Lucas Gets Kidnapped

Back in college, I was nearly kidnapped.

I was staying at my girlfriend’s apartment and the trash smelled terrible. It was time to take it out, so I grabbed the far-too-full 30 gallon bag and climbed down the three sets of stairs to make the arduous walk across the parking lot to arrive at the dumpster.

It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was setting soon. The putrid scent of the dumpster met the not-so-fresh scent of my own trash. I held my nose as I tipped the trash bag into the dumpster.

Right as that happened, an SUV rapidly pulled up behind me. I jumped back, almost pushing my back against the dumpster.

It was an all black SUV and I couldn’t see inside the tinted windows. The window rolled down. A woman looked out at me.


In fragmented English, she explained she was a delivery driver and confused by the app’s directions. She wanted me to get in her car to help guide her.


I looked at her, I looked at her phone which clearly had an active delivery app with directions on it, I looked at my surroundings. I did a quick check in the back seat. I even saw what appeared to be a full Wendy’s bag.

And I did one of the stupidest things I’ve probably ever done.

I got in the car.

The second I got in, the doors locked, my heart started pounding. Why did I just get in a random woman's car? Had I learned nothing from a lifetime of warnings about strangers?

I took a deep breath out, trying to calm myself. I glanced at the delivery app and realized it was in Spanish, so I started a conversation with her. My Spanish was not amazing, but she seemed thrilled. I was able to tell her to go izquierda o derecha. She asked me how old I was, ventiuno. In normal circumstances, that’s probably a normal question. At the time, it said the wrong thing, maybe I was about to get human trafficked.

We made our way through the complex and eventually stopped in front of what the app said was the right spot. It had been confusing. And we still had to go to the back of the building, the furthest point in the complex from the front gate. So, we dropped off the order at some building in the back of the complex. I felt a little better on the way back, given we actually had completed the delivery.

She brought me back to the dumpster, thanked me profusely in Spanish, and drove away. I stood there dumbfounded for about five minutes. As I processed what had just happened, I realized how quickly I had assumed the worst. This woman wasn't trying to kidnap me (or, if she was trying to, she is really terrible at kidnapping people); she was just lost and needed help. We're often told to fear strangers, but most people are just like you or me, trying to navigate the world the best they can.

Though, I was a white man inside a gated apartment community, so maybe that’s a privileged takeaway 😅 I still wouldn’t advise getting into anyone’s car randomly.

Of course, it's still important to be VIGILANT and trust your instincts, but we shouldn't let fear dictate our interactions with others. And certainly not by default. My default is to tend to perceive threats when there aren’t any, likely due to experiences from my own past. It’s taken me a long time to try to see the best in other people and to feel generally safe. So this was a very, very uncharacteristic thing for me to do.

Ultimately, the greatest danger often lies in our own assumptions. I’d love to hear her version of the story.