Stress used to be such a large part of my life. Basically, it was my job at the time that was the root of that problem so when I quit it was quite refreshing to be "free."
Since that time I've had a relatively stress-free existence; living in Aspen can hardly be considered stressful, unless choosing where to ride counts, and being involved in an organization that I believe is doing meaningful and important work may be demanding...the stress, when it's there is something that I can deal with.
So fast-forward to the morning I'm flying to Haiti:
It’s 5 am, I've been up since 2 and slept maybe an hour in total; I’ve already checked in for my flight and I'm feeling good...only one thing left to do…get some cash so that once I arrive in Haiti, I can actually leave the airport. Being the veteran that I am at withdrawing money from ATM’s I had little reason to think that my next transaction would go awry. The only time an ATM denies me is an hour before I embark on an international flight to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere…as it stood, I had 1 dollar on me and this stupid machine wouldn't give me ‘my money.’ I proceed to get on the phone with my bank and find out that my account had been frozen because I had requested an amount above my maximum (something I didn’t know existed)…so I had to wait for the Fraud Protection agency to open in order for them to unfreeze my money. I get on my flight from MSY to MIA still with only a dollar and a pit in my stomach because I was told that the Fraud Protection Dept wouldn't be open until 12pm EST. Sweet, that helps me because my flight for Haiti leaves at 9am (or so I thought) and I have transport pre-booked from the airport to my guesthouse.
Given my situation, I think I handled it quite admirably…I called my credit cards to see if I could activate a pin number to get money that way—no dice. They can only send those via mail to an address. So I called Wells Fargo again hoping for a miracle…and that’s what I got. The woman who I spoke with the second time told me that the Fraud Protection Agency opened at 6am PST….WOO-HOO, salvation! Wait a second, my flight leaves at 9—FUCK! In my head I put another contingency plan into place, I would get on a later flight, use Skype to cancel my ride and re-schedule, get my money situation cleared up and chill in the Miami Airport for 4 hours and board a later flight…no biggie.
I write 'no biggie' but in actuality I had a mild breakdown...I'm used to rolling with the situation and making it work but I didn't see a way out that wouldn't cost me some serious cash and a lot of headache...not to mention that I was going to haiti and the travel advisories had me nervous that I was going to be kidnapped at the airport.
Well it turns out that I’m an idiot. 9am was my boarding time…my flight was at 10; so at the stroke of 9 I called the Fraud Protection Agency and proceeded endure a battery of questions akin to the Spanish Inquisition. They were asking me security questions I wasn’t sure I had set up and then proceeded to walk me through my transaction history for the past several weeks….all the while “Group 1 may now board…” is blaring in the background. Why is it that getting a straight answer out of those people is so damn hard? As a former telemarketer, I apologize to all those I badgered via telephone…paybacks a bitch. Finally I get my funds thawed out and I sprint to the nearest ATM which was out of order and then to the next which feels like miles away…take out my money and sprint back to the gate—I made it--there were seven boarding groups for this flight.
I've since been in Haiti a little under a week and things have gone smoothly...it's a hard place to describe but I hope over the course of my trip I gleen insights that I can relay...that and lots of photos.
