Transport yourself back in time - before the just-described Air India adventure - to when I just arrived at the Salt Lake City airport.
Of course, running a little late, I was quite distracted. I took out my ID for my ticket, and forgot for a moment about my wallet. When my attention returned to the fact that my ID had come from a wallet, there was no wallet to be found. Flight was leaving in less than an hour, so I made a decision: I have my license and my passport, so I can figure out anything from Chicago.
I started running with Chris Matts' real options. I called texted and left messages for David. I called Tim and asked him to figure out options for getting cash in Chicago and New Delhi. I called Pollyanna and asked her about generating options for the AMEX card and cash as well. Then, I found an airport cop, filed a report "we'll report this as larceny, m'am" and boarded the plane.
Before I got on, Barbara and Pollyanna were looking into getting me an AMEX in Chicago. I got hold of David, who began looking into Credit Union options for cash. Tim was actively researching Western Union. Officer Jones was filing a report and keeping an eye on the lost and found.
I got off the plane in Chicago, and Barbara and Pollyanna had called ahead to the hotel to ensure my room was covered. David had cancelled all my cards. (Yes, I committed to that option early, but I knew why: debit cards are very painful to recover from fraud.) The AMEX was set to be picked up in New Delhi on Tuesday. I just had to get through a few days without cash and card. But, Ted, my colleague was arriving in New Delhi mere hours after me, and I could survive on his plastic until then.
Luck followed me, however, and my wallet appeared (lost and found, someone found pity on me and got it to me in Chicago). It was amazing!
And the only things missing were my debit card and some of the cash. A transit tax, perhaps?
I was able to unblock my VISA card. The debit card was blocked, courtesy of David. And AMEX is Fort Knox: no unblocking cards - pick it up in New Delhi, thank you very much!
Out of this, some observations:
I have some very dear friends and colleagues, who really went to bat for me. I am lucky to have them backing me up. It was because of my trust in them that I was willing to hop on the plane anyway, and just fly to Chicago and on to New Delhi.
Next, behavior has such wide ranging and unintended effects. If I had taken the time to slow down at Salt Lake City airport, I would have been much more mindful of my wallet. But, because I didn't exercise the self care to slow down and be mindful, Barbara, Pollyanna, David, Tim, Officer Jones, Eric (the Holiday Inn Express guy), the AMEX people, the credit union people - all of them spent time on this problem on behalf of me. Probably 24 hours of time, all told, was spent on this problem. Talk about a vivid example of karma! The smallest choices have big consequences.
Finally, in some ways, we do make our own luck. Running a lot of options while I was in the air gave me the best possible outcome. But I could not have done it without having built the relationships that enabled me to run those options. (No, not Machiavellian - just a fact of life.) So, take care of your people, people!
And to those people: Thank you to all who helped. Sorry for the karmic backlash. I'll be more mindful in the future.
Last thought: isn't it ironic that I almost became a real life case of a common email scam, after having almost become a victim of it myself once!
Of course, running a little late, I was quite distracted. I took out my ID for my ticket, and forgot for a moment about my wallet. When my attention returned to the fact that my ID had come from a wallet, there was no wallet to be found. Flight was leaving in less than an hour, so I made a decision: I have my license and my passport, so I can figure out anything from Chicago.
I started running with Chris Matts' real options. I called texted and left messages for David. I called Tim and asked him to figure out options for getting cash in Chicago and New Delhi. I called Pollyanna and asked her about generating options for the AMEX card and cash as well. Then, I found an airport cop, filed a report "we'll report this as larceny, m'am" and boarded the plane.
Before I got on, Barbara and Pollyanna were looking into getting me an AMEX in Chicago. I got hold of David, who began looking into Credit Union options for cash. Tim was actively researching Western Union. Officer Jones was filing a report and keeping an eye on the lost and found.
I got off the plane in Chicago, and Barbara and Pollyanna had called ahead to the hotel to ensure my room was covered. David had cancelled all my cards. (Yes, I committed to that option early, but I knew why: debit cards are very painful to recover from fraud.) The AMEX was set to be picked up in New Delhi on Tuesday. I just had to get through a few days without cash and card. But, Ted, my colleague was arriving in New Delhi mere hours after me, and I could survive on his plastic until then.
Luck followed me, however, and my wallet appeared (lost and found, someone found pity on me and got it to me in Chicago). It was amazing!
And the only things missing were my debit card and some of the cash. A transit tax, perhaps?
I was able to unblock my VISA card. The debit card was blocked, courtesy of David. And AMEX is Fort Knox: no unblocking cards - pick it up in New Delhi, thank you very much!
Out of this, some observations:
I have some very dear friends and colleagues, who really went to bat for me. I am lucky to have them backing me up. It was because of my trust in them that I was willing to hop on the plane anyway, and just fly to Chicago and on to New Delhi.
Next, behavior has such wide ranging and unintended effects. If I had taken the time to slow down at Salt Lake City airport, I would have been much more mindful of my wallet. But, because I didn't exercise the self care to slow down and be mindful, Barbara, Pollyanna, David, Tim, Officer Jones, Eric (the Holiday Inn Express guy), the AMEX people, the credit union people - all of them spent time on this problem on behalf of me. Probably 24 hours of time, all told, was spent on this problem. Talk about a vivid example of karma! The smallest choices have big consequences.
Finally, in some ways, we do make our own luck. Running a lot of options while I was in the air gave me the best possible outcome. But I could not have done it without having built the relationships that enabled me to run those options. (No, not Machiavellian - just a fact of life.) So, take care of your people, people!
And to those people: Thank you to all who helped. Sorry for the karmic backlash. I'll be more mindful in the future.
Last thought: isn't it ironic that I almost became a real life case of a common email scam, after having almost become a victim of it myself once!
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