A storm was blowing in, and it was starting to rain, hard, so my wife, Michelle, and I bolted from the truck into Bran-don Princess Auto. We were looking for some dock components for the lake, so we briefly stepped out of a family gathering, and we wanted to get back quickly.
We went straight in, found our dock cleats, couldn’t find long enough bolts, and went to the front to pay. I stopped briefly to look at pliers. It’s just a few seconds I thought.
Those seconds would prove quite fateful.
Just as Michelle swiped her card to pay, the power went out. No power, no bank card. The store said to those in line they would take cash, so I realized I had cash in my wallet, which was in the truck, so I volunteered to run back to the truck to get it.
I searched the truck from stem to stern three times. No wallet.
A little panicky, I went back to the store. A clerk with a flashlight walked with me back to the dock cleats, bolts and pliers. No wallet.
No cleats, then, either.
We ran back to the previous store we were at. Nothing. Checked with customer service, nothing. No wallets left in the garbage can, either. And a phone call to the family function revealed it wasn’t there, either. So now I am a long ways from home, on holidays, with no intention of heading home back to Estevan for several days. Oh boy.
Beyond my bank card, credit card, safety training tickets, drivers licence and a little bit of cash, there’s the whole possibility of identity theft. And then there’s the fact my blood glucose meter is also in the wallet.
I realized the last time I touched the wallet was when I tested my blood sugar prior to lunch, at a restaurant in Portage la Prairie, 125 kilometres away.
And when we got back in the truck, I couldn’t find my favourite hat, so I grabbed another.
My wallet and my hat were in the same place. At restaurants I’ll often put my wallet and cell phone in my hat, keep-ing them together so I don’t accidentally forget one. Well, this time, I left the whole kit and caboodle.
Calling the restaurant, I got someone who didn’t speak English very well. That person wasn’t there at lunch time. But perhaps the person who was earlier in the day would know something about it.
At this point I was on the phone with the bank, cancelling bank cards.
There’s a good ending to this tale, however. The next day we heard from the restaurant manager. My wallet, and hat, had been found. A friend of a family member, someone who I never met, stopped at the restaurant and drove it back to Brandon. We drove back to Brandon and picked it up. Everything was there, and I was told the people who picked it up wouldn’t accept a reward, either.
There’s this new Bluetooth tracking device called Tile on the market now. It can be used as a keychain, in a wallet, purse, on a remote control, on a drone, anything that could go missing and drive you crazy looking for it. It’s science fiction come reality, and if it works, could make my forgetful life just a bit easier. I can definitely see a use for it.
It might be time to Tile my life. Or at least, my wallet.
