A woman has opened up about how she was stalked by a random man for three months after being polite to him in a restaurant, saying he showed up at her workplace twice claiming to be an ‘old friend.’
Patty Brem, 44, from California, shared her terrifying story on Twitter last month as a warning to both men and women. The teacher explained that the stranger tracked her down after she naively told him what high school she worked at.
‘This experience has forever changed how I will act with strangers,’ she told BuzzFeed. ‘I will never give out personal information, even if it seems innocent. I feel like I will always have my guard up from here on out, rather than willingly being friendly.’
In her series of tweets, she recalled how she met the man at a salsa bar nearly two hours away from her house and had a polite yet brief conversation with him.
Patty Brem, 44, from California, revealed on Twitter that a man she was polite two in a restaurant stalked her for three months
The teacher recalled how she briefly chatted with the man at a restaurant nearly two hours away from her home, saying he asked her what school she worked at
‘He asked where I was from and what I did for work and I told him. He was familiar with the city I live in and asked which school I taught at, so I mentioned the name,’ she wrote. ‘Turns out, he was familiar and refs some of my school’s football games.’
Brem said she told him to ‘have a good night’ before she sat down to have dinner with her sister, who later noticed the guy checking her out. He and his friend ended up sitting at the table next to theirs.
They made polite conversation and exchanged first names before they finished their dinner and drove home.
‘A couple of weeks go by and I get an email in my WORK inbox from the dude asking me to go out sometime,’ she shared. ‘I never gave him my email address, number, or even my last name. I am slightly creeped out, but don’t reply, delete, and move on with my life.’
Brem received another email from him a few weeks later. This time, he said that he had recently refereed one of her school’s games and was ‘bummed’ she wasn’t there.
Once again, she deleted his email without replying because she didn’t want to encourage him.
Weeks later, he emailed her at work asking her to go out, but she ignored. She later learned that he showed up at her school twice looking for her
On December 13, she was having a conversation with her principal and vice principal when the school administrator came in and said her ‘old friend’ was at the school and wanted to ‘say hi’ to her.
‘I am confused and baffled as to who she could possibly be talking about,’ she explained. ‘My vice principal says, “Oh, he came by yesterday too, but you were already gone. He asked what time you get off of work.”‘
Brem realized it was the man from the restaurant when they said his last name, and she explained the situation, stressing that he was not a friend.
Not only did he ask what time she was done, but he also wanted to know when she usually left the school and which door she exited from.
After he was told she was unavailable, he went to his car but didn’t leave. When the principal came out, he drove a block up and continued to wait for her. That’s when they alerted the school resource officer.
The man started circling the school in his car as one of her co-workers followed him until he pulled over. He finally left after her colleague said ‘some choice words to him.’
Brem said it took multiple attempts to get the man to finally leave, calling ‘one of the scariest days of my life’
‘An innocent and polite conversation with a stranger 3 months ago gave me one of the scariest days of my life today,’ she concluded. ‘Men, be better. Ladies, be careful out there.’
Speaking with BuzzFeed, she said that she blamed herself for being friendly with him and sharing the name of her school.
Brem has been on high alert since the incident. She started parking close to her school’s entrance and having her co-workers walk her to her car. She is also careful to lock her doors and keep an eye out for his vehicle when she’s driving.
Law enforcement told her she could apply for a restraining order if he tried to contact her again. She was also advised to tell him never to contact her again in the event that he sent more emails ‘so there would be a paper trail.’
Brem hasn’t heard from him since he showed up at her school, but she wanted to share her story as a reminder for women to not divulge personal information with strangers and for men not to overstep boundaries.
‘It’s scary to be a woman in this world,’ she said.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk