just occurred.  The authorities said they would send out a car.  The tall, thin man seemed to realize that we were suspicious of his behavior, so he picked up his walking speed and disappeared from sight.  We never saw a police car pass by.
We were prepared to give testimony to the police to give credence to the caller's information.
I had seen this tall, thin man before.  His face was memorable because of the eyes and expression. Although I am not positive as to the first place, I had seen him, I believe it was on a train.  My friend and I were disembarking in a local town.  The tall, thin man was seated.  We made eye contact. The next train stop would be the last stop to Atlantic City.  So, he travels.
 Although "luring' took place, no one was physically harmed.  But, how many people do you know who walk along a street carrying an open scissor- opening and closing it as it is held behind one's back?  What if the man, who listened to his inner voice as he walked with the tall, thin man, was a child who did go to see what the tall, thin man was talking about? 
The scissor had no purpose for the task.  The behavior, if not with criminal intent, certainly was inappropriate and questionable as street behavior.  A reasonable man had intuitive concerns and called the police.  As a witness, I called that local community police department early the next morning to make sure the emergency call was recorded and documented.  I wanted them to know that the caller had a real concern.  Because I said that I wanted to make sure the call was not "blown off" and documented that we never saw a police car, the dispatcher reassured me that a car did go out to look for the tall, thin man although they did not find him.  No authority figure came by the event before we left sometime later.  They had the description of clothing, etc. The dispatcher also made it clear that every call is taken seriously.  Now, the police have a baseline profile or more information if this tall, thin man is known in the community.
Gavin DeBecker wrote The Gift of Fear...often times we ignore our intuition and the stories make national headlines.
"I was minding my own business, enjoying a lovely evening at a local ocean side community. Three of us had gone to support a young man in his budding profession.  But, what we didn't know,  is that we would also need to support strangers.  

Marian R. Carlino
May 12, 2013