I am a strong believer in the reliability of woman’s intuition and our inner wisdom keeping us safe from danger. When we find ourselves in a potentially dangerous situation, we can spontaneously tap into that part of our brain that provides us with intuitive answers and solutions.
Here is a prime example.
Several years back, I spent a couple of nights at a hotel in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. Around 8:30 on my second night, I drove up and parked as close to the stairwell leading to my room as I could. I registered that a man holding two pizza boxes was standing on the sidewalk almost in front of my car. He greeted me with a loud hello. Not wanting to encourage him, I mumbled a quick hi as I walked to retrieve some small items from my trunk. I was quite surprised to see him still standing there when I headed toward the stairwell.
Ignoring him, I passed him and started up the stairs. The man started up the stairs as well. His pizza boxes were literally pressed into my back.
A flash of fear coursed through my body. Quickly, I deliberated what to do. I knew that my hotel door opened inward. I recalled that the night before, it took me more than one try to get the key to work right. If this man intended rape or harm, I did not have the physical strength to resist. I prayed for wisdom.
As I reached the second to the top step, inspiration came. I stopped, played the “dumb blond” card, and blithely stated, “Oh! I forgot something in my car.” I turned around, allowed him to pass me, and started down the steps. My keys to both car and hotel room were clutched in my hand.
The man paused for a bit as if deliberating his next step. Thankfully, he finally walked down the corridor that led past my room. He kept walking until he entered a hotel room several doors down from mine. In the meantime, I was poised halfway down the stairwell ready to bolt for car or room. When I saw him disappear from sight, I ran up the stairs, got my hotel door open as quickly as I could, and ran inside.
My phone was blinking with a message from my husband. I returned his call and told him what had happened. He had bad news of his own. There had been a death in his family. While we discussed this issue, there was a knock on my door. Without opening the locked door, I called out “Who is it?”
A man’s voice stated, “I’m the man with the pizza. I have too much for me. Would you like some?”
I responded, “No, I am not interested. I am on the phone with my husband.”
I will never know for sure if this was a lonely businessman looking to spend time with a willing woman or a rapist intending harm. In any case, I thank God that the perfect solution surfaced to keep me out of harm’s way.
