The lady in the pink pajamas

[murielm99]

Yesterday,I got home about 3:30 p.m. There was a lady standing at the end of my driveway, texting. Ladies do not usually stand at the end of my very long driveway and text. I live in the country, along a highway, with no close neighbors.

The lady was remarkable for another reason. She was wearing pink flannel pajamas with blue bunnies printed all over them. Please correct me if there is some new fashion trend that I am missing. I remember a few years ago when people wore pajama pants in public if they were going someplace where casual dress was acceptable. I recall plaid and print pajamas pants at school, in the stores, and in casual restaurants. But that fad seems to have passed, at least around here. These were not those kind of pajamas. They were strictly for sleeping. They were large and hideous.

I stopped at the bottom of the driveway and asked the lady if she was all right, or if she needed help with something. She informed me that her ride had fallen through, and she was walking to a nearby town. That town is seventeen miles away. She then asked me if I lived in the house at the end of the driveway. I said yes.

After she walked on, I got worried. This is a rural county, but we are not without crime. If she was as odd and naive as I thought, she could have been in danger if someone got her into their car and raped or murdered her. Or maybe she was not odd, but looking for places where no one was home and doors were left unlocked. I lock up, but many of my neighbors do not. Maybe she was a thief or squatter.

I've seen quite a bit in the thirty-two years I have lived in this house. I have seen motorcyclists collide with deer, drunk driving accidents, overturned boats, neighbors having domestic disputes, runaway livestock - you name it. I help anyone who is having an emergency. I use caution with strangers, but I will help. Not as many come to the door these days. Most people have cell phones.

But this was odder than usual. I got a very bad vibe from the whole thing. After she started walking again, I called the sheriff. Maybe it was just comic relief for some poor rural deputy.

People tell me I am strange. But I would not walk to a town seventeen miles away, wearing hideous pajamas.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear murielm99!

Well, that is an odd one! For a moment, I thought you were describing your latest dream!

I hope she was OK.

:hi:

[murielm99]

2. I hope so, too.

I didn't call the sheriff back. I figured they know their own business.

We do have some occasional odd doings along the road. We were on the news and in the papers a few times. One was an ammonia leak. We were not home. Another was a boat that overturned while it was being transported, blocking traffic for quite awhile. We are not a city expressway, but there was quite a backup. The last one was very tragic. Two teens were killed at the corner. The did not realize that they had to stop at the intersection.

[murielm99]

3. Kick for the day crowd.

Did I do the right thing by calling the sheriff, or am I a terrible old busybody?

[LaurenG]

8. I'm glad you called the sheriff

People who are ok don't usually walk 17 miles in PJ's and slippers. From your description it seems she needed help.

[struggle4progress]

4. Strange story, but not enough info. Age? General demeanor? Alcohol odor?

[murielm99]

14. She was in her thirties or forties.

She did not smell of alcohol, or seem disoriented. She did not appear to be injured. She seemed relaxed and at ease with herself, even though she was dressed oddly and in a situation where she was alone with a stranger under unusual circumstances.

[struggle4progress]

15. I'd be a bit uncomfortable if I were facing a long walk in my PJs

and I think most other people would, too

I could easily imagine several possibilities

(1) The woman has some mental issue: she wandered off from her usual residence with some definite and clear but completely inaccurate view of where she was and where she was going; she was not upset because in her mind there was nothing strange or awkward about the situation
(2) The woman had been ejected again from a place where she intended to spend the evening but was not upset, because her support network had always rescued her whenever this happened in the past; this might be consistent with (i) a rocky romance or (ii) and a borderline homeless status
(3) The woman was scoping out potential burglary targets and texting information to her confederate; she was not upset because this is a well-practiced routine

If she was in her sixties or seventies, I might lean towards (1). If she seemed nice but not too bright, I might lean towards (2)(i). If she looked like she'd spent time living on the street, I might lean towards (2)(ii). I have no idea about indicators for (3)

I'll agree with other posters who said calling law enforcement was the right move

[nolabear]

5. Muriel, my sister is a 911 operator.

You're not even in the same universe with strange by her descriptions of the calls she gets regularly. I don't know what they did, but they do respond when they can.

My very favorite of the weird calls was the lady who called in hysterics, screaming "My hamster's all swoll up and he can't breathe!" (Swoll...South, doncha know) My sister says she thought for a minute and said "Ma'am, do you want me to talk you through CPR?"

Hope the lady made it okay.

[zanana1]

6. Thank you for calling the police.

My slippers are pretty worn out and I wasn't looking forward to walking those seventeen miles.

[Crystal Clarity]

9. LOL

:-)

[frogmarch]

7. You did the right thing.

It was the only sensible thing you could have done.

I hope the woman is okay.

[redwitch]

10. I am glad you called.

Hopefully the sheriff gave her a ride to next town. So she could go shopping for normal daytime attire. :-)

[Crystal Clarity]

11. I think you did the right thing

You know the area and what is and isn't typical. I think you did the right thing by trusting your gut feeling that something was off about that situation. It certainly sounds strange to me.

[Kali]

12. you did the right thing

if she is a local "Crazy Mary" they know her and probably gave her a ride and if not then now they do and maybe got her home or to some help.

Could be somebody's parent or other relative with Alzhiemers going for a walkabout - those can have tragic endings.

[petronius]

13. Absolutely you did the right thing. She was either someone in need of help,

or someone the sheriff needs to take note of.

Unless, of course, she was just totally messing with you - a birdwatcher or a geocacher or somesuch that just didn't feel like telling you what she was really doing...

[kentauros]

17. Geocacher?

Why, is the Earth falling? :P

Sure, I can google it, but if you already know the answer, then explain ;)

[grace0418]

18. Cache, not catch.

It's an activity where people post gps coordinates of places all over the world. Other geocachers find those spots using their gps devices, and when they do there is usually a book to sign and sometimes people leave fun trinkets. It's surprisingly fun, and it's pretty ingenious what some people will do to keep the cache hidden from the random passerby. One I found in Chicago was inside the trunk of a tree attached to a pull cord. So you couldn't see it if you passed by, but if you reached up and felt around, you could find it.

[kentauros]

19. Okay, thanks

:)

I don't own any GPS device, though I work with geo-referenced data all day long ;)

[kentauros]

16. That was a unique situation and you were right in calling the sheriff.

However, I've been told (and seen firsthand) that you know you're in the country when you go to the grocery store and see people not just in pajamas, but only a flimsy nightgown or just a barely tied bathrobe! Oh, and slippers, too ;)

[Kali]

20. ha - that's what we in the sticks think about y'all in the big city

:rofl:

[kentauros]

21. Interestingly

I've seen it happen in both the country AND "the big city". Although I've only ever seen it here in Houston proper and not in the 'burbs. As crazy-republican as they are, I've never seen any of them shop in their jammies, nor would I want to! :o

[murielm99]

22. My neighbor used to flap around in her nightgown,

bathrobe and slippers. She visited that way, but she never went to town like that. I was a bit disconcerted the first time I met her.

She is deceased now, but she always wanted to be the first to give and get the local gossip. I guess she would not have been as quick to get the local dirt if she had stopped to put on street clothes.