Every day I’m a victim of attempted robbery and fraud. So are you. 

Back in the day if someone attempted to take your wallet it was a major life incident. Chances are if it ever happened to you, even if it was many years ago, you still tell the story. When I was in college someone attempted to break in the townhome I shared with a bunch of girls. We came home. They ran, but left a crowbar stuck in the backdoor. It still gives me the shivers. Years later someone slipped in my office. They got in through the loading dock and snagged my wallet from the bottom drawer of my desk. We talked about it at work for weeks and everyone started locking their desks.

Before I finished the paragraph above someone called to warn me about my expiring car warranty. It’s a scam call. They call every day. I won’t finish this blog before someone calls, texts, or emails me with the intention of stealing from me or hacking my accounts to literally steal my identity. 

Twice within the last month I’ve checked my bank account to find automated charges for accounts I had clearly canceled. I have proof of cancellation. I still had to call the bank. I still had to wait on hold. I still had to dispute charges, even though the companies in question agree that they made invalid charges. The charges may show on my account for a couple of months until the dispute is resolved. It stays on my “to do” list. I keep track and check back. 

The grandkids call my husband Pawpaw. Almost every day I get congratulations for Pawpaw. Just click on the link and see what you’ve won, they say. I get messages from AT&T, Spectrum, Costco, PayPal, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, on and on and on. There’s no way to catalog all the scams, hackers, and thieves that openly target all of us every single day. They threaten us, scare us, pester us, keep us running. 

We change our passwords. We encrypt. We block calls. We’re afraid to answer for fear they’ll literally steal our voices. 

And we talk about it. We’re confounded by the openness of it, the flagrant nature of it. They’re real voices on our phones. They’re real people calling, texting, lying, stealing. 

Why can’t they catch them? 

We all rely on experts in our lives – we always have. We can’t be an expert on our cars, our refrigerators, our health, our finances. We have to trust others. But technology is a whole new animal. We rely on and use, every day, systems that we don’t understand, systems that leave our backdoors unlocked. 

Our backdoors are unlocked. 

Our back doors are unlocked, and the wolves are through the gates. They’re rummaging through our files and looking for our valuables. We clean up after break-ins almost daily. We’ve become accustomed to self-protection as a part of daily routine. 

It takes our time. It angers, frustrates. It hurts. 

We read all the time about the changing landscape in America and the world. We’re running at a real deficit of goodwill. So much anger out there. So much aggression. So much of it caused by technology: hacked social media accounts, false reporting, stolen and fake identities. 

Years ago, I had a friend who had a particular talent for colorful language. I confided in him when I had what I’ll call a “double sexual harassment.” In other words, one guy inappropriately hit on me and when I told my manager he hit on me. I was astonished. I was exasperated beyond belief. I mean, just how much will the world dish out to a young female in an office full of men? 

My friend listened to the whole story very intently and showed very little reaction, but he was a sincere and intense listener. When I finally finished and asked for his reaction, I thought he captured the essence of the situation perfectly. I’ve never forgotten what he said and when things are beyond ridiculous his answer always comes to mind. It comes to mind a lot lately. 

“What do you make of all this,” I asked? 

“Punk-ass bullshit, man. It’s punk-ass bullshit,” he answered. 

I’m a happy person. I like my blog to reflect my general attitude. I keep it light, don’t take it too seriously. It’s just for fun and to reach out to like-minded people, but lately…these scammers. I don’t have time to fight these fights. I don’t need the ugliness. 

It’s Punk-ass bullshit.