* The following incident actually happened . The names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved .

“ She could barely stand , she was so drunk ,” Liz said . She told her friend , “ That doesn ’ t look right .”

Liz slowed down , rolled down her car window and asked , “ Hey , are you guys , OK ? Is she OK ?”

“ Yeah , we ’ re good ,” the guy replied . The very drunk young woman did not respond .

“ Ok , just wanted to check ,” Liz said .

She drove her friend to the friend ’ s car , but said she knew if she didn ’ t go back and check on this young woman , it would bother her all night . So , two minutes later , she swung back into the parking lot where the guy had been headed with the girl . The doors of the guy ’ s car were wide open and he was fanning the young woman , who had all but passed out in the passenger seat .

Liz parked , went over , and just addressed the woman in the car . She didn ’ t even focus on the guy , she told me .

“ Are you OK ?” she asked her .

The young woman mumbled , “ Where ’ s Cam *?

Liz turned to the guy : “ Are you Cam ?”

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“ No ,” was all he said . Her warning intuition flashed neon . She asked to see his phone . Luckily , he was not the aggressive type and willingly gave her his phone . She said she wanted to check if there was a “ Cam ” in his call log . There was , but he admitted it was not the Cam the girl was referring to . I told Liz she was very lucky that this guy was not a jerk . She said she thought about that , but that the car was parked right along San Vitores Road in a well-lit parking lot , so she felt pretty safe .

Plus , “ I have mace on my keychain ,” she reasoned . Which may or may not have protected her if things had gone awry .

Liz asked the girl what her name was , and if she had her phone , her purse , or even a wallet . ( The girl — we ’ ll call her Jane *— had nothing with her when this guy took her out of the bar .) Did she know Cam ’ s phone number ? Miraculously , she did . Liz called the number from her own phone .

“ Cam ? Hi , I ’ m with your friend Jane , and we ’ re in the parking lot by so-and-so bar .”

“ Oh , thank God !” replied Cam . “ I ’ ll be right there .” Cam , who was inside the nearby bar , came running over to the car in minutes .

The guy , who had been standing there all this time , helped them get Jane out of his car and into Liz ’ s car .

“ OK , thanks , we ’ re good ,” Liz said . She dismissed this young man , who she said was not local — maybe military . He took off without saying two words .

Liz had some leftover pizza in her car , so while she waited with Jane and Cam for Jane ’ s brother to pick them up

Two young women were very lucky that night : Jane and Liz . Things could ’ ve gone south in this situation any number of ways .

( apparently he was at another bar ), they ate . Jane sobered up enough to tell them she had been dancing with the guy . Cam said she went to the bathroom , and when she came out , Jane was gone . Jane said the guy had said to her , “ Let ’ s get out of here ,” and proceeded to walk / carry her out of the bar and to his car . Apparently , she had been too drunk to really know what was going on or to say anything . Meanwhile Cam had been frantically looking for her .

Liz told Jane and Cam never to

separate like that . If one has to go to the bathroom , both should go , she told them . She also told them that if a friend is getting really drunk , someone needs to watch out for that person because some random person could do what this guy had just done — take off with her ( or him ).

I ’ d like to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and think that once they got to his car , he realized how drunk Jane was , and that ’ s why he didn ’ t simply leave with her to do hell-knows-what . And why he was fanning her , and why he didn ’ t give Liz a hard time when she intervened .

However , note to the guy and everyone else : If someone is really drunk , they cannot consent to having sex . If someone is too drunk and you have sex with that person , that is rape .

Two young women were very lucky that night : Jane and Liz . Things could ’ ve gone south in this situation any number of ways . Thank God they didn ’ t . It would have been safer for Liz to call someone else to come help her before she approached the guy and Jane . Or simply call 911 .

My mantra has always been , “ If you see something funky , say something .” That ’ s how we stop bad things from happening in our community . Even though what she did wasn ’ t the safest way to handle it , I ’ m pretty sure Liz ’ s words and actions saved Jane from what could very easily have ended up as a sexual assault that night .

“ OMG , you ’ re an angel ,” Jane ’ s brother told Liz when he arrived and they relayed what had transpired .

That night , she was .

So if you see something , be someone ’ s guardian angel . Say something .

Jayne Flores is the director of the Bureau of Women ’ s Affairs . Send feedback to jayneflores59 @ gmail . com .