Petty Business

So, I wasn't going to blog about it but I've changed my mind because it's too important to not, but the past month or so has been one of those awful nightmares chez moi caused by the incompetence (and hopefully not but possibly the corruption) of the sorts of people who can threaten to cost us money we don't and shouldn't owe.

It took an incredible toll on my health and well-being. I lost about five pounds and I can't afford to lose even one. It was the anxiety caused by being put in that situation. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, and it was all happening at a time when I'm learning how to do a difficult new job.

Fortunately, the people in my new workplace are understanding of this sort of thing, the situation I was put in being not so different from the situations of people they try to help.

But it got me thinking about all my co-citizens who find themselves in these situations every now and again and how soul-destroying they can be. For two weeks I felt like I could jump out of my skin, it was so frustrating. I'm recovering, but slowly, because I'm sixty and shit like this takes a higher toll on us when we're older than it does when we're younger.

It felt like a trespass into my home, that's why the fight or flight response I experienced. And I don't know if there's a gender divide here or not but I'm pretty sure I felt it stronger than did my male partner. It was a threat, I felt threatened, hence my reaction.

Anyway, the world is awash in corruption, we're all witnessing it writ large 24/7 thanks to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. But it's what we do to each other down here in Joe Sixpack and Sally Housecoat world that can have more devastating effects on our health and well-being, I think. The whole nightmare brought to mind a man who killed himself because he was being hounded by a collection agency for money he didn't owe. We had a similar problem years ago. The previous holder of a phone number we inherited owed money and I remember actually being lectured by one of these harassers that he was looking out for the taxpayer. I asked, "By harassing people who've inherited the phone number of someone you allege owes money?" And he actually said, "Yes!"

But what do you do? Do you sue? Or do you go forward in life keeping in mind that you never know what struggles people are privately living and to be kind to everybody, including the people who cause us needless pain and suffering.

So we'll see what happens next. I certainly hope this nightmare is over and my body can heal. I'll eventually write about this in my next book, and I'll make it funny because as Tommy Sexton put it, "What is there to do but laugh?"