It’s important to be aware of your surroundings when you’re out shopping or running errands. For example, if you carry a purse, never put it in a shopping cart, and when you leave a store and walk to your car, take note of anything unusual.
While it’s not healthy to live your life in fear or to be paranoid that someone is out to get you, it is a good idea to know what to look out for. When it comes to your car, one TikToker named Shannon shared a tip.
Shannon was in her car in a shopping center parking lot when she noticed something unusual on someone else’s car. She believes that what she saw was string, like the type of string you might tie on a birthday present. This string was tied to the door handle on the driver’s side door of a car.
Shannon thought that string tied to the door handle was odd, but then she saw it again on another door. In her video, she says “Someone better not get kidnapped.” That leads her viewers to believe that string on a driver’s side door handle means that someone is trying to kidnap the driver.
Many people commented on Shannon’s video. Some were confused by the meaning of the string, and others jumped in to clarify. For example, one person wrote, “FOR ALL THE CONFUSED PEOPLE: So basically the string is really hard to untie so it takes a minute and while your untying you get kidnapped.”
Other people were freaked out by the video and prayed for safety. One comment reads, “LORD, HEAVENLY FATHER, please PLEASE protect me and everyone else who’s viewing this video from all the negative energy. Amen.”
Then there were people who completely dismissed the interpretation of the string meaning something dangerous. One person commented that the string is “friendship bracelets.”
One TikTok user named Reese jumped in with the interpretation that the string is actually wire. Shannon still believes it’s string, but regardless, Reese created his own TikTok explaining why a kidnapper would put string or wire on your door handle. He shared, “The reason people use wire is because it will distract you for longer, and even if you have wire cutters it will still take you a minute.”
Instead of just imparting fear with his video, Reese added some helpful advice. He said, “If you see this on your car, do not approach your car alone. The best thing you can do in that situation is go back to wherever you were that was the most populated.”
That takeaway here is that if you see something different about your car when you walk towards it, something that you didn’t put there, like something tied to the door handle or even a water bottle or other item on the hood or roof of the car, don’t approach the car alone. It may not be put there by kidnappers, but it’s always best to play it safe. Go back to the store or populated area you left, and ask someone like an employee or security guard to walk you to your car.
