This is going to sound scary but I had my CC # stolen and it was locally! I had purchased something, I can't recall at the moment, but it was from the local Walmart nearest to where I live. I paid for my purchase in the electronic department. I believe I picked up something for my little one's Wii console or something of the like. Anyhow, I ended up having a charge from a gaming website for the Xbox and we don't have an Xbox! It was an annual fee charge for someone to get access to the gaming site for one year.
As it turned out, the one who stole my cc# and information turned out to be an employee. It wasn't the one who waited on me but another one. It was a young man, a teenager at that, who took my information to purchase whatever it is they purchase - time I gather, to play games. It was something called War of Warcraft or Wardcraft - something like that. According to what I learned, this is not a game for small children, which my little one was at the time.
Not only did my bank fix the charges and have them reverted back into my account, the company responsible for accepting the payment got involved and the young man who was responsible for it all lost his job and between the company he paid using a stole card (mine) and the bank brought it before a judge who threw the book at him. He lost his job too. The only sad part is that once he turns 18, the information will come off his record. I hoped it would stay on there until he was at least 21 years old because he was already within a year or two of turning 18. I did learn he got juvenile detention for a few months and he had to do X number of hours of community service for his crimes as well as probation.
Like someone else on here mentioned, this is the account that my mortgage comes out of so this little turd could have put me in a tough spot. I do have overdraft protection being that I've been with the same bank for decades but still, those charges add up especially when you have no idea where they come from or who was responsible. I'm grateful the bank staff members, Walmart CEO, and the gaming company's CEO worked with extreme diligence to get this taken care of quickly.
I rarely if ever carry cash. Writing checks is extremely difficult for me because of my blindness so my bank card is the best thing that I've ever had. It allows me to shop, pay bills, and buy items I need or for gifts without having to worry about getting mugged since most criminals would see me as an easy target being that I am legally blind; however, I was taught to use my cane as a defense mechanism years ago. Also, when I have my guide dog with me, few would think twice about approaching me with the intent of robbing me. This would be especially true if they heard of the case that occurred some years ago up north when a blind woman with her guide dog was mugged and the guide dog took a giant wet bite out of the mugger's arm and part of the torso.
It's important to note that guide dogs are NOT guard dogs nor are they taught to be aggressive. Any dog who goes through the program to become a service dog and shows any signs of aggression is automatically kicked, for lack of a better word, from the program. Sometimes they are chosen for a different trade of employment such as K-9 dog, drug sniffer, or the like but not many. If any guide dog attacks a person, there is a high chance the dog will be destroyed. If memory serves me correctly, the woman whose guide dog attacked the mugger did ultimate get to keep her guide dog but only after undergoing a slew of psychological testing to ensure within reason the dog would not attack again.
I've had some experience in that situation. It scared me to no end. It took me a long time to bond to my first guide dog. It had taken an even longer time to realize I needed a guide dog because there is only so much one can do with a cane. That cane can't second guess the blind person's decisions like crossing the road. The cane cannot give one a sense of direction. Guide dogs can. BTW, guide dogs are often mistakenly referred to as "Seeing Eye Dogs'" however, Seeing Eye Dogs is a name brand, if you will, sort of like Xerox or IBM PC. In Morrisville, New York there is a guide dog school named Seeing Eye. It was founded by Dorothy Eustis and Frank Morris along with Frank's first guide dog Buddy. Dogs from this particular school are "Seeing Eye Dogs." My guide dogs have all come from The Guide Dog Foundation aka Second Sight. So, the generic term is "guide dog."
Anyhow, I was shopping at a grocery store in a nearby town. Unknown to me, my mother, brother, a cousin, and a friend were all in the store at the same time I was there. My MIL was elsewhere in the store getting what she needed while I was off with my own cart picking up my own groceries. I went to the meat dept and this man came out of nowhere. My guide dog growled at him, which was totally unlike her. As it turned out, he was trying to befriend her to get to me. The man gave me the creeps so I told him to leave us along because my guide dog was working and I didn't need her distracted or she could hurt herself or cause me to hurt myself. He refused to back off. My guide dog growled deep in her throat then let out this horrendous bark that would come across in human speak as "Back the heck off if you know what's good for you!" Before I could think, I had family, friends, and even other customers surrounding me with one dragging along the store manager.
My instincts were good. The man was dangerous. It turned out that he didn't know how to take NO for an answer when a woman told him to leave her alone. He lost his job over the ordeal. I could have pressed charges but since he would no longer be at the store and he hadn't actually hurt me or hurt my dog I let it go because I know there would have been no case if it had gone to court.
I contacted the school after getting home but not before pouring myself a good stiff drink to settle my scattered nerves. It was then that I learned that had my dog bitten the man, I could have actually lost her because of it. That ...... me off royally because she didn't do anything wrong but after being raised around animals all my life and our having had a rogue bull in our pasture once I understood it even though I didn't like it. So, when it comes to anyone approaching me while I am working with my guide dog, I'm not as concerned about my well-being since most people are afraid of dogs, especially when they are so tall their head goes to one's waist and they weigh upwards of 85 to 90 lbs. My current dog is a bit smaller than that one. He weighs about 75 lbs but his head is waist high on me. And BTW, the reason everyone came running to me is because my guide dog had never growled nor barked when we were out and about town. Sure, she would bark in playing when we were at home and she wasn't in harness but she never growled or barked when working. Guide dogs are conditioned to know that once that harness goes on, it's time to work but once it comes off, it's time to play. They are extremely smart animals. One of the best commands or actions rather that the school I attend does is to teach the dogs a process known as intelligent disobedience.
Imagine if you will that you are blind and standing at a street corner about to cross the road. You don't hear any traffic so you give the command to go forward across the street but the dog refuses to budge. Even when you tell them again, forward, across the street and they remain still... 9 times out of 10, the reason the dog refuses to move forward is because he/she senses or sees a vehicle coming that you cannot hear. The hybrids area the worst because they are so quiet. The reason I finally chose to go to guide dog school for training and a guide dog was because I was nearly hit by a van walking out toward the parking lot with my infant child who was only a month or two old and in a baby sling in my arms when I took that step then the next thing I know I feel the heat from the radiator of a van on my arms. My cane couldn't tell me the van was coming and I couldn't hear it. Fortunately for my daughter and me, the man driving saw us even though I didn't hear him. That changed my mind in a hurry. By that time the following year I was in class training for my first guide dog.
Forgive me for getting so lengthy here. I got started and couldn't stop. Plus, I thought it would give the non-blind an insight into what life is like for those of us without sight who rely on our canes and on guide dogs.
My current guide dog is getting up in age. I'm afraid he won't be with me much longer. I dread it too. I'm not sure if I will get another guide dog so soon when he crosses the rainbow bridge. I'm not sure my heart can take it. I'll wait for a while. My oldest is in college, she moved away from home this past spring, and she and her fiance are planning their wedding, which should take place this coming August. My little one, the infant who was in the baby sling is now a teenager. Lupus and Sjogren's has caused so much joint problems that I can't walk as far or as long as I could with previous guides and when I first got the little boy I have now. Perhaps when the time comes that I can't walk on my own and will be wheelchair bound I may return for a cross-trained guide dog/canine assistant though I don't think I will do so until then. It's so difficult to work through the honeymoon period then reach the point where the dog becomes an extension of your body and one that you would gladly put your life in that animal's paws... But to lose that guide dog to age and/or infirmity is much like losing a piece of yourself combined with losing a child. It hurts and it hurts so deeply that you feel as if you are going to crumble and die with them. The days that follow leave you feeling naked and incomplete as if a surgeon used his/her scalpel to remove a part of your body.
Pet owners are close to their pets but it is nothing compared to the intimacy between guide dog and handler. It's not even close. After reading that article, which another guide dog handler sent me when that handler was attacked but her guide dog protected her, all I could do was cry when I got to the point where the school, the state, the police, and the animal control were all debating as to whether or not to destroy her guide dog. I'm not sure if I could have ever gotten over something like that if it happened to me or one of my guides.
It goes to show there are some sick twisted people in this world. What is so wrong in going out, getting a job, and earning the money to buy what one wants? I survive on disability income; however, I write as a freelancer to earn a little extra. Part of it goes into a college fund and part of it goes toward something I want or something I want to buy for someone else or even to pay a bill I might otherwise not be able to pay without the extra income. I don't go out to steal it. The morality of far too many has gone to crap in an outhouse.
Thanks again for listening and please forgive me if I rambled...
Be extra careful wherever you go or wherever you pay a bill or buy something. Know and trust the vendor you do business with while also remain conscious of your surroundings - blind or fully sighted. Yo can always remain aware of your surroundings. It only takes a few extra seconds and it could save you a world of heartache and even your life.
