Health and dis-ease

Summer seems to bring out the band concerts – at public museums, community celebrations, and holidays.  Often, the offerings are outside and free.  (I must explain that I am speaking as someone who lives in a 4-season locale, so outside winter music is pretty much limited to Christmas caroling.)  In 1697, William Congreve wrote: “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast” which I will translate to 2009-speak as “Music is a stress-buster.”  Therefore, music performers are healers.  So, scour your local area for freebie concerts.  Check your Art on the Avenue nights, First Sundays for Families, 4^th of July, even the local high school’s marching band camp.  I am sure you will score something good!

Extreme Anger with Sovereign Bank and Banco Santander, S.A.

Perhaps ranting will get some of the angst and bad energy out of my system.  (I certainly hope so.)   A bonus would be that persons considering using either of these banks are fore-warned.

I have chosen to use a hyphenated last name.  This has been in effect for close to twenty years.  My last name is BOTH names.   My “last name initial” is the first letter of the first of those names.  On the whole, credit card companies and employers, actually the whole world, deal with it rather competently.

Last week my partner and I went to a Sovereign Bank branch to execute financial papers.  My name was incorrect.  Unbelievable.  The papers had the first of my last names as a middle initial.  The *&^s (choose an expletive noun you like for these symbols;  as for me, I am going with a group of people who commit atrocious acts against parents of the female persuasion) re-created me as someone with only one last name.  And it was not my birth last name.

I have NEVER used that name in my life.  It is not an alias.  It is not even a remote possibility.  It is a *&^-ing travesty.  Therefore, we asked the kindly clerk who works at the branch and had no complicity in the error if the documents could be corrected.  She said yes and put the work order in place.

Today, my partner and I went to that same branch to execute the papers. Sadly, due to time pressures and deadlines,  today had to be a “go.”  I could see by reading upside-down,  that the wrong name remained on the bank documents.  I uttered, “They still have my name WRONG!”   The clerk tried to mollify me and showed us that some of the forms had a new twist.   Within the heap of papers to be signed, a few (only a few) had my real name BUT…….  It was listed as a *&^-ing ALIAS!   I had to sign twice – the *&^-ing fake name and my real name.

 I am calming down enough to gain some perspective.  No – I have not been disabled.  No – I am not a concentration camp survivor.  No – the people I love have not been hurt.  But, I know who I am and what I am called.  And Sovereign Bank (owned by Banco Santandor, S.A.) has really *&^-ed up.