Woman living alone reveals why she doesn't immediately turn the lights on upon coming home

It is always better to be safe than sorry. This especially applies to women who live alone and fear for their safety and security. A woman named Mary Alice–who goes by @heyitsmaryalice on TikTok–posted an important video sharing her own experience of living alone and encountering suspicious people. Alice stressed that women who live without family or friends around them should never turn on their lights immediately upon entering their apartment building. In her video, she elaborated on how one can evade a potential stalker who tracks the daily routine of women living solo.

"When you go home at night, don't turn your lights on immediately after you get in your apartment," she says in her video. "Especially if people can see the windows of your apartment from the street. Because if someone's following you home, they're going to know what apartment you live in. When I got home tonight and I got out of my car, I saw a man getting out of his car. I had never seen him before this morning." Alice could feel her sixth sense tingling and she was immediately cautious. "He was in my apartment complex area and he just gave me bad vibes, but whatever. I get out of my car at night and he tries to make conversation with me about my headlight because it's out right now. I'm like, oh yeah, I know I just have to get around to it, whatever," she continued.

After the unexpected conversation, Alice went into her apartment complex and avoided turning on the lights inside. "I go inside, don't turn the lights on, but I have a feeling to check my Ring camera. He's standing in the street. He's very close to my apartment building, staring at my building and he did not leave for like five minutes," Alice said, sharing her alarming observation. "I mean, like halfway through, he left the empty parking spot and hid behind a car, but he waited to see. So, now he knows what car I drive and where I live just not my apartment. So, don't turn your lights on."

Alice further adds in the caption that she is "tired of feeling like a prey and only turns on the lights in her bathroom because it has no windows." The TikTok community worried about how safe Alice actually was with a potential stalker lingering around her apartment block and asked her to give an update on the situation. @genesisdandrea suggested, "Something I have learned is to park somewhere else than you normally do, even if it's a little further away and to start parking in different areas." @snackijacie wrote, "This happened to me when I was in college. Will always be so thankful that I had a bathroom with no windows."

Alice decided to make a follow-up video where she revealed that she had reported the incident to the police and her landlord as well. But when she described the man to her landlord, he claimed to know the man and described him as a supposedly "good guy" who had been a tenant in the building for about 10 years and was in the process of moving out. Alice spotted the man again outside the apartment complex and she found him following her at one point. She even got her brother and his girlfriend to walk her up to her apartment so she could feel safe and installed tons of locks on her door. To be extra cautious, she informed all her close friends and relatives about the man, his physical description and details about his car in case her worst fears came true.

You can follow Mary Alice (@heyitsmaryalice) on TikTok for more content on lifestyle.