I bought a black silk skirt on eBay. The crestfallen seller says she can't find it. She will refund my money but keep looking and if she finds it shall contact me again.
I know the feeling. My own notable losses:
1 PASSPORT COVER HIDING PASSPORT
I bought a pretty silver cover for notebook and put it on my passport. I missed a press trip to a theme park in France because at the last minute I could not find my passport.
Moral: If you place a cover on a passport, make sure the word passport is visible - either written on the outside of the bag or wallet or cover, or listed elsewhere in a list called something like VITAL INFORMATION, or your packing list.
2 FORGOTTEN PASSPORT
Many taxi drivers before setting off for the airport all ask: Have you got your passport(s). Have you got your tickets? (Get them out and check in case you changed your coat at the last moment into something warmer or lighter, or changed to a bigger or smaller handbag.) The taxi driver's reason for asking is usually, "Yesterday we were half way to the airport when ..."
3 PASSPORT STORED IN SUITCASE
I once left my passport in my suitcase. Next year or next trip I forgot. I always look for my passport first. No point packing if you don't have a passport. You need the time to get to the passport office to get a new one or hunt for it. Eventually the family said, pack now, get something done, and look for it later. I got out the suitcase and found it. After a stressful time worrying and searching. I needed the holiday.
My mistake was a classic case of 'it seemed like a good idea at the time'. I had thought, I'll leave my passport in the suitcase so I can't go without it.
Well, is it in the outside pocket or in the inside pocket (and the suitcase key lost). How many suitcases do you have? Will you have forgotten where it is by the time you take your next trip?
No point hiding it in the suitcase so burglars won't find it. A policeman told me: One of the things burglars do is look for a suitcase or large bag in which to conceal or carry items from the house.
4 MISSING KEYS IN SUMMER BAG? BEACH BAG
My late mother returned from holiday and lost her flat's front doorways. Luckily my father had his. My mother worried. (About that and another problem. You could blame either worry. Or the fact that she had too many worries, or was a worrier. She had a stroke and died a week later.
My father then worried about the missing keys. Should he change the locks and pay for new locks and new keys?
I dealt with the easy problem first. Collect mother's clothes and bags. I went through each of her bags checking the pockets inside, before taking them home or giving them to charity or throwing them away. My father watched as I went through each bag. At least half a dozen. He got impatient. "Don't bother - they are all empty."
I got to the last one. Guess what I found? Yes, my mother's door keys inside a straw beach bag.
Moral; Search through the pockets of clothes and bags and suitcases before storing them.
Search through the pockets of clothes and bag and suitcases before giving them to charity. Search through the pockets of clothes and bags and suitcases before going them to another member of your family or a friend.
On holiday: Search through the pockets of clothes and bags and suitcases if you have lost your passport or door keys, sighted glasses, sunglasses, hotel bedroom keys, or anything else.
5 SEARCHING SYSTEM
You've lost it?
I presume you have run through the checklist of:
1 Is it parcelled/packed up and ready to go on the hall table? In a plastic bag ready to be folded and labelled?
2 Did I put it in the car boot to go to the post office? Is my missing item pushed or fallen under car seat? In the car side pockets?
3 Is it hiding under something else - larger / same colour. Another skirt. A pile of newspapers.
4 Is it in the room where I photographed it?
5 Is it hanging in my wardrobe? (Check under other garments from both hanger level and skirt level, hidden under another coat, jacket or skirt?)
6 Is it hanging behind the door on a hook such as in the bathroom?
7 Did my tidy-minded spouse take it to a charity shop or throw it away without telling me.
8 Have I worked clockwise around the house, tidying as I go.
9 Have I checked below and behind all flat surfaces and between all furniture (eg bedside tables and chairs, bookcases).
10 Did I leave it in a suitcase from last year's holiday for security or storage or out of season clothes?
11 Is it somewhere else outside the home: - shed, garage, conservatory, lobby, hall hat rack, car or van, home of parents, children, friends, home office, work office, study, attic, basement, inside washing machine or tumble drier or behind them? In airing cupboard? On ironing board?)
14 Have I left food in the fridge, or in a large cool box or picnic box?
Also have a system. Always keep your passport and keys in the same place. Tell another member of your family. Keep a note - even if it is coded or encrypted. One day you'll be the one who has everything right and you'll be able to quickly sort out everybody else's problems and forestall disasters.
People will wonder how you do everything so well. Experience. Like the taxi drivers, learn by your own mistakes - and the mistakes of others.
Angela
Author of How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In. (Lulu.com)
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