High Point, NC

Yesterday I was exiting the High Point library and ahead of me was a woman also exiting. As we went through the doors a well dressed black women carrying a large pocket book and a clear plastic garbage bag full of stuff stopped us both and asked” Did we know where Leslie’s house ( a women’s shelter) was in High Point?” She was outside the library at the time.

The other woman quickly said “No” and walked away. I said “I have heard of it but don’t know where it is- perhaps if you ask in the library they will know”. The woman asked me to accompany her into the library – so I did. We asked the lady at the desk but the best she could do was to give her a telephone book to look up the address. At this point I was asked to look up the address. I found it. The woman then asked if she could use the library phone to call to be sure there was space in the shelter. The librarian had to ask her supervisor and the result was she gave the woman 25cents to use the pay phone. She did not call.

The woman now asked if I would drive her to Leslie’s house. It was not that far so I said” sure”. Driving there she told me she was Marilyn Gibbs Rodriguez from Davis California – she also rambled about being robbed – she was very well spoken and well dressed – only suspicious thing was the plastic bag full of stuff. Leslie’s house couldn’t admit her- it was full? She was told that the only person who could admit her under these circumstances was the director of Leslie’s House and she was off that day and the staff dare not contact her on her day off .

Marilyn was told that the Salvation Army would admit her to their shelter. Marilyn wanted to stay in Leslie’s house because it is for women only and she would feel safer- this was not to be! Off we go to the Salvation Army – where she was admitted – here and at Leslie’s house she asked (practically insisted) I accompany her into both places while she talked with the staffs.

She was admitted to the Salvation Army shelter but before I departed she gave me her manifesto – outlining the “troubles” she has been through (real or imaginary?? I don’t know) . In any event ,my encounter with Marilyn was interesting to say the least and short lived – about one hour. After reading the papers she gave me I googled her name. WOW – this is one well traveled lady and her approach to people and places is very consistent. God speed Marilyn – I hope you find contentment some day.

China Grove, NC

Yesterday, a woman walked into the library where I work. Several staff members interacted with her over the course of the next few hours. As we traded stories later, it was clear that she made an impression with everyone she came in contact with.

Her first order of business upon coming into the library was to introduce herself and ask to be put on a computer. She was dressed nicely and spoke politely to staff. She produced a driver’s license that verified her name was Marilyn Gibbs. Seeing the license myself later, I believe it was issued from Florida or California. Upon sitting down at the computer, Ms. Gibbs asked to use the library’s email account to contact somebody. A staff member informed her that the library does not have a generic email account that she could use, but that he would be willing to help her use her own or set one up for her. She said, “I told you I was computer illiterate!” Her demeanor changed so quickly, that it made the library staff member very uncomfortable.
Next, she asked another staff member to direct her to a bakery in Landis (a town next to us here in China Grove). Well, we happened to have a flyer in the back from Jandira’s Place, a bakery that had just opened, so she was given a copy of that. Little did we know but she had already been to this exact establishment earlier in the morning. Talk about a coincidence! The only reason we know this is that the staff member who gave her a copy of their flyer was concerned that she had gone there later and called to check on them. They had a story or two to tell about Ms. Gibbs involving a bagel and two bags of Sun Chips. Maybe they’ll post to this blog as well.

After a short time, Ms. Gibbs asked to use the copy machine. I was working the reference desk then and offered my assistance. “I want to make these pages into a two-sided copy,” she said as I walked her over to the machine. I told her we could do that but that it would be easier to use the machine back in the staff area which has a feature for making two sided copies. “No,” she said, “I can’t let these papers out of my sight.” I thought that was odd but shrugged it off. I set her up for making her copies and was walking away to give her the privacy I thought she’d want when she said, “Don’t go nowhere! Stand right here while it’s making the copies.” I didn’t really know what to say, but to keep the situation from escalating, I complied. After twenty copies of the first page were completed, I helped her get the next page ready to copy. Again, I tried to walk away and she told me even more emphatically to “Stay here!” She told me her next order of business was to collate all these papers. She asked if she could borrow my stapler and a highlighter. After giving her those items, I saw her highlighting the same phrase on each paper.
The next thing Ms. Gibbs asked me for was two trash bags. I had noticed that she carried some papers (and who knows what else) in a grocery bag already because she had used some of our tape to repair it. I thought she wanted two bags like that, so I gave her two of our ‘Thank You’ bags that we hand out for patrons to carry their books home in. “No,” she said, “I want two clear, garbage bags.” I had to explain that what I gave her was all I had. She then seemed to understand and expressed her thanks.

As I was helping someone in our computer lab, the branch manager saw Ms. Gibbs standing there at the counter shuffling her papers around. She asked her if she needed help and Ms. Gibbs told her no, that she was just getting organized.
She was still at the counter when I sat back down. Naturally, I was curious about what she was doing, but since we were busy, I soon forgot about the whole situation.
Later, as I was talking to the staff in the children’s area, they asked if I had been given some papers by that strange lady. I said I hadn’t, but I knew about her. I was getting ready to leave for a workshop so I asked them for the papers. The manager of the library had stepped out for lunch, so I left the papers and a note on her chair that said, “Ask me about these later.” As I drove off, I did think to look for her in the parking lot. I was afraid that maybe she was out there handing her papers to people coming to the library. But she was gone.

This morning when I got to work, I remembered Ms. Gibbs, and finally read through the writings she had left with us. Some parts of the document read rather clearly, but then trailed off into nonsense. Something is definitely off in her writing. Being a reference librarian, I thought I might try to find out some more about her. I googled the phrase “Marilyn Gibbs” and the word ‘Microwave’ came up attached to it. (In her writings, she talks about all the money she made and had stolen from her microwave technology 667.) I got several hits on Ms. Gibbs, but got no further than this blog which has kept library staff and myself mesmerized since.

I’m finding myself wishing I had asked her more about herself. I don’t have any idea how she left or where she was going, but after learning more about her through this blog, I imagine she asked someone for a ride and has continued her journey.

Godspeed, Ms. Gibbs. Everyone here feels privileged that we were able to be part of your story – at least for a little while. May you stay safe in your travels.

Scan

Charlotte, NC

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Charlotte, NC

Hi,
Of course, found your blog and am now compelled to contribute... Here is my story:


Charlotte, North Carolina, 6:22pm, rush-hour traffic and I am sitting at a stoplight on the corner of Elm and Hwy 51 in the affluent South Charlotte. She was three cars ahead of me talking threw the window of a white lexis that slowly starts to move off and drive away. I am now two cars away and I move into the second position and waited for the light to turn. She looks past the car on the corner and straight at me from 20 feet away. Without breaking eye contact she approached my car and started talking through my passenger window. "You have to help me, I'm just an abused woman trying to get to my battered women's shelter." I groaned internally and looked at the clock, I was already late getting home, and not in the habit of picking up hitch hikers. "So what do you actually need?" I asked, knowing already, because she just told me. "I need a ride sir, please... to Randolph and Billingsley... Please?" It was more or less my part of town. The light was now green and the cars behind me were showing signs of being annoyed. "OK I said, let's go." She jumped in as the cars behind us, seeing what was happening started driving around me to get on with their commute.

We merged into traffic as I reviewed the strange turn of events that brought me to the stunning realization that I was now driving down the road with someone I did not know, her suit case resting in my backseat and she, now rolling up the window she was just moments ago talking through.

"It's pretty brave of you to jump into a car with someone you don't know." I said. "Sir, after what I've been through with the evil men who have perpetrated their abuse on me over the years you couldn't possibly do anything worse to me." It made since and I accepted her response, she had nothing to lose. "Are you from here, from Charlotte?" "No, I'm from California, by way of Miami." she said and then her story began. For the remainder of the 20-minute ride to Randolph Rd and Billingsley she proceeded to explain (In a not so easy to follow manner) her ordeal. We hit every red light on the way, and even though her story was fairly detailed I understood none of it. Black Nation Church, black police officers, racism that she experienced by both white and black folks.

I started to realize that she was not the victim, or at least wasn't an immediate victim of a recent physical or sexual abuse and that her story was much older than the recent history I had assigned to it all in my mind. Some highlights from our 25 minutes together:

- Black ministers and police officers involved with prostitution ring but that she herself was not a victim of sexual abuse but of identity theft (Although earlier in the conversation I could have sworn she said she suffered physical and sexual abuse).

- She was making her way back to Davis, California because it was getting cooler (here on the east coast) and that she can move faster or better when she's in warm weather - and that there were a lot of "survivors" in Davis and that she was sure she could drum up some support in Davis, CA.

- She wanted to get out the country and fight them from outside, preferably San Juan, Puerto Rico, but for now Davis, California would have to do.

- She wanted a plane ticket to Davis, California but is considering a train because the greyhound bus is too crazy and crowded

- She has a brother named Mike, a twin

- "The abuse started at year 42"

- Today is her birthday - She showed me a photocopy of an old drivers license to prove it, (as if I didn't believe her) the date was indeed the 28th of September.

- she provided me with a UPS Store receipt (for $4.95 for photo copies) as proof "to them that I was her transport for the day"

- From what I understood there is a man, a black police officer/minister, who is claiming they are married, but they are apparently not and that somehow, he has something to do with the long string of identify theft/abuse/robbing of money.

- She has apparently lost into the millions of dollars since the day the abuse began

- She said she didn't have enough copies of her manifesto to give me a copy, but was willing to let me read it if I wanted to. I declined, but wish now that I had read it.


While we were together she asked if she could call a friend, I let her use my phone and she called Ontario, Canada and talked to someone for about 2 minutes. This person, based on her conversation with them, was clearly aware of her situation. I redialed the number after I dropped her off and talked to a guy name Dave, who thanked me for helping her with the ride and that she was probably very grateful for it. He indicated that she calls him a few times a year to check in and that she was a "survivor" and she's be fine. He indicated she was ill and that she was a good person and that I should look up her name online, which brought me here, to this site.

All in all she was very polite and kind and by far the highlight of my day. Tonight she's in Charlotte but look out Davis, California, she's heading your way.

Beaufort, SC

After encountering a strange woman, I googled the phrase "microwave abuse" and found this blog. I'm now disappointed that I did not receive a copy of her manifesto.

Beaufort, SC

Today, Friday, August 14th, 2009 I found myself most intrigued this evening when a lady walked into Ruby Tuesday in Beaufort, South Carolina. She seemed like a normal guest despite the fact she told us how many was in her party and then proceeded to seat herself at the table of her choice. She then ordered a sweet tea and made herself at home. I paid little attention to her for we were busy at the time although i did note she had a stack of papers and seemed to be working on some type of project she had with her.
As time went on she was still sitting and I noticed she had ordered no food. Not to odd since some people come in on business or come in early to wait for others to arrive. It wasn't until an hour or two later that a server approached me to tell me this homeless woman was bothering our guest asking them for rides to a hotel and asking to use their cell phones. Evidently she was also handing out flyers. I came out to see what was going on and she was once again quietly sitting at her table studying over her documents. I left her alone. Her appearance was almost like that of a nice older church lady. She was light skinned black and had some freckles on her face. She was modestly dressed but appeared as someone who you could just grab and hug if you knew them well enough. She had luggage with her and a few miscellaneous groceries,,, which was the only true sign she might be homeless.
She soon moved to another servers section, closer to the door and I again received information from one of my servers that she was interrupting our guest so I went to approach her table where , once again she was quietly seated. I barely got two words in before she began to speak to me in a soft and mesmerizing tone. She let me know she had just come from a battered shelter for women and they had given her a reembursement voucher to stay at an inn up the road but she was not sure if they would also pay for the cab and asked if there was any way in which i might be able to help her get there. I told her I would take her myself if i was allowed to leave my position, which I wasn't but I could not obligate my staff or any of my guest to do so but would be more than happy to call the Beaufort Police department to help her if she needed some assistance. She did not become alarmed at this and probably because I gave her no reason to be alarmed for I wasn't trying to get her in any trouble but she clearly stated that her violent relationship with a cop would suggest she not have anything to do with the police since they team together and she was a vicitim of their brutality. There was a lot of conviction in her voice about this.
My impression of this woman was that she was educated yet almost schizophrenic in nature. She said she knew my position and could see I wanted to help so if maybe I could just see what the fare for a cab was then she could just get to the inn before she fell asleep. She kept telling me she was so tired. I obliged and went to my kitchen where I asked a cook if they could possibly take her when they left who said I had a much bigger heart than they did and they could not. I called a friend and they could not oblige me either but did note that they had heard form several people that I seemed to attract homeless and crazy people. laughing or not, I had someone call the cab company to find out the rate.
I returned to he lady with a rate of 8 dollars and found she had also took the assistance of the table behind her in using their cell phone. I asked her not to bother the guest but told her she was free to use my phone at any time she needed. At this point she had somehow managed to pass out many of her flyers to our guest through out the restaurant. She said the rate was fair and asked if I could call them. Moments later the cab showed up and I approached her once again and she sweetly told me how kind we all were and that I was a blessed person and she motioned to the bags of food she had with her. She asked if she could leave them. I asked why and she said she had been given the food by a nice person but she had already eaten for the day and she would like for someone in our staff who might have children and need it more than her to take it. She said she needed to lighten her load for her travels. I told her I was sure I could find someone who needed the food.
I began to help her with her baggage and she thanked me many times. I was never afraid of her nor did I ever feel sorry for her. I walked her out to the cab and when he popped his trunk I asked her if she would like me to place the baggage in his trunk and she declared that she needed to keep it close because it held important documents for her. I helped her into the cab and felt sorry in a way I didn't get to talk to her more. We shook hands and I told her I wished her a great journey, She said she would be leaving soon and handed me a few of her papers so I could be aware of the oppression going on. Said she like to hand them out as she traveled on. We shook hands again and I smiled at her because she was on a mission and doing things most of us only dreamed of doing. ROCK OUT MARILYN GIBBS!
Anyway I started reading the paper and when I came home I read some to my friends about microwave oppression and so forth and we decided to look it up. This is where we stumbled across the amazing amount of blogs written about this lady. My friends who hadn't even met her became slightly obsessed reading the blogs and they even stopped by the inn to see if she was still there. She wasn't... this is about 6 hours after I have crossed her path btw. i can't even say if she ever even made it to the inn. If you respond to me I will send you a copy of her recent paper she was handing out. It contains receipts from Savannah and the Suntrust Bank in which she was in or I am assuming.
ai see no date on the Kroger receipt but it has a variety of canned foods and cheeses listed on it. , mostly really healthy items or odd items like kraut and garlic and sardines... and canned veggies like beets pears , spinach. the card on it has Matthew Woodhouse listed as a Suntrust branch manager. I might give hima call. Both of these come from Gwinnett Street.

i appreciate the sharing on the blog. Thank you for letting me share with you. I sometimes wonder if there is a lot to what this lady is tryng to say but isn't able to say it in a way she can be taken seriously.

Beaufort, SC

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