14-yr-old was about to be kidnapped in secluded theatre lobby—a teen’s smart question saved the day
A person always remembers the incident that has changed their life forever. A woman couldn't forget how a stranger saved her from being kidnapped from a theatre when she was 14 years old. She had gone to the theatre with two of her friends for a late-night show and was waiting for them outside the bathroom when a homeless man approached her and grabbed her hand. The teen was stunned and didn't know how to get herself out of the situation, when the stranger whispered something to her, per a Reddit post by the woman, u/aphrodite_whities.
The woman had gone out with her two friends as a 14-year-old for a 10 PM show of the movie "Ghost Rider." The movie ended by midnight and the place was popular for moviegoers as it was the largest theatre in her neighborhood. However, the place had few staff and the hallways were mostly deserted by the time the movie was over. The teen's friends went to the restroom and she decided to wait outside in the lobby. "This theatre, due to its lack of staff, often has more people sneaking into the theatre than people paying for tickets. It is very, very easy to simply waltz in through a side door when another person is walking out."
The teen was alone in the hallway when a homeless man in his 40s walked in and approached her. She was really scared, but decided to stay where she was. "Don't judge a book by its cover," she thought about the guy. The man came to her and asked if she had any cigarettes and she revealed that she didn't have any. "He suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand. He stood there shaking my hand, saying how he was just dying for a cigarette." She was backed into a corner and her friends saw the incident unfold, but couldn't do anything because they were really confused. The man was trying to steer her towards the door when another movie ended. "Every single person passed by without so much as a second glance. I thought, I'm gonna get kidnapped. This man wouldn't take his eyes off of mine for a second. I was too afraid to yell."
But right at that moment, a group of three teen boys came out of the theatre. One of them turned to her. "He mouthed, Do you need help?' and I nodded as discreetly as I could." She continued, "The guy came running up and threw his arm around my shoulders, saying things along the lines of 'Thanks for waiting, babe. You ready to go? That was a great movie, huh?'" The homeless man backed away and ran out of the emergency exit. The teen ran to her mom, who was waiting in the parking lot as soon as she could. After years, she still wished that she could have properly thanked the guy for his help. People appreciated the teen boy for saving the woman in the comments section of the post.
u/bradido wrote, "I broke my leg really bad skateboarding at a local mall. While waiting for the ambulance, a girl held my hand the whole time. I have no idea who she was, but she really meant a lot to me." u/cwstjnobbs commented, "My friend did a similar thing, although we were 18 at the time and he was saving the girl next to us at the bar from a middle aged pervert." u/pvelazquez remarked, "The people who end up helping you or saving your life, are not often the people you expect."