How has UM improved/altered your life?

[hostedbyrobertstack]

Ha ha, name of the topic makes me feel like a star trek nerd or something...but this is just ways that watching UM may have improved your life for the better (maybe not the actual show, but the theories/messages involved.)

UM has made me appreciate my life more because the stories I relate to the most are the ones of teenage males (mcfall, sova, etc...)

Has made me realize that sh*t does happen and you need to be prepared for it...I no longer think "that could never happen to me."

Made me want to own a gun (controversial, yes i know, but just my own opinion.)

[Jediknight1823]

I'll just say, that everything is locked. And I check multiple times to make sure everything is locked.

Also, I kind of fear drawings of people's faces now.

[UMfan77]

I've been watching UM for many years now and the main thing that it has made me realize is be aware of your surroundings when out alone. For instance, Colleen Reed, Joyce McClain and Kathy Hobbs cases. I know one can only do so much to prevent a possible abduction, but it doesn't hurt to take extra precautions.

[justins5256]

I don't know. I think it's made my life worse in some ways. I never thought about it.

I don't use ATMs at night ever.

[crystaldawn]

I think like a lot of other posters its probably made me a little more paranoid than I would normally be. For instance last night I was at church. We have a small church in a very small town. In the middle of services a scruffy looking young guy walks in. He comes in and goes directly to the other side of the church (which is separated with a wall from the auditorium) and spends several minutes back there. I must say I was getting very worried (no one knew who he was and he had never been there before) what he was doing over there. The bathrooms are back there but it was just strange and I couldn't help but think about the UM segment about Harold and Thelma Swain who were robbed and gunned down in their church. The man spent a few minutes doing who knows what in the back of the church then comes back in the auditorium and sits down for maybe 2-3 minutes and then leaves. He never asked for any kind of help which is usually the reason people will wander in during the middle of church and we don't have any idea what he was doing there. Pretty strange.

[soilentgreen]

I'm a pretty happy person and I don't cave in to paranoia in my daily doings. But UM has made me more aware of the ambiguousness of life, and how easy it is to become the victim of circumstance. I worry about my girlfriend's and my mom's safety far more, and I do take it seriously when they feel they've been followed or harassed by someone. It's better to be proactive about your safety if you feel 'off' or unnerved about a situation, rather than to deny your gut instinct and possibly become a victim.

There's too much public focus on 'stranger danger' and not enough on behaviors in those we know in our day to day lives. Individuals who abuse and kill, who are known to law enforcement but are unable to be prosecuted -- these people live and watch the same crappy TV commercials like the rest of us do. I just don't understand people who believe,"That kind of thing doesn't happen in my community."

[ms_bates]

Well, at the time that I started watching UM (around 1992 when I was 8) I was also learning all about child abduction and other crimes. I grew up in the Bay Area, and as many of you might recall from watching UM episodes, there were several little girls kidnapped within that area in the late 1980's. Then, in 1993, Polly Klaas was kidnapped and murdered. So, as a little girl living there at that time, such news was hard to avoid. I became aware of the dangers of the world at an early age, and UM certainly helped to bring that awareness into my home.

I would say that it improved my life, even if I may be overly cautious and worry too much at times. I think I have a good set of "street smarts", I don't walk alone at night, I keep an eye on my surroundings and I don't automatically trust someone just because "Oh, they seem nice!". Better safe than sorry.

I will also certainly never sleep at a rest stop or pick up a hitchhiker, that just goes without saying. I have UM to thank for sharing some stories of why doing so can be a very bad idea!

But with that in mind, UM has also profiled some really heart-warming stories, that show the good side of society. How many of the "Lost Loves" segments profiled the courageous or compassionate acts of strangers? Those had a way of reminding you of just how good people can be, despite the evil in the world.

Thanks UM!

[VikingsGal]

Unsolved Mysteries has now changed my life in that I can't/won't get anything done around the house when this show is on! And back when it was FIRST on I would not go anywhere on Wednesday nights (when it as on Wednesday evenings!)

And someday if/when I am a widow/divorcee I will NEVER give a man money. Or access to my accounts. Or a key to my house. Or the code to my keyless entry. Unless he wants to slap a ring on my finger and we have an iron clad prenup.

These women who are wined and dined and then give a man $15,000 "until a wire transfer comes in" make me ill.

[peachysquirt21]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

I think like a lot of other posters its probably made me a little more paranoid than I would normally be. For instance last night I was at church. We have a small church in a very small town. In the middle of services a scruffy looking young guy walks in. He comes in and goes directly to the other side of the church (which is separated with a wall from the auditorium) and spends several minutes back there. I must say I was getting very worried (no one knew who he was and he had never been there before) what he was doing over there. The bathrooms are back there but it was just strange and I couldn't help but think about the UM segment about Harold and Thelma Swain who were robbed and gunned down in their church. The man spent a few minutes doing who knows what in the back of the church then comes back in the auditorium and sits down for maybe 2-3 minutes and then leaves. He never asked for any kind of help which is usually the reason people will wander in during the middle of church and we don't have any idea what he was doing there. Pretty strange.

Oh boy as I was reading your post, that story popped into my head instantly. LOL I would be freaked out too if that happened to me.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by ms_bates

Well, at the time that I started watching UM (around 1992 when I was 8) I was also learning all about child abduction and other crimes. I grew up in the Bay Area, and as many of you might recall from watching UM episodes, there were several little girls kidnapped within that area in the late 1980's. Then, in 1993, Polly Klaas was kidnapped and murdered. So, as a little girl living there at that time, such news was hard to avoid. I became aware of the dangers of the world at an early age, and UM certainly helped to bring that awareness into my home.

I would say that it improved my life, even if I may be overly cautious and worry too much at times. I think I have a good set of "street smarts", I don't walk alone at night, I keep an eye on my surroundings and I don't automatically trust someone just because "Oh, they seem nice!". Better safe than sorry.

I will also certainly never sleep at a rest stop or pick up a hitchhiker, that just goes without saying. I have UM to thank for sharing some stories of why doing so can be a very bad idea!

But with that in mind, UM has also profiled some really heart-warming stories, that show the good side of society. How many of the "Lost Loves" segments profiled the courageous or compassionate acts of strangers? Those had a way of reminding you of just how good people can be, despite the evil in the world.

Thanks UM!

Oh scary---the Bay Area abductions are some of the creepiest, most disturbing of the 20th century, in my opinion. I can imagine you have nerves of steel now.

[ms_bates]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Oh scary---the Bay Area abductions are some of the creepiest, most disturbing of the 20th century, in my opinion. I can imagine you have nerves of steel now.

It was a scary time, especially for parents. I know my mom was very concerned and always kept a close eye on me. I remember her telling me about Michaela Garecht's abduction not long after it happened, and I remember thinking how scary it was that the man had moved her scooter by his car in order to lure her over.

I remember one time, when I was about six, I was at the park with my mom. I was wandering around the picnic area, and all of a sudden, this man comes running up the hill right at me. I screamed and hauled ass to my mom, peeing my pants on the way there. I just knew he was going to grab me. Well, joke was on me, he was running past me to catch his dog who had bolted up the hill behind me. Hahah, it's not really a funny subject, but looking back, I have to laugh at me running and peeing myself.

But that was just how aware I was of kidnappings and "stranger danger" at the time. Those abductions really haunted this part of California, I'm sure they still do in a way.

[StackTime]

Between the Dorothy Donovan and Oberholzter/Schnee cases, I'll never be involved in hitch-hiking on either end

[Beetlejuice69]

How has UM changed my life?

Gee, maybe the TWENTY YEARS OF NIGHTMARES FROM THE BUNK BED EPISODE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT!!

(sobs) I'm sorry, I just can't take it anymore. I still have to sleep with a light and a stuffed animal -- and no, I am not joking. Damn you, UM.

[mphs95]

What have I learned from UM? Let me count the ways.....

9. Never use an ATM @ night. If I am that desperate for money, I will mooch off of my friends until later on or I will go into a gas station and pay the $2.00.

8. Never walk to the grocery store alone @ night. Yes, I did up when I was living in the frozen North of the UP of Michigan a couple of times to the store, but now that I am back home.....NEVER!

7. God forbid, if a charming man who comes into my life while I am single, widowed, etc shortly after wants a loan, NEVER GIVE THEM MONEY OR MY ATM CARD!

6. I was always taught this, even when I was a kid, but NEVER PICK UP A HITCHHIKER.

5. Never sleep in a rest area. I drove cross country a few times and always stayed @ a motel. A cheap roach nest w/ a deadbolt is better than your locked car door in a deserted rest area.

4. Never use a payphone @ night in a deserted area unless one is really desperate. Thankfully, cell phones are now the deal.

3. Never wash my car @ night. If my car is that nasty and I just can't wait, as it gets sometimes here in Michigan, I will use the crappy gas station deal. Dries like crap, but I am safe in the car.

2. If one is walking in their abode, either alone or with child, and you think someone is in the house.....GET OUT! Do not keep asking if someone is there while walking towards where you hear the noise.

Of course, the number one thing I learned from watching UM......

1. If you see a burglar in your home, RUN AWAY FROM THEM.....NOT TOWARDS THEM! (I think most people know which case I am talking about here)

[SageSlowdive]

Unsolved Mysteries has helped me out in the two scariest moments in my life:

1) When I was about 15, I was walking around in a Wal-Mart. I caught the eye of a man wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants, and green hat, I smiled at him, really I was just happy to have a little freedom from my mother who was at the McDonalds on the other side of the store. Well, I started down a boxed corner, and in the corner of my eye, I could see he was following me. So, I got nervous, thinking of the countless UM segments where people were kidnapped, and took a unexpected turn down the previous aisle where the electronics are. Suddenly, he was 4 feet from me, and he was going to kidnap me. I hurried up and swung my shopping cart behind me to block him and I ran as fast as I could. Ironically, no one believed this story, including my mother. I didn't even contact the police because she wouldn't let me...

2) Anyways, fast forward in time, to about a year ago. A friend and I decided to spend the day walking and visiting a park that offered several little stores. We planned on riding a transit bus that would get us back home. We were waiting at the side of the road where the bus would come, when a white van (shudders, Tara Calico) went back, turned around, and came back. The man in the vehicle looked about 40, with blond hair, and asked us if we needed a ride. When we said no, he preceded to get out, and persuade us that the bus was nothing we should be on, and told us he was going as far as we were. I gave him the meanest look I could give a person and said "we don't need your help". When he realized we weren't just two naive possible victims he left, and in his rear view window, we could see him throwing a rope into his back seat.

I hope I don't freak anyone out with these stories