It's a sick world we live in..

Tonight was our pre-deployment brief and one thing that we discussed tonight completely shocked me and made me sick to my stomach. I'm sure some of my fellow military wives have already heard this.. but the issue about hanging a yellow ribbon outside your home (which has been done for... forever!) or putting one of those "half my heart is in Afghanistan' stickers on your car was discussed... and some of the dangers that come along with doing these things.
The one that baffled me the most - identity theft. There have been people, particularly in southern california, who prey on these wives, because they make it clear their husbands are gone and they are alone. They go to local military clothing shops, buy an old, used set of dress blues, and knock on your door to tell you that your husband has been KIA and while you're obviously panick-stricken, they manage to get you to tell them any information they want.. including your social. Normally, we know the military isnt going to need that kind of information, but I'm sure after you've been told the love of your life is dead, any type of reasoning skills go out the window. Also, people have gotten phone calls from, according to the caller, Red Cross, with a similar kind of message and try to get all kinds of information out of you. Once again, normally we should remember that no one is going to tell you that your husband has been injured/killed on the phone, but honestly, if you picked up the phone and someone said "Tracy, your husband, Miguel, was badly injured(or worse) in Afghansitan.. blah blah blah" my mind is probably gonna go blank and i'm probably gonna be in a state of shock! (hopefully now that I know better, I wont, but I'm just saying!)

Thankfully, they did tell us what to look for if this situation occured - everything down to exactly what the Marines would be wearing if it were true, rather than a scam, how many Marines, who would be with them, etc, etc, etc but to be on the safe side, I think the only yellow ribbon I hang will be inside the house somewhere. maybe i'll use a yellow ribbon as a tree topper on our christmas tree this year instead of hanging it outside broadcasting to all the freakshows and sickos out there that HEY I'M ALONE AND WAITIN FOR A SCAM!

I cant believe that are that many sick, demented people out there who would do this to a person. It really is a sick world that we live in!! I hope that none of my friends, or myself, ever have to deal with this situation!!