Fuck
Get this. True Story. Someone has stolen my identity and made off with over seven thousand dollars out of my bank account!
Can you believe it! I'm still in shock that something like this could happen to me, let alone happen at all. The scheme was fairly simple, and quite brilliant I must admit. Basically the one responsible for this would enter a bank, and make a deposit of several thousand dollars into my account and then ask for a few thousand dollars in less cash. That way they would leave the bank with my money, and all of the checks that they had deposited into my account were bogus. A few business days later the checks are returned to the bank after they have been found to be faked. Of course this shit went on for six days before I found out about it, and now a little over seven grand of my travel money is gone! Gone! What a shock to my system. But, the news isn't all bad for me. By law, the bank must indemnify all losses and damages to my account that arise out of transactions made by the bank itself. In this case, it was the bank that acted upon these deposit and withdrawals, and therefore all the money lost, as well as all the banking fees for overdrafts, as well as the money needed to set up my new account - are All covered by the bank! So I can go on from here, and eventually after I fill out all the bank fraud forms and give careful attention to all the legalities of the paperwork - then I'll be back on track. But until then, I have no access to any money of any kind for ten business days, which translates to two weeks. All I have is eleven dollars to my name, give or take a handful of change.
But you know what. I don't care. As distraught as I was at first, it only took about five minutes to realize how insignificant this is, and how much faith I must put into the belief that this whole episode will be corrected. It takes instances like this to make you realize what is truly important, and what it is that you should be thankful for. All my money that I have been saving for months now is gone. I have eleven bucks to get me through for two weeks, and I still don't care. I have my health. I have my honor. I have my freedom. I have my education. I have my drive. I have my passion. I have my family. I have my piece of mind. I have my music. I have my friends. I have my wine. I have my happiness. And I'm still alive. You can't put a price tag on that shit.
So the next time you get robbed, or cheated, or are down on your luck - take a minute in honor of me to reflect on what you still have, and how thankful you should be that you haven't lost more. For a fleeting few hours I just had my grandest dream of all - the dream of travel - squelched right before my very eyes, but what would that dream really have meant to me if I was lying in the interstate ditch dead? Probably not much.