An odd thing just happened

I would have possibly asked if she was OK, or just phone the police explain the situation, as I always think it may be my family in trouble & no one bothered

Oh tanith - how scary ! I would have done the same as you.

Retread I have to admit as sad as it is that was my first thought and why I turned tail and returned home.

tanith a friend of mine had a similar experience to you, walked towards the woman to see whether she was okay - and got stabbed! The woman then sat on a nearby bench, others nearby called the police who found her still sitting there. My friend was badly shaken, but fortunately the stab wound in her side was superficial.

My neighbour has other people in her (ethnic) group living nearby and there is a temple of her faith not far away so there are others she can approach for support. She has become quite addressive in the past in the middle of a conversation (because I would not supply her with pictures of local children who had been on my cctv camera) so I avoid any contact.

I think many people would have responded in the way you did this morning. It's all well and good thinking you should have approached her to see if you could help , but .......... there is no telling what may have happened. Don't feel bad about this. As has been suggested she may have needed to let off steam due to a very stress related incident. I Was in that position once and screamed at the tip of my voice from the privacy of my car . I often think about that now and don't know where the energy to do that came from ! No way could I do it now!! The lady may have felt as I did .

I would have asked if she needed any help. That is not a criticism of your response, it would have played on my mind if I had left without offering assistance.

I was once walking through a hospital car park when a woman walked in, threw back her head, and moo'ed loudly! I have to say I thought it was very funny but probably shouldn't have. Once she stopped she carried on walking and entered Out Patients.

Thanks for your thoughts I just had an image of random stabbings in my head and turned tail. I'll never know of course.

Yes, could be JaneJudge, or perhaps she is one of the adult children of BigLouis's neighbour who needed to vent her frustration.

Do you think she might not have noticed you there?

I think lots of people go outside and walk far away and scream - I bet it isn't even that unusual

I would have been inclined to do as you did and not become involved.

My neighbour has very clear symptoms of dementia and her husband died in december last so now she is all alone in a big 4 bedroomed house. In her ethnic group it is usually the man who handles the finances so I imagine she will not be able to cope with online banking and so on. You lose her between beginning a sentence and ending it.

Her children live some distance away and seem to visit about every 2/3 weeks as I hear the grandkids playing in the garden so I have no idea how she manages for shopping and bills.

Ive not had a good relationship with her over the 20 years Ive lived here so I would certainly not become embroiled. Many years ago I once helped an elderly neighbour fill in her DLA form and it prompted her to recruit me as a sort of PA. Never again.

I think I would have done the same tanith as we'll never know the reason. She may have seen a spider or something of which she was very frightened or perhaps has a mental health problem. Maybe she was just letting off steam in what she hoped was a safe place before returning to fray, as it were.

Either way, there's nowt that can be done about it now.

I think I'd have done exactly as you did. With no other adults around, I'd feel somehow vulnerable.