A Hijacking and the Fallout From It Pt.3

This is part 3 of a 3 part post. For part 1 click here & part 2 click here

Upon finishing work that evening, I parked the hire at the house and my wife and I got into her car to collect my own vehicle. Bidding her goodbye when we arrived, I cut the cable ties and managed to get the back doors in a semi-closed position. Back to the house to park my own vehicle up, but first, one more errand. I stopped off at the nearest supermarket and purchased a range of clearing products. Working in the dark, I tided, sprayed, wiped, brushed and vacuumed for at least an hour; trying to remove any semblance and any reminder of the hijacker/s and hijacking.

On Saturday, I used the hire. I wasn’t confident about using my own vehicle just yet for a full day, and as I had the hire until the following Monday, why not make the use of it until then? On Saturday, I had been working for twenty days straight and knowing it was optional, decided to take Sunday off. Whilst this would give me some much needed respite, I knew that I would potentially have double the workload on Monday. And this was exactly what happened!

PRESSURE! PRESSURE! PRESSURE! PRESSURE

But first I had a strange day off on Sunday, strange in the sense to actually have a day off . Strange to not arise to the sound of my alarm and strange to not have anything to worry about that much. I felt that something was amiss, something as I wasn’t in a constant state of stress. It was hard to relax that day.

Then came the dreaded Monday, looking at my workload, my fears had been realised, It was going to be my busiest day yet. Having no fixed hours, the sooner my work was done, the sooner I was done, so you are always ‘chasing your tail’. But before I could even tackle this, there was the issue of the hire return to sort out. A bit of foresight had me leave the outside the dealership on Sunday thereby cutting down on the time that I would spend there. But it still didn’t open until 8:00am, a time as stated when I’m normally in work already.

The paperwork and vehicle inspection seemed to take forever, even though the rep I was dealing with couldn’t be any faster; inside I was screaming, ‘Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!’ It was still after 9:00am when I arrived in work, nearly an hour and a half later than when I should have been. On my busiest day yet. With a vehicle whose back doors did not close properly. It was another very long and very stressful day and no matter how quick I was at completing my duties, It didn’t seem to make any difference.

STRESS! STRESS! STRESS! STRESS

The next week or so brought a few more problems. The back doors kept opening and at one stage I had to be alerted by another driver that items had fallen out on to the road, and a few other issues cropped up with the vehicle. There was also the problem of wondering of how to proceed with getting the doors fixed. Should I just bite the bullet and pay for the cost of repairs myself. Or should I wait on the outcome of the finance company’s investigation? I couldn’t put it through the insurance company as I had only three years no claims which weren’t protected; and if I lost them, my insurance costs would be through the roof.

PRESSURE! PRESSURE! PRESSURE! PRESSURE!

To wrap all this up, I limped through until xmas. I had two days off 25th and 26th of December. Off the following Sunday, then had another horrible time between 31st and 1st (which I could make a post on it’s own) before an independent accessor (hired by the finance company) gave me a very easy and cost free solution to my back door problem. I just about managed to get two people to cover my work for a week so that I could get a much badly needed week off to recuperate and heal. And so, this is my tale of woe as I finish writing it on 23/1/20 beginning it weeks ago.

In closing I would like to say no doubt some people may think that some things I experienced weren’t really that tough. I’d agree with statement, if said things happened in isolation. But to be suffering blow after blow, day after day the cumulative effect is akin to the Chinese ‘death by a thousand cuts’. And the explanation as to why I was hijacked; was due to helping a work colleague with his workload. This was the area in which he sometimes works, not my area. The most laughable, ironic thing about it; is that he was hijacked in the same area the previous year around about the same time!

So the reason I was hijacked, was for trying to help a fellow colleague out, trying to do a good deed, acting the good Samaritan. Such an experience can leave you feeling very bitter when not only taking into consideration the aftermath; but when said colleague returns to you asking for more favours. But what really stung me was that no-one from the company I provide a service for, asked how I was keeping. No- one told me they were sorry to hear what had happened. Not ONE phone call to even acknowledge that I was hijacked. A simple phone call to provide some sympathy or empathy goes a long way. You wonder, where is the humanity?

I don’t know how to end this, I can’t really find a silver lining or positive note other than to have thanks I guess for not being stabbed in the process. I was taken unaware, dragged and pulled out from behind when getting back in after completing a job. It was over and done with before I even knew what had happened. I guess I’m thankful I wasn’t burnt attending a burnt out wreck like has happened to others

As I’m always looking for the lessons to be learned in each experince, I struggled mightly with this. But perhaps the lesson was really a test. A test to test my resolve, for at no point during this crisis did I feel Spiritual at all, I was firmly rooted into this physically and I recieved no guidance from ‘above’. Just the love from my wife and messages of hope and support from from some very good friends . You know who you are! You can’t let experiences like this change the person who you are. I still choose to help that colleague and others too during some of the most gruelling days. I put on a brave face when dealing with anyone I came into contact with.

So I’m still me despite it all, still looking to help and be of service to others. Just another internal scar to add to the rest, that I can maybe put to a positive use in helping ease the burden of someone who’s been traumatized by a similar experience….

Thanks for reading!

Update4/2/20.

As I prepare to publish my post on ruminations of this period of my life; I wonder, how did I manage to get through it without either losing my mind or saying, ‘to hell with it and quitting my job?’ The answer drops into my mind as soon as I’ve finished the original question.

” Because you weren’t alone!” An Immediate understand washes over me. This is in reference to the statement that I made in the second to last paragraph of the original post where I stated, …I recieved no guidance from ‘above.’ This was letting me know that whilst I was looking for a direct message, they (spirit) were in the background providing the strength and resolve needed to continue for another day; and they I couldn’t have done it on my own.

Truely amazing…