Defining Happy

I’ve used about 482304982309832 ATM’s around the world with no issues.  Today, I get an email from a representative at one of my banks notifying me that the ATM that I had just used one hour prior was compromised and not only has it captured my card number but also my PIN number.  My card has now been disabled and has to be reissued. This would not be a problem if I actually had an address for them to mail it to 😐

In a random sidebar conversation the bank rep said she admired my calmness and the fact that I didn’t freak out like most people would do in this type of situation.  I explained to her that my acting an utterly ridiculous fool would not negate the fact that I could no longer use my ATM card. I travel with three bank/credit cards. Knowing that all my cards could have been stolen and every cent I owned spent the situation really didn’t seem so trivial.

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Travel tip – When traveling abroad bring at least two separate bank and/or credit cards.  For the bank card, only keep a small amount in your checking account and transfer funds in to this account as needed.  This way if your card is lost or stolen no one can clean you out completely before you’ve had the chance to report your card stolen. Lastly, pack your cards separately. If something should happen to one bag you always have backup cards in another location.

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Ok boys and girls… the moral of the story for today is: Don’t sweat the small stuff and accept the things you cannot change.  When faced with a situation that has the potential to throw you off balance, test your patience, make you lose your religion and use every curse word known to man, piss on your day, or cause shit to completely hit the fan…take a moment to think about how much worse the situation could actually be.