You Are Your Choices

Yesterday, I lost my passport. In normal circumstances, this is just something that happens to people from time to time. An unwelcome inconvenience but not an earth shattering event. For me, nearing the end of an almost year long residency application process in the United Arab Emirates, this had the potential for some serious and impactful consequences.

I had just been for a medical screening and, afterwards, left my keys and passport on the roof of my car as I sanitised my hands (cheers COVID). I then promptly grabbed my keys, hopped into my car and drove off. Only after getting back home did I realize what had happened, when my passport was nowhere to be found and a passport-sized imprint was left streaked across the roof of my car. My mind quickly spiraled as I raced back to the car park that I had left 20 minutes before. While I was driving, I tried to talk myself through it and visualize my passport sitting there on the tarmac, untouched and...