Return of Memoryfest - Day 11/31

[bironic]

11. Middle School

Baskin Robbins ice cream stores give kids a free scoop on their birthdays. We had a Baskin Robbins in the mall by our house, right across the atrium from B. Dalton (a bookstore since acquired by Barnes & Noble). Once when we went for the annual clown cone (see icon)—I don't remember whether it was my birthday or my sister's—I had a library book in tow, a paperback about a raccoon in the Pacific Northwest that at one point drank something that made it seem rabid. 7-UP, maybe. Or it had been left in a hot car. Anyway, afterwards, following family tradition, we crossed over to B. Dalton to pick out books, and I realized I'd left the raccoon one at Baskin Robbins. It being a library book and not one of my own, my parents were especially worried that it had been lost, but I was positive it would be right where we left it. We went back, and sure enough I was able to pick it up off the table.

WTF

Comments

[mer-duff.livejournal.com]

2006 was the year of lost and found for me, though not always in the most timely fashion. In April, I lost my cell phone and didn't get around to replacing it until June. The next day was Father's Day and S and I took Dad pitch and putting. Afterwards, we stopped at her place to switch into one car, but Dad stopped in the bus zone and the bus was coming, so we raced from my car to his. In the process, my wallet fell out of my pocket. Meanwhile S was freaking out, because she couldn't find her watch and rings in her bag, and then I realized my wallet was missing when I looked for change for parking, so we raced back up to S's place to check my car and the area around it. In the process of ransacking my car, S discovered my old cell phone under the driver's seat. No sign of the wallet, though.

The next day, S called to let me know she'd found her watch and rings in a pocket in her bag she didn't realize existed. I replaced my wallet and various cards, though it took me a month to get a new ATM card, because the machine was always down at my branch. In August, I got a call from my dentist's office, reminding me of an upcoming cleaning. "Did you lose your wallet recently?" the receptionist asked. It turned out my wallet had been turned into transit, they'd tried to mail it to me, but the package was returned, and the only phone number they had was the one on my dental appointment reminder card. I assumed that everything was gone from the wallet, but when I claimed it, everything was in it, even the cash.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

What an unexpected way to be reunited with your wallet! Fabulous. Although I thought the funniest part of the story was, "In the process of ransacking my car, S discovered my old cell phone under the driver's seat." Belongs in a comedy.

I lost my entire pocketbook once at a function I was attending as a PR intern. Everyone got big paper shopping bags with an assortment of gifts and samples, and I'd put my pocketbook in mine for safekeeping while I was away from the table. When I went back to my seat to fetch my keys to drive home, though, my pocketbook was gone. It being highly unlikely someone would have stolen it at an event like that (despite what my somewhat hysterical co-worker believed), I figured the man next to me had inadvertently taken my gift bag with him when he left. So I had one of my parents bring a spare car key, got the name of my table-neighbor and called him up, and got my bag back by FedEx the next day. And all was well.

[mer-duff.livejournal.com]

That's a great story - I'm never that calm when I lose things. Normally I freak out for at least a few minutes before settling down to deal with the situation, though I've gotten better with age (probably because I get a lot of practice).

The last time I lost my wallet (prior to the Father's Day fiasco), I replaced it with one that had a chain I could attach to my jacket zipper. My friend K told me I looked ridiculous and I explained that even if my wallet fell out of my pocket I wouldn't lose it. I went to demonstrate and the chain immediately broke.