It’s a killer—living among the sin-ensconced villains. It hurts… it discourages… and it humiliates… to be almost swindled (let alone BE swindled). I ask myself, “Can I learn from this?” “Can I be a better person having experienced this?” My problem is that I can’t jump to that conclusion—oh, maybe in my mind—yet until I’ve considered the discouragement that has set me back. The horrible feeling inside that births despair. The belief in people that goes down the tubes. The throwing up of hands while uttering “What’s the use?!”

Last Friday I had a “job”; today I don’t. It promised me—finally—something I could do for myself and my family. It promised security. And it was right up my alley! After an interview, a signed contract, and equipment—MacBook, HP laser-jet printer, and software--was promised to be installed in my home, I was ready to take on this new opportunity. It was just a matter of depositing their check in my bank account so I could pay the vendor when the equipment arrived.

My bank said otherwise. They said it was a con. They looked at the contract from a “bona fide” company, the invoice for the materials I would receive to be their “Proofreading Assistant.” They said that this happens a lot and people lose thousands of dollars. I told them I had an interview, signed a contract, and was assigned a supervisor. I had communicated with two people on Skype, and the company is legitimate. But… I came to realize that it’s the co-opting of that legitimate company that is false. Villains derive and replicate false fronts (logos and company information) and create false documents and a false scenario to lead you along. This one went so far as to “interview” me. Thanks, bank ladies, for explaining how “good” they can be about conning people.
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So… after declaring to myself a few stupid-me-isms, can this be used for good? Can I come out “smelling” (getting a whiff of the money-grubbers, perhaps) even better than I was when I went in? I hope so! I mean, I would hate to waste this trial--it’s painful, it’s debilitating, it’s a killer. But the hoodwinking is beyond the pale of nonchalance. I will learn from this. It will be a springboard for a better me!