So, it’s not really bad luck so much as bad planning when people take things from you. I misjudged my account balance and went nine dollars negative. That nine dollars has cost me around ninety dollars in fees after reducing them from a much uglier number by arguing with a bank manager. Two phone calls didn’t work. I had to go there and get in her face yesterday. The bank is in business to take whatever money it can from its clients. When the dust settles I am joining Jes’s credit union, cutting up my debit card, and returning to the cash economy.

Today, when I briefly left my table at the UMSL Millennium Center to put sugar in my awful coffee, someone stole my umbrella. I walked up to the train station to see if I could find the thief and ask for it back, but apparently they made their getaway before I noticed the theft.

I’m not so used to theft. Jes parents recently had the plates stolen off their car and an expensive bicycle taken from their garage. Neither of the thefts were a big deal. David was calling it the hidden tax of city life, but even little thefts leave you feeling sad about human nature.

When was the last time you were stolen from?