A few weeks ago, I called a place that provides homeless services. During the phone call, I once said the name of the person to whom I was speaking.
Soon after that, there was an ad on television that I had never seen before. It was for a prescription medication; the character featured in the ad was called the name of the person which I had said once in one phone call. It's not a name that is frequently heard.
A few days ago, I got a voicemail from someone at the school to which I was accepted for a biotechnology program. I am trying to get enrolled for classes. The person who called me got my name wrong from a voicemail that I had left her. She called me "Dana" when she left a message.
Today, WCVB had a news story about someone in the military who was able to be at home in the United States and surprise his young child at school. He hugged his child, (I think it was a boy), who immediately put his head on his father's shoulder; a wordless and poignant expression of what it feels like when you're little and a parent is away for a long time. Whenever the Pine Street Inn has all of its guests in the building, there's a lot of activity and noise; if it weren't for closed captioning, I would almost never know what's being said on television. I glanced at the screen during breakfast, which is one of the busiest times at the shelter.
Probably, nobody at WCVB knew about the wrong name from the voicemail that I got a few days ago. It was painful to see a family that had no idea that the father was probably sent home for a few days so that they could be exploited as a way to threaten me and people who are just trying to help me get enrolled in school.
I got another voicemail yesterday from the person who had accidentally called me Dana. She left her email address, which was probably hacked as soon as she left it in the message. I erased the voicemail. I didn't know what else to do. It would help a lot if I did not have to go to the school or call every time that I have to do something about my classes, but I know that the conglomerate is invading my privacy and the privacy of everyone around me as much as it can.
Copyright L. Kochman, January 6, 2016 @ 8:45 a.m.
