Three things that I always carry with me, as bare minimum are, my phone, my work id and my wallet. There is also a sad reputation that precedes me; I forget very easily so my way of getting around that is to establish a routine. I go through the motions every morning and evening after work, to ensure that I do not forget any of these three items. Yesterday, one went missing and my personal “lost and found” experience reinforced my faith in humanity.
It is gearing up to be a very cold winter and so any exposure to the natural elements can easily lead to the flu or worse. My daughter came home sniffling and I immediately knew that we had to be more careful about dressing them up for school. So I decided to head down to the shop to get the basics; a new jacket, gloves, a hoodie and hopefully an inside fleece jacket.
I don’t necessarily think shopping in Geneva is great since there is no variety and literally expensive. Since I don’t like shopping for clothes it is easier for me to have a particular shop that I frequent to get clothes for my children. My choice is always either Manor or Orchestra which basically means I am guaranteed that I will see another kid dressed up exactly like mine. Oh well, the exceptions dads like me make. Yesterday, we went to Orchestra. At Orchestra, club members can get 50% off all items if they have a paid subscription and a membership card. I paid the subscription and my wife usually keeps the card in her purse. So yesterday, I asked her to send me the picture of the card so that I can ask if I can use it without needing her to be present. Thankfully, they agreed.
When we had settled on the clothes to buy we headed off to the cashier to pay for it. They requested the card and I showed them the picture on my phone. This is where my memory is fuzzy but when we arrived home, I searched everywhere for the phone and I could not find it. Thinking I had forgotten it in the car, I decided to wait until the morning. This morning I called the phone and it rang before going to voicemail. I was sure it was in the car but then the strangest thing happened. Our home phone started ringing and my daughter called to say it was my phone calling. I answered and a female voice spoke to me in french. I heard “phone” and I responded in English. She then switched to English and explained I had forgotten the phone at the shop. I said I will pick it later today. I did during my lunch break without much fuss.
My daughter said she had seen the lady putting it on the counter in front of us. She thought I had picked it up when we left.
My experience was probably not as dramatic as my wifes. My wife also forgot her phone this time in a public restroom in Nyon. She only realised that it was missing when we had packed up and were ready to leave the park. To shorten the story, someone found the phone and returned it to Swisscom, our provider who called my phone to let me know that we can collect the phone at their shop in Nyon. To this day my wife has never found out who that kind person was. At least I had the chance to say “merci beaucoup” to that kind shop assistant.
If anyone was wondering, both were iPhones and both very new at the time they were forgotten.
The story is slightly different for my brother in law whose recently purchased Samsung S3, latest at that time, slipped out of his pocket in the bus. The bus went to great lengths to avoid detection including stopping its service for the entire day. When boarded a few days later, the driver even pleaded ignorance. His story is not uncommon in the Solomon Islands. But honesty is in short supply, even globally.
The Swiss say 16 years ago, you can forget your wallet and it will show up again. I have also been to the “lost and found” warehouse and it is packed with items found and returned to authorities. The amount of items is astounding so there is some truth in this urban legend. Perhaps attitudes are different in Switzerland because many people can afford luxurious items but it cannot be the only reason since Solomon Islanders used to be known for their honesty too.
Humans can be cruel, dishonest, corrupt and racist but experiences like this restore my confidence in humanity.
I must be honest, I honestly thought I lost it.