Mistaken Identity

Wow what a week! Last week in the paper it was reported that a Big W worked was sacked for stealing around $5000 from the company. It stated in the paper what position she worked in her name, age and how many kids she had… The morning it was printed in the paper I had only finished reading it myself. Then the phone started to ring…

That's not you in the paper? NO WAY! It isn't me! The person charged for this was sacked in January…
Then not long after that phone call another one and another by the end of the day I had received around 12 phone calls all asking if it was me?!?!
Even ALs grandmother had called his mother to make sure it wasn’t me!

Now I have to say the first few phone calls didn't bother me… But as they kept coming and then into the next day they still came…
And when I went out to do some shopping I had people I didn't know COMING up to me and asking… By the end of the second day I had had enough I was in tears and felt like the whole world was looking, pointing at me saying 'that I was the one'

When AL got home from work I told him that we needed to do something… Put something in the paper to say that IT WASN'T ME! So we talked about it got something down on paper and AL called the paper the following day…


Mistaken Identity it read

The sentencing of a former employee of Big W in the local court this week over a theft has caused some embarrassing moment for another employee with a similar name.
There apparently was added confusion over who actually appeared in court during the week as the charged woman worked in department as Michelle Pearce, who remains an employee of the store.
Michelle’s husband Alan, also an employee of Big W, phoned yesterday to confirm that neither he nor his wife were associated with the person charged.

When that was printed in the paper I thought 'Oh I hope this is the end' And it almost was as I went out on the day that it was printed the first comment from another person I didn’t know was 'So glad that you put that bit in the paper as I thought it was YOU until I read the retraction'

I have to say that all of this as left me a bit shaken and hurt. And feeling like I wanted to hide. Putting a strain on my anxiety