Stealing dreams

We’ve been living in our current house for 5 1/2 years. It was empty for over a year before that. So, nearly 7 years since Tim’s dad died.

Despite that I’d guess we still get a call a week for him, usually related to his shareholdings.

The most recent one was the most plausible yet. Generally when you explain that he’s dead, the caller hangs up without so much as a goodbye. This one was very different. He was polite, apologetic, and although I knew it was probably a scam there was a tiny bit of me that wondered.

Wondered if there was a possibility some shares had been missed. If there was a possibility of an unexpected amount of money. If we might be able to have the loft conversion we so desperately need.

There wasn’t, of course. And we wasted time and energy on checking it out, just in case. And so the dream was dusted off and popped back into storage, until we’ve saved the money up. When these people scam others over the phone or over the Internet, it isn’t just cash they’re stealing. When they con an elderly person out of their retirement funds, that’s a lifetime of dreams tattered and gone.

I wonder if they ever feel guilty about the dreams they’re stealing.