A thief took my iPhone.
Dear diary,
The first thing people told me was that it's just a phone, the important thing is that I am safe and unharmed... but really, what's the point of still getting a hold of your life when it has crumbled down right in front of you?
No sh*t, I'm a millennial. You may also call me a social media slave. My life depended on alarms and apps. Travel time with Waze, Grab for commuting to unfamiliar places, and even a personal calendar to keep track of my period. Name it, whatever you can possibly need, there's an app for that. I also have multiple accounts signed in on some of these apps. The iPhone can do everything and I trusted it despite being hesitant at first.
It wasn't the first time I lost a phone from hard earned money but it didn't hurt as much as this. I never realized it until now - how "dependent" I was to this iPhone, that I had some "attachment" to it, and that it was supposedly the most valuable material thing I "indulged" myself into... BUT, I let it slip my hands just like that. I was negligent, really stupid, maybe ambitious... or so I'd like to think.
Before this iPhone, I could only get my hands on low to mid-range Android phones and never asked for more. The first iPhone I got my hands on was a company phone from my previous job in sales and marketing. When I made a shift in career to become a content creator, I knew an iPhone would be the best weapon of choice and decided to purchase one of my own.
An investment, as I'd like to call it, was what it was to me. It's the first iPhone I could afford. In fact, it will take me two years before I can really say that I was able to buy one and I lost it before it was even fully paid. I specifically chose the iPhone 8 because of the size. I knew the iPhone 8+ would easily get snatched off my hands... the smaller one still got snatched anyway.
I basically handed it over to the thief and watched him slowly walk away, not even bothering to run fast. "Easy target" was literally written across my forehead. I sat in traffic in EDSA for the next hour with mixed emotions. Afraid, sad, mad... although I turned a bit optimistic for a few minutes, I eventually began to lose hope by the second.
Needless to say, it was the longest hour of my life. The more time passed while I sat there doing nothing, the more damage these heartless people will be able to cause.
There was no way to contact anyone to warn them or get help from them. All I did was sit and stay still for an entire hour. I was helpless and I couldn't defend myself. That's what everyone here in the Philippines tells you when you encounter thieves anyway, "ibigay mo na lang." Binigay ko naman. Binigay ko na lang po.
When I got home and discovered that I couldn't log in on Facebook and Gmail, I almost fainted. My sister watched me as I try not to and thought of ways she could help. I was shaking and panicking... they don't only have my phone, they have everything. Even though my heart was pounding heavily and my boyfriend won't stop bombarding me with questions, I knew I badly had to inform my colleagues so they can remove the stolen account as an admin of the pages we manage.
My vision was swirling. Many things were running on my mind that it gave me a headache. I wished I owned an Android phone so they can easily sign me out of everything without stealing my identity to get my passcode, get the iPhone good as new, and be able to resell it.
Why did I yearn for something like it? It was unlikely of me to do so, to be willing to pay for something I could easily lose. Although I loved taking photos and videos with it (capturing memories and posting them on Instagram), I can't help but ask myself - since when did I become "materialistic"? Now, I'm losing my mind over losing an iPhone (and those captured memories, of course).
What really depressed me was that no matter how much you take care of yourself, people with or without bad intentions will somehow get you destroyed. I am currently progressing to become more of what I used to be and then something like this gets in the way. I thought I was negligent, stupid and ambitious... but it was explained to me this way - it's like when you're driving cautiously but someone else hit your car into a crash out of nowhere.
"Ibigay mo na lang..." Ganun? Ganun na lang? No matter how hard I worked/am working for it, given that situation, "dapat ibigay mo na lang."
What nonsense. How hopeless. I began seeing things half empty. I probably always have but it's on a different level now. In the past few days, I try my best to cheer myself up every morning. Probably the lack of workout? I wasn't taking good care of myself anymore.
This time, I was affecting my loved ones for being too caught up in the situation as well. I messaged them whenever I thought of something (sometimes a solution; most of the time, negativity). My motivation to move forward was gone in fear of knowing that everything you can obtain in this lifetime can also be lost in just a snap.
"The more you gain, the more you'll have to lose..." then, maybe what I should be trying to obtain are not material things, but something else that cannot be taken away from me.
Growing up in a not so well off family in our country, I was told in my younger days that education is the only thing I can inherit from my parents. Bad people can burn our house down or steal every cent we own, pero hinding hindi mananakaw ang lahat ng mga natutunan mo. This came to me when I told my father what happened.
My father is a humble man who wants to live a simple life in the province. Part of him knew that my aunt wanted something better for me and my siblings, something he might be unable to give, so he left us here in Manila with my aunt after my mother died. That's what I thought I wanted too, "something better".
Chatting with papa made me realize that the thieves can have my iPhone. I can always work for something like it again or even something better because I was able to graduate and raised to be a good person... UNLIKE THEM. This incident humbled me down and put me right back where I'm supposed to be.
I slowly gathered back everything I can recover one by one. My aunt helped me recover my phone number which of course lead to recovering my Facebook and Gmail account. I emailed BPI to deactivate my online express access at once, and they did it right away (it was really reassuring how they accommodated a random email from me). I was still too paranoid though, that I withdrew all of my money from the bank.
Apple also called me right away given the situation I entered on their website. However, it wasn't connected to Find My iPhone anymore even though we were able to put it on lost mode on the day it got stolen. I'm not quite sure how it happened but apparently, they couldn't lock the device. Find My iPhone is of no use now. The best advice I could get was to remove the device from my iCloud to protect my information.
After a few days, I received a cake from my colleagues. Being the emotional person that I am, the thought of it made me look forward to getting back to work. Losing my iPhone disabled me to perform some of my weekly responsibilities so I had to take an indefinite leave until I get a new device, become emotionally ready without being distracted by these negative thoughts, and be able to step out of the house again. The gesture lifted my spirit up and I'm grateful for it.
In the past few days that I have been disconnected from the internet, I found myself buried in a book. This was something that "I had no time for" for months and it was fulfilling to get a 500-page novel done once again after a long time. It was refreshing and it helped me take my mind off entirely from the "accident." Despite struggling to understand a few paragraphs whenever my mind flew back, I still did it. I finished it and it also helped me feel better.
This month, I was thinking of manning up for a follow-up checkup that I chickened out for almost a year now or enrolling in a weekly physical activity to boost endorphins... guess, they'll have to wait a bit longer pa ulit due to the sudden reallocation of my personal budget.
Until then,
G.
I know it sounds stupid, but a thief took my iPhone and I wished they took my life instead.
The first thing people told me was that it's just a phone, the important thing is that I am safe and unharmed... but really, what's the point of still getting a hold of your life when it has crumbled down right in front of you?
No sh*t, I'm a millennial. You may also call me a social media slave. My life depended on alarms and apps. Travel time with Waze, Grab for commuting to unfamiliar places, and even a personal calendar to keep track of my period. Name it, whatever you can possibly need, there's an app for that. I also have multiple accounts signed in on some of these apps. The iPhone can do everything and I trusted it despite being hesitant at first.
It wasn't the first time I lost a phone from hard earned money but it didn't hurt as much as this. I never realized it until now - how "dependent" I was to this iPhone, that I had some "attachment" to it, and that it was supposedly the most valuable material thing I "indulged" myself into... BUT, I let it slip my hands just like that. I was negligent, really stupid, maybe ambitious... or so I'd like to think.
Before this iPhone, I could only get my hands on low to mid-range Android phones and never asked for more. The first iPhone I got my hands on was a company phone from my previous job in sales and marketing. When I made a shift in career to become a content creator, I knew an iPhone would be the best weapon of choice and decided to purchase one of my own.
An investment, as I'd like to call it, was what it was to me. It's the first iPhone I could afford. In fact, it will take me two years before I can really say that I was able to buy one and I lost it before it was even fully paid. I specifically chose the iPhone 8 because of the size. I knew the iPhone 8+ would easily get snatched off my hands... the smaller one still got snatched anyway.
I basically handed it over to the thief and watched him slowly walk away, not even bothering to run fast. "Easy target" was literally written across my forehead. I sat in traffic in EDSA for the next hour with mixed emotions. Afraid, sad, mad... although I turned a bit optimistic for a few minutes, I eventually began to lose hope by the second.
Needless to say, it was the longest hour of my life. The more time passed while I sat there doing nothing, the more damage these heartless people will be able to cause.
There was no way to contact anyone to warn them or get help from them. All I did was sit and stay still for an entire hour. I was helpless and I couldn't defend myself. That's what everyone here in the Philippines tells you when you encounter thieves anyway, "ibigay mo na lang." Binigay ko naman. Binigay ko na lang po.
When I got home and discovered that I couldn't log in on Facebook and Gmail, I almost fainted. My sister watched me as I try not to and thought of ways she could help. I was shaking and panicking... they don't only have my phone, they have everything. Even though my heart was pounding heavily and my boyfriend won't stop bombarding me with questions, I knew I badly had to inform my colleagues so they can remove the stolen account as an admin of the pages we manage.
My vision was swirling. Many things were running on my mind that it gave me a headache. I wished I owned an Android phone so they can easily sign me out of everything without stealing my identity to get my passcode, get the iPhone good as new, and be able to resell it.
Why did I yearn for something like it? It was unlikely of me to do so, to be willing to pay for something I could easily lose. Although I loved taking photos and videos with it (capturing memories and posting them on Instagram), I can't help but ask myself - since when did I become "materialistic"? Now, I'm losing my mind over losing an iPhone (and those captured memories, of course).
What really depressed me was that no matter how much you take care of yourself, people with or without bad intentions will somehow get you destroyed. I am currently progressing to become more of what I used to be and then something like this gets in the way. I thought I was negligent, stupid and ambitious... but it was explained to me this way - it's like when you're driving cautiously but someone else hit your car into a crash out of nowhere.
It's somewhat like that, it's not always your fault.
Bad things just happen. That's life.
ACCIDENTS HAPPEN.
What nonsense. How hopeless. I began seeing things half empty. I probably always have but it's on a different level now. In the past few days, I try my best to cheer myself up every morning. Probably the lack of workout? I wasn't taking good care of myself anymore.
This time, I was affecting my loved ones for being too caught up in the situation as well. I messaged them whenever I thought of something (sometimes a solution; most of the time, negativity). My motivation to move forward was gone in fear of knowing that everything you can obtain in this lifetime can also be lost in just a snap.
The more you gain in life, the more you'll have to lose.
"The more you gain, the more you'll have to lose..." then, maybe what I should be trying to obtain are not material things, but something else that cannot be taken away from me.
Growing up in a not so well off family in our country, I was told in my younger days that education is the only thing I can inherit from my parents. Bad people can burn our house down or steal every cent we own, pero hinding hindi mananakaw ang lahat ng mga natutunan mo. This came to me when I told my father what happened.
My father is a humble man who wants to live a simple life in the province. Part of him knew that my aunt wanted something better for me and my siblings, something he might be unable to give, so he left us here in Manila with my aunt after my mother died. That's what I thought I wanted too, "something better".
Chatting with papa made me realize that the thieves can have my iPhone. I can always work for something like it again or even something better because I was able to graduate and raised to be a good person... UNLIKE THEM. This incident humbled me down and put me right back where I'm supposed to be.
I slowly gathered back everything I can recover one by one. My aunt helped me recover my phone number which of course lead to recovering my Facebook and Gmail account. I emailed BPI to deactivate my online express access at once, and they did it right away (it was really reassuring how they accommodated a random email from me). I was still too paranoid though, that I withdrew all of my money from the bank.
Apple also called me right away given the situation I entered on their website. However, it wasn't connected to Find My iPhone anymore even though we were able to put it on lost mode on the day it got stolen. I'm not quite sure how it happened but apparently, they couldn't lock the device. Find My iPhone is of no use now. The best advice I could get was to remove the device from my iCloud to protect my information.
After a few days, I received a cake from my colleagues. Being the emotional person that I am, the thought of it made me look forward to getting back to work. Losing my iPhone disabled me to perform some of my weekly responsibilities so I had to take an indefinite leave until I get a new device, become emotionally ready without being distracted by these negative thoughts, and be able to step out of the house again. The gesture lifted my spirit up and I'm grateful for it.
In the past few days that I have been disconnected from the internet, I found myself buried in a book. This was something that "I had no time for" for months and it was fulfilling to get a 500-page novel done once again after a long time. It was refreshing and it helped me take my mind off entirely from the "accident." Despite struggling to understand a few paragraphs whenever my mind flew back, I still did it. I finished it and it also helped me feel better.
This is the last self-help I could think of - putting my thoughts to words. My final step before jumping back to reality like nothing happened.
This month, I was thinking of manning up for a follow-up checkup that I chickened out for almost a year now or enrolling in a weekly physical activity to boost endorphins... guess, they'll have to wait a bit longer pa ulit due to the sudden reallocation of my personal budget.
Until then,
G.
If by chance you stumble upon this post and feel the same way but also feel ashamed of talking about it with people you know in fear of being judged, I'll be glad to hear you out.
ReplyDeleteYou may comment down here anonymously, e-mail me, or send me a DM on Instagram (@gizellecaoile).