Today I realized something. I realized a sad reality. I realized that we all, at some point in our lives, will be victims. Scammed, robbed, or even hurt…. Some of us will experience a combination of these things, some multiple times. But the reality is that all of us, at least some point in our lives, will be victims.
Depressing, huh?
This past week I was a victim. It's not my first time being a victim. But it's the first time I've ever been robbed.
I'm still reluctant to say I've been robbed. The optimist in me still denies it, to some extent. But all the evidence points to stolen, not lost. And thus, I say it. I've been robbed.
I can honestly say I never thought it'd happen. Not in Corvallis. Well, maybe on campus. But not out in the town. It's CORVALLIS after all. But I know that's denial. Especially now that I am a victim.
My iPod was taken from me. At Science Night at Franklin School. My iPod. I know it's just a thing. An object. But it kept my life on track. Sounds weird, huh? But for once in my life I always had my schedule with me. I could write down memos, and I actually knew where they were. I made to-do lists. For once in my life, something kept me a little bit organized.
And not only that. During biochem, I watched all my lectures on my iPod. I went to the gym and worked out with my iPod. And strangely, I walk faster with my iPod (I tend to find fast songs, and walk to the beat). Sometimes I would wake up and play logic games on my iPod, to wake my brain up. It may just be a THING, but this thing did a lot for me. It hurt to lose it. It hurt a lot.
But in a way, I learned a lot by losing it. I was reflecting today on how I have handled it. And, without trying to sound conceited, I want to say I'm proud of myself. I lost a prized possession, largely because I was stupid and got distracted and didn't get it back into my jacket, where it belonged. Maybe if I did, I wouldn't be posting this now. But maybe it would have been taken anyway, and maybe they would have found something else they wanted too (Phone? Wallet?). Who knows?
I was a little stressed. Frustrated. Upset. Even angry. At myself, and as I began to accept that it had been taken, at whoever took it. But I went on. I didn't break down, there was a time not that long ago that I would have. I walked through it, rather than panicking, step by step as logically as I could. I filed a lost property report with CPD. I e-mailed my friends that had been there with me. I searched through the club stuff (more than once…) to make sure it hadn't gotten tossed in the box. I called the school. I spent quite a bit of time googling to see what else I could do…. Which pretty much amounted to nothing, but made me feel like I was doing something. And more to satisfy my curiosity than anything else, I had a friend look up the MAC address on Maintain to see if my iPod had made its way back to campus (it hadn't).
No panicking. That's a big deal for me. That's a $300 piece of electronic equipment that was stolen from me, and I didn't panic. After all, what could I do? Well, not long ago I would have panicked anyway.
I also took some time really considering my options for replacing it. It didn't take me long to decide I was going to replace it, but there was serious thought into how, and when. I thought about getting a 1G, older, but still effective for what I did. A 8GB 2G seemed a good option too, and seemed to be more readily available. Basically the same thing that I had, but half the hard drive size. And now I might be getting a 32GB 3G, maybe, if things pan out. That took some serious thought, some consulting, and I've finally taken the leap. We'll see if it's still available come tomorrow. But if it works out, I'm doing it. That's my tax return this year…. Pretty much. I'm still questioning that decision, but it's a deal that wont be coming up again, so we'll see if it meant to be. If it does pan out, it will lessen the blow of being a victim of theft, just a little bit. At least I upgraded with the replacement, rather than downgrading. That would make me feel just a little bit better.
We'll see what happens. I am hopeful, but trust that if it doesn't work out, something else will. If nothing works out, maybe mine is coming home. I don't know. But something it going to happen. I have someone pretty powerful watching out for me, even over silly things like this. He is good and merciful, and even takes care of silly things like iPod drama. 
So this is a really really long post to just be talking about my iPod saga, but I guess it's kinda a big deal. And apparently something that made me learn a lot about myself. So there you go. The silver lining. I am a victim, but through that I grow. Live, learn, grow. The way of life.
