Be safe out there

I went to court today to be a witness in my stalking case. It was very surreal.

When I walked into the nondescript building on the side of a nondescript road, I walked into a nondescript room buzzing with people from all walks of life.

I don’t know much about the operations of the justice system, but throughout the hour I sat there, I came to realize that all cases heard in this tiny courtroom were criminal. There was the mother-daughter team caught stealing from a department store, a guy accused of harassment who had to turn over a computer card filled with photos, a woman who sat waiting for her friend to get out on bail, and plenty of lawyers wheeling suitcases, meeting their clients for the first time.

Oh, and the place was littered with police officers, security guards, constables, troopers.

It took me a while to get over the feeling that I had been dropped there from outer space. And once I almost got over it, a door opened, and a man in shackles came out and passed through the room very close to me. And later another. Then another. And another.

I thought of “Silence of the Lambs,” when Jodie Foster’s character goes down the row of cells and is leered at and spit on. Only…. there were no bars between me and these guys. And it’s not often that I’m the most attractive girl in the room. Not often at all.

And then one of the guys who was previously shackled came out and sat down, sans chains and handcuffs. OK, someone thought that was a good idea, but couldn’t they let him go out the back door??

Be careful who you date. Mac seemed very normal when I first started emailing him, and even after a few dates. It wasn’t until I gave him the “I would like to pursue another relationship” spiel that he started — for months on end — relentlessly contacting me through every means possible.

His lawyer’s defense? He said, chuckling: “This guy’s in love with you.”

I don’t think it’s so funny. Not when law enforcement must get involved.