JOURNAL ENTRY 69: uNTITLED

The following is an abbreviated version of events that happened.  The incident happened about three weeks ago and I wrote the entry but saved it and decided not to publish the entry.  I don't generate a lot of traffic so it shouldn't matter but still.....

Roughly three Saturdays ago I was home.  I washed clothes and decided to pick up a few groceries  supermarket directly across the street from my apartment.  Coming back home I went to the main entrance of the building but before I opened the door I noticed from the corner of my eye that someone was coming from the side of the building.  The side where we have benches and a mini park.  So I looked to see who was coming.  It was a young man, I would say early to mid-30s, slim and a little taller than me.

He comes into the vestibule and sees me looking at him.  He tells me that he lives in the building on the 21st floor (I forget the apartment number) and that he forgot his key.  I have lived in the building since 1996 and I don't ever remember seeing him.  Still, it didn't mean that he didn't live in the building. I thought that at this point it would be more drama and grief if I didn't open the door.  Being that he claimed to live on the 21st floor I would see if that's where he went.  Mind you, I wasn't riding the elevator with him.

I open the door after a few long seconds and I walk towards the stairwell.  I open the door and I walk up the steps.  I figured after a few seconds the dude will be on the elevator and I would see if he went up the the floor he claimed to live on.  Only thing is he never got on the elevator.  He stayed around the lobby.  Now I am thinking that he my be waiting for someone to ride the elevator with and possibly rob them.  Otherwise why not go to your floor?

I leave the stairwell and walk back outside.  I can see him peeking at me outside the window.   Long story short, I catch the local police and alert them to the mistake I possibly made.  The officer comes back with me and the dude goes ballistic.    He's calling me names and saying that if I didn't trust him I should have talked to him.  Like I was supposed to tell him I think he is a crook and he is supposed to convince me he isn't.   During this confrontation a lady who lives in the building comes by and vouches for the guy.  Meantime the local cop (not NYPD) never checked the man for identification.  The lady who vouched for him accused me of profiling the guy because he is a Black man.  She never ever heard my side of the story.