I lose things so regularly that I have had to learn to accept their disappearance without angst once they go. When they disappear, I know that they are gone, and I get over it.
Surprisingly often, though, they come back, even long after I've given up. One time in New York, I found my hat a week or two later at the lost and found of a building I frequently walked by but rarely entered.
This week, I lost my scarf and my earring on the same day. I loved both of them. The earrings were new last week in Michigan, and the scarf was a gift from a friend I met in Ethiopia.
I have two more places to check for the scarf, but I have resigned myself.
I looked for the earrings in all the places I could think of: my friend's apartment, the lost-and-found at the movie theater, the lost-and-found at the mall, my coat. It was nowhere.
But in the mall there is another of the store that I bought those earrings from, so I wandered in. I liked them enough to buy another pair, maybe, if they were still on sale.
I had to ask a salesperson if they had any more than the one little rack of that brand, and she led me over to a special display.
"Do you just want to do an even exchange?" she asked.
"I was going to buy them," I said. "I bought them a week or two ago. I just lost one."
"Oh, we stand by our products," she said.
"But, I just lost it," I said. "It wasn't broken."
"I can do an even exchange," she said. "Just give me the one that you have."
"You mean because it shouldn't have fallen out?" I asked.
She loaded the new pair of earrings up with extra little rubber holders on the back. "There," she said, "that will make them harder to lose."
And I went home with a new pair of earrings.
Surprisingly often, though, they come back, even long after I've given up. One time in New York, I found my hat a week or two later at the lost and found of a building I frequently walked by but rarely entered.
This week, I lost my scarf and my earring on the same day. I loved both of them. The earrings were new last week in Michigan, and the scarf was a gift from a friend I met in Ethiopia.
I have two more places to check for the scarf, but I have resigned myself.
I looked for the earrings in all the places I could think of: my friend's apartment, the lost-and-found at the movie theater, the lost-and-found at the mall, my coat. It was nowhere.
But in the mall there is another of the store that I bought those earrings from, so I wandered in. I liked them enough to buy another pair, maybe, if they were still on sale.
I had to ask a salesperson if they had any more than the one little rack of that brand, and she led me over to a special display.
"Do you just want to do an even exchange?" she asked.
"I was going to buy them," I said. "I bought them a week or two ago. I just lost one."
"Oh, we stand by our products," she said.
"But, I just lost it," I said. "It wasn't broken."
"I can do an even exchange," she said. "Just give me the one that you have."
"You mean because it shouldn't have fallen out?" I asked.
She loaded the new pair of earrings up with extra little rubber holders on the back. "There," she said, "that will make them harder to lose."
And I went home with a new pair of earrings.
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