Chicago Woman Followed In Parking Lot, Her Friend Called Her ‘Stupid’ for Being Cautious: ‘A Girl Was Strangled to Death!’
Better safe than sorry.
Aya Burdaya (@ayaburdaya) posted a video on TikTok captioned “casual people pleasing can get you murdered.” In it, she recalled being followed in a parking lot.
“When I used to go to college in downtown Chicago, I would park on the very first level of the parking garage the school owned,” Burdaya said. She also chose a spot considered inconvenient, which others would not want to park at unless there were no other options. Burdaya explained that she would leave at nine in the evening after her night class finished. Although others might view the parking spot as inconvenient, it was easier for her to walk to.
“I’m walking, and there is a guy about 50 years old walking behind me,” Burdaya said. Her class just ended, and a man seemed to be tailing her, which she found odd. She thought there was no reason for him to take the same route unless he was parked nearby. Burdaya isn’t the only woman who fears being followed. Another woman from Florida had to think fast after a stranger confessed to stalking her all the way to an elevator.
“At first, he was far away. There was a big distance between us,” Burdaya said. But soon after, she noticed he started catching up. She ignored it at first, thinking that they both just wanted to get home.
“But then, as I started walking to the parking garage and walking to my very obscure parking spot, I noticed that he was still following me,” Burdaya claimed. She started panicking about the situation. On one hand, Burdaya did not want to offend the man, but on the other, she was starting to feel unsafe. In the end, she decided to stop, turn, and stare at him when he got too close.
No such thing as too cautious in the parking lot
At this point, the man was only 20 steps away from Burdaya. But then, he pulled out his key FOB. Burdaya said the vehicle next to hers beeped, confirming it was his car. Nevertheless, the man also reassured her that he wasn’t following her. Burdaya apologized, explaining that she was just being careful.
When Burdaya shared her story with a friend, the friend allegedly called her “stupid.” Burdaya argued that she was only trying to stay safe, but her friend called her “rude” for assuming the man was following her. But a year later, Burdaya said a grizzly incident happened at the adjacent parking lot owned by her university.
“A girl was strangled to death!” Burdaya said. The victim was walking to her car at the parking lot when she was strangled. Burdaya felt the urge to throw up when she heard what happened. She felt sorry for the victim but also felt validated in her defensive reaction at the parking lot.
“All I did was pause… But I was still told that I was being rude for it by a few people,” Burdaya said. The incident confirmed her fears, even though others made her feel like she was overreacting. She continued, “Don’t let these weird social rules get you killed.” Although Burdaya has no qualms about staying safe, another woman at a gas station was far more worried about carrying on a conversation with her carjacker rather than planning an escape route.
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