Thread by @AndersonBooz

1/ This evening around 9:30 I was on the phone with a friend in Toronto. I was getting ready to go get a few groceries, and observing the rules: go to the bathroom before you get in the car.
I was interrupted in my task by an odd rustling sound from the
#yegdt #NotAngryAB

2/ livingroom. So, still with ghe phone in one hand and pulling my pants up with the other, I turned the corner into the livingroom...

...where a stranger, wearing my winter coat, was stuffing things into a gym bag. A box of 3 votive candles. A boxed New Testament. A paperback

3/ of Isherwood's Down There on a Visit. A boxed set of Sherlock Holmes books. A fancy programmable power bar. And my gym bag already had the swimsuit, workout gloves, athetic shoes etc.

I bellowed at the man to put my things down and I rushed toward him - my right hand with the

4/ phone and my friend in Toronto, my left shooting out to grab the man by the coat.

I hung up on Toronto and dialled 911.

Of course, in grabbing the coat my pants have fallen down. Not my underwear, just the long pants.

At least the intruder is masked.

5/ So while the 911 operator is trying to get the police, I am standing there using my left arm to both keep the man from running away AND to keep him distant from me AND my pants are around my knees and the 911 operator is asking me questions and the intruder is alternating

6/between threats and arguments, and in both official languages.

At no point did I want to hurt this man (who was likely stronger than me anyway), but I also refuse to be terrorized in my own fucking home.

And we stayed in this uncomfortable position for about 10 minutes.

7/ He couldn't get out of the huge coat unless I let go.

The EPS officers were kind - to both of us. I filled out the statement. I had a few moments of feeling the trauma. But it's nothing compared to things I have experienced in the past.

Meanwhile, my Toronto friend is at

8/ his cottage. He has heard the beginning of the situation before the connection was lost. He has looked up the EPS number to call them, thinking I am in trouble. But he can't remember my address. He's trying to find my contact info. Email addresses of the past 20 years, but no

9/ street address.
A neighbour across the street sees the cruisers and calls to see if we're all right.

Yes, I am all right.

But the poor in the inner city are not. They need help. This man didn't appear to be drunk or on drugs. Just poor and taking whatever was closest. And if

10/ I hadn't been so shocked, maybe I could have handled it differently.

I still made it to the store before closing time, filling in my Toronto friend as I shopped.

Then home, where @CJDwriter and I had fresh strawbs with whipped cream and a drizzle of homemade rhubarb sauce.

11/ and I am hoping this works out, somehow, to the benefit of the intruder in the longrun - gets him the supports he needs.

SO. Goodnight, good people of #yeg. Spare a thought for us. A positive thought for me, a kind thought for him, and appreciation for the @edmontonpolice.