Who are you

Do you know who you are? Do you? Do you really??? Oh, I know you think you know, and when you look in the mirror you see you, but beyond that, beyond your close circle of friends (accquaintenences... that's probably spelled wrong...I'm relying way too much on spell checkers these days), how can anyone be sure it's really you?

You see, there's the real you, the one you can pinch, and there's the data based you. That's the one that exists in the rest of the world that can't see, feel & touch you. Let me give you an example of what happens when those two you's intersect.

You're on vacation. You're from (insert your home town here), and you're driving along trying to make another 100 miles before you fall completely asleep at the wheel. It's 2 AM and you're 3 states away from home. You're speeding a bit & you see the flashing red/blue trooper's lights in the rear view mirror, so you pull over.

You're awake, now, that's for sure. As the trooper approaches, you roll down the window & put on your warmest smile.

The trooper shines his flashlight in your face & says, flatly, "license & registration." You comply. He looks it over & sees that you don't appear threatening, (that's the real you coming through...charming, nice) and he warms a little. "You've got a tail light out. I'm going to go back to my car & just write out a warning," he says, "and just run the license & registration on the computer, it's routine, I'll be right back".

Great, you think, I've charmed him...he's a good judge of people, he can see the real me.

A couple of minutes later, he's back & his posture is entirely different. His hand is resting on his gun, and he says, brusquely "get out of the car & keep your hands where I can see them!" You throw up your hands in a "what the hey" gesture & he grips the gun, ready to draw it. Your mind is racing. You think, "What's happening, here?'

What just happened here, friends, is that the real (charming) you just intersected with the data based you that doesn't live in your house in your home town. He/she lives in the trooper's computer, and since the trooper doesn't know the real you (your charming demeanor a few minutes ago, notwithstanding) he must rely on who that computer data base says you are.

Now, let's say for the purpose of little story here, your identity was stolen. Not the kind like in the cheesy TV commercials where they sing cutesy songs about credit cards, etc, but the kind you don't hear about where they get enough of your records to get all their ID's in your name, and then commit a couple of crimes and do some really bad stuff...the kind of stuff that makes our trooper friend nervous enough to be grabbing for his gun when you move fast. He thinks he's captured a bad guy, & you're going to lock-up. You say," hey, you've got the wrong person" and he's not buying it.

You see, the data based you is the "bad guy", and he only knows the data based you. How you gonna prove him wrong??? Show him your ID??? Think about that...as you sit in county lock up.

Stay tuned for the rest of the story. -T