A few years ago, I had the strangest encounter that I thought I would share. It was a Wednesday and I was driving up to the campus for a night class. However, it was raining so hard that it was impossible to see anything on my journey.
I arrived on the campus and went straight to the parking lot that was closest to my building. But, since there were about 100 different classes that all started at the same time I was not alone in wanting this parking lot. When I finally found an open spot at the very back of this massive lot, I was still about a 10 minute walk from my building.
I jumped out of my car and started to run through the rain. But after about a minute I started to realize that it was completely useless… I was drenched. I figured I might-as-well enjoy the rain while I was walking. I wove my way through the parking lot until I saw something that caught my eye. It was a set of lights on a parked car that were beaming through the darkness.
As I walked past the car, I looked inside but there was no one there. Although I didn’t stop walking, I took in all that I saw. I started to go over in my head who this person was, and quickly realized 3 main things: The doors to the car were unlocked, there was a car seat in the back and a fast food bag on the passenger seat. The poor girl was just in a hurry. However, the worst part of all of this was that I knew that just like the rest of us, she was in for a 3 hour class. Even the best car battery would not last for 3 hours with the lights on.
I sighed and stopped walking. It just didn’t seem right to make someone stand out in the rain trying to get their car started because their battery died. However, what could I do? Opening the door to a stranger’s car for any non-emergency reason just seemed… Well, illegal. But forcing that person to sit in the cold rain didn’t feel right either.
As I was contemplating this, I looked up and saw a girl walking through the parking lot. She had on a thin rain poncho and, like most people in a rain storm, she was looking down at the ground. Suddenly an idea came to me. There was a chance that I could get her to be my lookout. Perhaps she would understand what I was wanting to do.
I approached her from the side and said “Excuse me.” She jumped and screamed before frantically searching in her purse for an object that I assumed was made to hurt me. She pulled it out and immediately took an aggressive stance like this was the last fight of her life. Looking 
down and seeing the 2 silver prongs I knew she was holding a Taser; and it seemed clear that this was not her first time pulling it out in a rush. I put my hand out and calmly said “Whoa! Wait! I don’t mean you any harm!” She looked at me for a moment and started to nervously laugh before trying to tuck the weapon behind her back. However, one thing was clear to me… She was totally willing to shock me and leave me here in the rain.
With one eye on the hand that she was trying to hide behind her back, I explained to her this odd situation and told her that my desire was to help this person. She seemed to understand and I asked her if she would be willing to be my lookout, together we could save this poor soul some time and pain.
She smiled at me before putting her Taser back in her purse and said “That sounds great! I wish more people would be willing to make sacrifices for others!” But the whole time I kept feeling that something was odd about this girl. She was petite in size and smiled big, but I couldn’t help but fear that I might find myself electrocuted by the end of all this.
We made our agreement and I turned to open the car door. But turning my back on this girl made me feel both nervous and anxious. I quickly switched off the lights, and all in an instant the concept that left me standing in the rain was over. I turned back around and was immediately met face to face with the small girl, her nose only an inch away from my own.
I took a step back and stared into her eyes for what seemed like 20 seconds until she finally yelled at the top of her lungs “GOOD WORK PARTNER!” as she extended her hand in order to shake mine, I immediately noticed that her other hand was, once again, tucked behind her back. The last thing that I wanted was to make some kind of contact with this girl, so I started to step back. I pretended that I didn’t see what she wanted and said while walking backwards “Well, thanks for the help, ‘partner’. I think that we did a good thing”. I kept walking backwards and she just stood there smiling, all the while her one hand remained extended towards me while her other was hidden behind her back. I turn and walked towards my class but I could not shake the overall paranoia deep inside of me. I couldn’t help but think that I was going to be attacked in the dark.
Once my class got out, my professor was making fun of me for being late and I started to tell him about this 90 pound terror. By the time I finished he was laughing to himself, but it was what he said that really stuck with me. “Have you ever heard the saying ‘No good deed goes unpunished’?” He asked with a smile. “Yes, of course!” I responded. “Well, the night isn’t over yet.” He said. “I mean, you are still parked out there. Aren’t you?” I gave him a nervous smile as we walked our way towards the door. “Well, if I don’t make it back to class next week…” I said. “I will make sure that they are looking for a 90 pound girl with a Taser.” He interrupted me with a smile. I nodded before opening the door to step back out into the rain.
‘No good deed goes unpunished’ says it all! I feel bad for the next guy who encounters my ‘Partner’ in a dark parking lot… He just might get zapped!
As Random As Random Gets 