I opened this thread expecting "far away" to mean "from the New Mexico branch of the company" in which case, yes, I would find that freaky. Not sure that I'd be freaked by Baltimore, but maybe that's because I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the situation.

OP, I get it. I ran into a new co-worker in the Target closest to my house one day. I knew it wasn't the closest to her house, because she'd said on her first day that she lives about an hour away from me. We weren't friends at the time, and although I wasn't weirded out (I don't own Target after all), I was kind of surprised. Eventually we became friends and she explained that she just liked that Target best of all the Targets in the area. And she also uses a car mechanic 2 hours away from her and has a pharmacy an hour and a half in the other direction.

I don't know why folks were so quick to jump on OP. There are so many crazies in the world today that I don't think people can be too careful or too paranoid. That's coming from me ( a city-dweller who has never lived in the suburbs)

PP again...while you were definitely being paranoid and even self-absorbed, I agree with PP that you should listen to your gut about this guy and keep your distance.

OP, another poster here who thinks you sound paranoid. Maybe it is a popular playground? He saw you out of context, of course it was weird. Settle down.

Strange reaction, OP. Not the displeasure at seeing him
but the paranoia.

Anonymous wrote:Is this person of a different background OP?

OP has not answered, and she's been pretty good at following up. My guess is that yes, there is some difference here, which has fueled the paranoia. That said OP, I think my DH would have said the same thing (though he's a dick like that). I also thought that what another poster said about instincts is wise. I'd suggest you continue to monitor the situation for any other anomolies in your interaction with this guy.

If he was there alone, I would agree that it would be creepy. Maybe you're just having a hard time moving past your initial feelings when you saw him?

Have you ever heard the theory of six degrees of separation. It postulates that everyone is within six degrees (A knows B who knows C is two degrees of separation) of everyone else on Earth. I find "small world" kind of things like this periodically. Like going on my honeymoon and in the airport on the Big Island of Hawaii running into someone from my office. It turns out he was going to a conference there and his wife was along for the vacation. It would never occur to me that my coworker came all the way to Hawaii to stalk me. It was just a coincidence. Frankly, the real explanation sounds far more plausible than that he would pack up his family in a car and drive them a hour away just to go to a park so that he could stalk a coworker. How would he explain the idea of going to that park to his wife? "Yes, it really is much better than the several dozen parks near our home and between here and there. The children will love to be strapped into their car seats for an hour each way to play in a neighborhood park that is about the same as the one down the street. And by the way, do you know ANYONE who lives in that part of town that we can drop in on? Great, can you call her and ask her to drop by the park to chit chat?"

I'm a very paranoid person, but OP, you sound extremely paranoid. Seems normal to me.

I haven't read the responses, but nothing whatsoever in the FACTS of this story make me think there's anything weird.

BUT, the fact that you thought he was stalking you and obviously feel uncomfortable make me wonder if there's something your instinct is telling you you should be listening to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I would find it freaky to see someone in a public park with his family while he was visiting a friend.

I do find it a bit freaky that your DH's first thought was that he (and his whole family!) might be stalking you.

OP here, I agree with all that you and PPs are saying. I was actually a bit embarrassed about the look my face must have had when I saw him. I just saw him first without his family sitting there alone, that's why I had this horror on my face. Then, when I saw the rest of the family I relaxed and obviously he explained why he was there. I totally get it that this is just a coincidence and it's not even the craziest one I've had. It's not like we met accidentally in Paris, which is what happened when I ran into an acquaintance of mine. We live in the same metro area and such encounters are possible. I think DH must have been more paranoid, because he heard all the negative stories I told him about this guy when I had confrontations with him, it was a bad time for me at work and he made it more difficult, so DH just naturally has a bad opinion about the guy.

Also, I do have a co-worker who lives in my area a few blocks away, but I never ran into her, so it was just unusual and shocking to run into this particular guy of all the people, I just felt stifled for a second.

Holy cow lady, I once ran into a co-worker when I was on vacation on the other side of the country! He happened to be taking a leave due to his mother being sick, and I was on vacation with my family. It was bizarre and a little uncomfortable, but I certainly didn't think he was stalking me. You need to read about the nature of coincidence and stop watching reality shows.

I bet the poor guy had to explain to wife the whole way home why you were acting so strange. She probably thinks you have the hots for her husband now.

Anonymous wrote:He's not stalking you, but I understand that when you see someone you don't like out of the 'regular' area, it doesn't feel cool

Yes, I think you got it right. I am not thrilled with my office and weekends are my time to escape, so, when I see someone who hasn't been making my life easy in the office on a weekend, I can't help the negative reaction.

Anonymous wrote:Imagine what he thought, "Damn, there is that crazy chick from work."

Actually, he knows I live in this area, so this wasn't as much surprise for him.