It's two o'clock in the morning... Who are you?
[[I am outside the building, hanging out with three other people.]]
[[I am all alone. I just arrived at the building.]]You are sitting on the steps outside your building with three of your friends.
You see a guy coming toward you from the parking lot.
He is of a different race than you, he looks nothing like you. He's wearing a hoodie and carrying a backpack. You've never seen him before.
The guy walks passed you and your friends.
What do you do?
[[Nothing.]]
[[I ask my friends if we should call the police.]]
[[I follow him with my friends to see what he's up to.]]You've just arrived at your apartment from a long night of volunteering at the local crisis hotline. It's late, so not surprisingly, the parking lot is full. You find a spot at the end other end of the building. It's chilly outside so you put on your hoodie, grab your backpack and put it on, lock your car, and walk toward your apartment.
A quarter of the way there you pass four guys sitting on the steps of another building. They are all of a different race than you, they look nothing like you, and they all seem younger than you. You've never seen any of them here before.
What do you do?
[[I walk passed them.]]
[[I call the police.]]
[[I stop to ask them who they are and what they're doing out here at 2 AM.]]
You walk passed the group of guys.
Shortly after, from the corner of your eye you see that they stand up and begin to walk in your direction.
You reach your building, enter the lobby, and walk up to your door. As you look for your keys you notice the guys enter your building and walk toward you.
[[I look at them, smile, and say "hey."]]
[[I grab my keys and try to enter my apartment as fast as possible.]]Something doesn't sit right with you about the group of guys so you turn back and take another route to your apartment and you call 911. The operator asks: "What's your emergency?"
You explain that there isn't an emergency but that there are four suspiscious-looking people hanging out in your apartment complex. The operator explains that 911 is for emergencies but that she'll make sure someone swings by and takes a look.
You provide your personal information and reach your apartment. You never find out if the police came.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]]You walk up to the four guys and say hello.
You tell them that you live in this neighborhood and were wondering what they were doing out here so late.
One of them men, obviously the leader of the group, stands up and walks up to you.
[[I take a step back.]]
[[I extend my arm to shake his hand.]]
Did the story turn out the way you expected?
What did you feel at different moments?
What do you think happened after?
Do you wish you could go back and do something differently?
Have you ever been in a similar situation?
Reflect on these questions and your experience.The leader sees you take a step back and says "Woah, hey, are you ok? My name is Michael. I live on the third floor of this building and these are my friends, visiting from out of town."
You tell Michael that you were concerned because you had never seen him before. He explains that although he's lived there for two years, he works long hours and travels a lot so he's rarely spoken to any of his neighbors.
Michael and his friends wish you a good night and you walk home.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]] You extend your arm to shake the man's hand.
He shakes your hand and says "Hi! My name is Michael. I live on the third floor of this building and these are my friends, visiting from out of town."
You tell Michael that you were concerned because you had never seen him before. He explains that although he's lived there for two years, he works long hours and travels a lot and still hasn't met all of his neighbors.
Michael and his friends wish you a good night and you walk home.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]] You look back, see one of the guys, smile, and say "hey." He says nothing to you but makes a gesture to the others to follow him and says to them "let's go."
You enter your apartment.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]] You open the door, run inside, shut the door, and lock it.
You look through the peep hole and see the guys walk passed your door.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]] You find the person to be a little suspiscious but you do nothing about it. You keep hanging out with you friends and forget all about the guy.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]] As soon as the guy walks passed you, you suggest to your friends that you all follow him, see what he's up to.
You see him enter the next building so you and your friends follow him inside.
[[I stop him and ask him what he's doing.]]
[[I stay close and watch what he's going to do.]]Something about the guy seems suspiscious to you so you ask your friends if you should call the police.
Only one of them thinks you should and he convinces you to call 911. The operator asks: "What's your emergency?"
You explain that there isn't an emergency but that there is a suspiscious-looking guy walking throug your apartment complex. The operator explains that 911 is for emergencies but that she'll make sure someone swings by and takes a look.
You provide your personal information and continue to hang out with your friends.
You never found out if the police came.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]]
You yell "hey" and get the guy's attention. You tell him that you live in a building nearby and ask what he's doing around here so late.
The guy tells you that he lives in the building and just got off of a volunteer shift at the local crisis hotline.
You apologize for bothering him and he wishes you a good night as he unlocks his door and enters his apartment.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]] You and your friends stay back a little and observe the guy.
You see that he walks up to a door and takes off his backpack and pulls something out of it.
You notice it's a set of keys. As he unlocks the door he looks back at you, smiles, and says "have a good night."
You and your friends go back to your building.
[[It's time to reflect on what just happened.]]