laugh or cry ....

So, there are days (sadly too many days lately) when I am not sure whether I should laugh or cry.

Sometimes I do both.

Just as a for instance, I give you this.

I went for a run today (hooray), and I was feeling particularly accomplished having made it three whole miles.

I rounded the corner and saw my father's truck still in front of the house.  He had told me he was about to leave when I set out.  When I saw his face, I knew there was something wrong.

He said a guy had come to the house and told my dad that his iphone was in our house.

I can feel my eyebrow raise in response even as I type it.

I knew that my dad had fallen for the scam, whatever it was, and was now really feeling like there was something terribly wrong.

Before we get too far, I will say, so far, it is ok... no one is hurt, nothing was taken, just bruised egos.

The long and the short is that the guy tried to do something with my dad's phone ... not quite sure.  The only thing I could find amiss was that the personal hotspot was turned on and some wild password entered.

After consulting GOOGLE, the police and a good friend who knows much more than I do about anything technological, I backed up the phone, wiped it and restored it with a back up ... after I wiped that hotspot password out of the phone.

I scolded my father about giving out personal information, guided him through a more prudent decision making process when faced with this kind of situation, and finally asked him, why would he believe this person.

The look on his face at the end of this nearly drove me to tears.  He looked scared and confused and teary-eyed when he said, "I don't know."

When I explained the danger of giving out information and potentially letting in people with these kinds of stories, he looked at me, woefully, and said, "I think that guy is working for the FBI or the CIA."

I did not laugh.

But I really wanted to ... and then I wanted to cry again.

He was very serious.  I expected a chuckle... but he was serious.

He was also over his fear... on to the next adventure secure in the belief that I could fix any problem.  Wait, where is my magic wand?

All of it made me want to cry ... but I didn't have the time or the emotional energy to be sad.  So, I laughed... especially at the FBI/CIA connection.

Mondays are hard sometimes...