A Blessing in Disguise: Redirection is Protection
It all started with my very cute, very impractical tote bag.
You know the type; boho, oversized, bottomless pit.
Designer? Yes. 💅🏼 Functional? Not exactly.
I tossed in all my usual suspects for yoga: phone, wallet, keys, lip gloss, water bottle, scrunchie.
After class, I stepped off the subway when a girl shouted, “You dropped something!” I looked down and saw a black umbrella, not mine, and kept it moving. 🚶🏻♀️
But something tugged at me. At the top of the stairs, I checked my bag and realized my water bottle was missing. I shrugged it off, chalked it up to the floppy tote swallowing things whole again, and went about my day.
Fast forward five hours. I’m at my mom’s house. I go to grab my wallet... and it’s gone.
FULL. PANIC. 😰
Every debit card. Credit card. My license. My entire life, MISSING.
I slip into a spiral — It must have fell out on the subway 😭
I reached phone and froze all my cards immediately.
My drive back home was the most anxious I’ve felt in a while.
Then, a miracle happens! ✨
I arrive and check the bag I’d used the day before and there it was. My wallet!! Safe and sound. 💗 Crisis averted!?
Not quite.
The next morning, I got an email: “A transaction on your locked credit card was declined.”
Wait… what?
I thought it might’ve been a glitch. But then another notification came in, and another. Over the next two days, there were 10 attempts to use my card, all from the ParkMobile app in Hoboken.
Someone had my card info and was trying to rack up parking charges.
But here’s the twist.
↪️ Because I thought I’d lost my wallet, I had already frozen the cards.
↪️ Because I froze the cards,every shady attempt was declined.
↪️ Because I got those alerts, I now know my card info is compromised and can take action.
If I hadn’t lost my wallet, I might not have realized my card was stolen.
If I hadn’t frozen my cards, they could’ve drained up my savings with a series of unsuspecting parking charges.
And that, my friends, is a blessing in disguise.
Moral of the story:
Trust your instincts! When something feels off, don’t feel bad for wanting to look into it.
Invest in a bag with a zipper. (that one’s for me 🤣)
And remember: sometimes the things that go wrong are quietly saving you from something worse.
Redirection is protection 🙏 and this is just another bend in the road.
Stay safe out there sweeties!
xo,
Linds