In 2008, I waited last minute to go Christmas shopping. It was only days before Christmas. I was meeting some friends at the mall. I waited in my car for them to show, but they were tied up at another store, so I decided to walk in and start shopping by myself. I had never met anyone who had randomly been help up at gun point, so walking alone in a parking lot was not a fear of mine.

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As I started walking towards the mall entrance, I heard a noise coming up behind me, and by the time I looked over my shoulder, a man with a durag tied around his face grabbed me by the arm and snatched me around to face him. He had what I am assuming was a gun in his jacket pocket and he shoved it into the side of my stomach and told me "give me your purse or I will shoot the sh*t out of you." I replied, "fine, take it." so he snatched it from me and took off running and jumped into a car.

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I was a mix of emotions, angry, grateful, sad. It was Christmas time and I'm a huge giver, but I couldn't buy my family Christmas gifts because I had to freeze my bank accounts. He only got away with $5 in my purse, but unfortunately, it had my identification cards (ID) in it, and because it was Christmas time, I couldn't go get a new ID to unfreeze my bank accounts, plus I had no money to go buy new ID cards since my accounts were frozen. It made me sad to not have anything to give to the people I love for Christmas, but I was grateful to be alive.

This experience permanently changed me. It gave me a new fear I had never had before. It took away a sense of independence that I felt like I used to have to be able to walk into a store with by myself with ease. To this day, I still hate going shopping by myself. I wish this was the only bad experience I could say I've had as a younger female, but it isn't. The police told me, "young females are often the target of crimes of these natures." Maybe I will share other experiences I've had at a later time; however, no matter who the person is, it is a shame for anyone to not be able to safely walk into a store.

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I look over my shoulder and stay vigilant no matter where I go, as everyone should. I never expected to be a victim of a crime of this nature, but I share this story with you all to tell you that it honestly can happen to anyone, even if you feel like you live in a safer area. So if you, or your children go out by themselves, be very cautious, especially around the holidays. Tips that I now use when going out by myself is to keep my phone and keys in my hand or pocket, I do not carry a purse or visible wallet, I try to park near the door, or wait till I see others in the parking lot before I get out of my car, I try to do my shopping during daylight hours, and I dress down to look poorer.