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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Jim Dale, post: 8199005, member: 100459&quot;]Many years ago, I was a missionary for our church in Uruguay.&nbsp; Over the two years I served there, it was almost a regular occurrence to be a victim of theft or custom duties.&nbsp; While in Uruguay, I accumulated some items that were reminders of my service there.&nbsp; I had some books, pictures, and other items that weren&#039;t too terribly valuable.&nbsp; They were in 2 boxes.&nbsp; This was in 1967-1968.&nbsp; Mail took terribly long to get to North Carolina.&nbsp; I contacted my parents to let me know when the packages had been delivered.&nbsp; One of the packages was delivered.&nbsp; When I contacted the shipper, I was told that the package was on a ship that was lost at sea.&nbsp; There was no use arguing with them.&nbsp; It was hard to believe (not really).&nbsp; Both packages were on the same ship.&nbsp; I found out later the ship had been vandalized by the crew who opened the packages up and took what they wanted.</p><p>Another occasion.. I received a monthly stipend from my parents by way of a check.&nbsp; After two months of waiting and borrowing from other missionaries, I received a letter from my father telling me that they had the cancelled check in their bank statement.&nbsp; I had another month to go and by being as frugal as I could be, I repaid my loans.&nbsp; When I finally got home, I asked my father to show me the cancelled check.&nbsp; When I got it, I looked at the endorsement.&nbsp; It was evident that a postal employee had stolen the check and cashed it for 40% of the check by a bank with evidently, a crooked teller.&nbsp; There was no way to recover the funds.&nbsp; The bank said it was too long.</p><p>Another issue is the terrible customs fees (actually, they were bribes).&nbsp; There was a member of our church that worked at the customs office.&nbsp; There had been a new Jaguar up on blocks and it had been there for over a year.&nbsp; My friend told me that the custom duty was so high, the owner could not come up with the cost.&nbsp; There was also a 1967 Mustang/Cobra.&nbsp; After two years, it was put up on auction to recover the fees it had accrued.&nbsp; Guess who won the car... the Director of Customs.</p><p>Criminal action has been an issue since Columbus and probably the serpent in the Garden of Eden told Eve that she needed to eat the apple so she and Adam could stay in the Garden of Eden.</p><p>At 74, I&#039;ve seen larceny in almost every job I had.&nbsp; I was a State Auditor for North Carolina for 32 years and I never accepted a bribe that was offered.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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