This is not exactly a couple of days I love returning to in my memory lane. But, whenever I think of the day I made the decision, those rough couple of days are what come to mind. I no longer even have a bank account, my money from Hive, for example, goes from Hive to Blocktrades, to another platform where I could exchange for USD and have them as money in an App called ZainCash. And I only do that when I need to pay stuff like rent and groceries.
I no longer even purchase stuff online unless I can pay with crypto. Even stuff I purchase from people I meet in real life, I also try my best to pay in crypto. That's just where I am now. I will share the full story of how that happened.
The Story
This goes all the way back to January 2019. I had to travel from Baghdad to Erbil for a job interview. Before that, I would do this little side gig with rich Qatari people in universities where I would write them different uni reports/essays with the payment coming in depending on how well they score, never got lower than 25 out of 30, by the way. That is why I was dependable in those people's eyes. The sad part is, that payment would come through Western Union.
Anyway, I had written this long 18 pages report, and the guy for whom I wrote it was so grateful he sent me exactly 261 dollars. While all of that was happening, I was getting rejected from the job in Erbil. But, that was fine since I will be getting my money through Western Union and then going back. On the night that I was supposed to leave the hotel, I went to get my money, only to be surprised that I can't do that.
Why?
I don't know.
I reached out to them on Twitter and this is what I got
Bear in mind, January in Erbil is where it starts to rain heavily and snows as well and here I am just trying to go home. So, after I explain my situation this is the response I get
Another thing you might realize is the gap in time between them responding, that's because they didn't seem to intend to do it. They only did because I decided to take on Twitter itself and share the messages. That's what it was taking them to respond.
At that point, I was literally walking through heavy rain to the hotel because I couldn't even afford a taxi since I didn't get my money. I was literally begging for MY money. But, all I was getting is their "deepest apologies" and how they "understand".
And there it was, they were thanking me for my "understanding" and thanking me to end the conversation. After that, it was just bullshit responses as I was trying to just go back home in the cold.
The Next Day
I just checked out of the hotel without a clue where I would go. The weather was cold and raining heavily and I was just walking. Trying to understand how my receiving 261 dollars raised "concerns" and preached "Lawful requirements and restrictions".
I spent exactly three days on the street. Literally serving on stuff I kept in my bag, and one time I literally pulled my suite out and ate dinner at a wedding pretending to be invited. So, it wasn't as bad as it could be, but definitely not as easy as just getting my money and going home should be.
The Most Hilarious Part
On the morning of my last day of the trip, I managed to get my phone charged at a grocery store operated by a Syrian immigrant. I contacted the guy who sent me the money and told him the situation and we just agreed that he would send it again but under the Syrian guy's name who took 30$ in exchange for him doing that. I waited for the guy to finish his shift at 7 PM and we went to get the money so smoothly.
I couldn't get my own money from a guy who sent me money at least ten times before because of lawful and security concerns. However, all those concerns were waved because it went from the same Qatari to a Syrian on the same address in Iraq.
I went home vowing to never try Western Union again and stay as far as I can from being under the mercy of people who could easily take control over my money and hold it without even bothering to tell me the reason why. I still don't know why I wasn't allowed to receive my money...