Robbed -

While visiting a dear friend in Atlanta this fall, I was robbed.  I made the poor choice to leave my purse in the back seat of her car while we stepped away for a few minutes.  In that time the jerks smashed her car window, swiped my purse and started the process of trying to make some transactions.  While my friend smartly called the cops (the police report helped me get on the plane), all I could do was stand there, numb, and think about how I was going to get on the plane in an hour to go home. I momentarily forgot that my whole identity was in that purse, and when I finally got practical I called my husband and he had all my cards, etc. shutdown in a matter of seconds. Go Joe!!

I made it on the plane after lots of stops through TSA. And was humbled by the fact that I didn't have any chapstick or even a dollar to my name to buy a water.  It was a real lesson to have NOTHING for a few minutes - not a real study, or view at how others truly live, but still thought-provoking to me.  

this happened - 

ANYWAY, my point in writing this is not to look for sympathy as it was my own dumb move to leave my purse in her car, but to share one small  Tired Girl tip. 

Make a copy - right now- of the front and back of your drivers license.  Do it.  Having a copy of  both sides of your license will enable you to order a new license online (at least in Florida) and not go through all the steps of having to obtain a new one.  You can also use the copy when the original is lost (or brutally ripped from your innocence).  Just to show who you are - just in case. You could also take a photo of the front and back and email the photos to yourself and then erase the photo off your phone. 

Without an ID or any credit/debit cards you are crazy screwed though. And as a Tired Girl the last thing I was interested in (while still traumatized) was making my daily routine infinitely more complicated with stops at every federal agency.  I was super effected by the vulnerability I felt after this criminal act.  I needed more time to plan my future agoraphobic lifetsyle and less time spent re-creating my identity.  The process to get a new license (if I couldn't have just ordered a new one) would require several different forms of ID - one of which is a Social Security card - which by bum luck I had just put in my wallet for another reason and not removed when I went to Atlanta. So I didn't even have that on my side. Passport was expired, etc. - you see where this was going. 

I won't bore you with the details of the tribulations of losing your whole wallet, but as you can guess it is no picnic.  I did have the presence of mind to call my doctors office to see if they had a copy of my ID in my file.  They did and I was on my way to simply re-ordering a new ID and then everything could follow easily. As soon as I got my new card I made a copy of the front and back as well as my husband's and several other cards as well.

A few months later I still have to remind myself that it was just "stuff" that I lost - but it was stuff I liked and valued and some of it is irreplaceable.  My poor friend's window part was more complicated then you would have thought as well and she drove around windowless for two weeks.  The two people that broke her window and stole my purse were arrested and in are still in jail as they had prior issues.  So what a lot of energy wasted for everyone. 

Oh one last teeny thing - I also went to buy new face powder and lipgloss that was lost with my purse and I had no idea what those two perfect colors were. Sand 2 and Beige 1 and Glimmer Glint and Bubble Blitz look surprisingly similar in the florescent lights of the store.  So, some day if you are stuck in traffic, or waiting in line or avoiding your work responsibilities then make a note of the items in your purse and their colors, etc.  And also don't put your purse in the back seat of a car and also just don't leave your house.

Anyone else have a happy tip after important items are stolen?