It seems I am often misplacing or forgetting where I’ve put something, and I’m not sure whether to blame it on “senioritis” or creeping dementia.
I spend a lot of time looking for ordinary things I need like my glasses, my purse or my favorite pen, resulting in going from room to room looking for them.
Or, looking into the many pockets of the tote bag I use as my carry-all purse for my cell phone, my wallet or address book; the list goes on and on. I’ve missed answering my cell phone because I couldn’t find it in time in the clutter of my bag to answer it before it stopped ringing, and then can’t remember my password to get the message left.
One day I had my debit card in hand while calling a new bank closer to our house and whose number I’d located in thye yellow pages, to ask if theirs could be used interchangeably as my current one without incurring service fees. While taking notes, I put my debit card down and after finishing the call, went to pick up the card to return to my wallet.
To my horror, I couldn’t find it! I hadn’t even left my chair, and my desktop was clean, but I couldn’t remember where the card had disappeared despite frantic efforts looking into the drawers and under other papers.
Being too frugal(OK, stingy) to pay my bank for a replacement card, I decided to inactivate the account and open a new one at the bank I’d called.
About a year later when I was again using the yellow pages, out fell the “lost” debit card! I had used it as a marker when I’d made my inquiry call. Luckily, I hadn’t thrown the directory out when a new one had arrived to replace it. or someone could’ve found the card and possibly used it.
It’s worse when traveling. I’ve lost articles of clothin I forgot to repack leaving a hotel, or discovered I forgotten personal items. It’s not a problem replacing things ina town, but not off the beaten path or in a foreign country. I’ve “lost” my boarding passes during a long wait for a delayed plane, but luckily, the desk agent quickly replaced them.
The most recent incident occurred last month visiting a friend in Florida.
She invited me to an early morning exercise session at her activity center that required an ID. Wanting to be prompt, I got my driver’s license out of my wallet the night before and tucked it securely into the velcro-flapped cargo pocket of my shorts.
The next morning when I was dressed, I reached into my pocket to ensure I had my ID.
Not there! Not in any of the other pockets either!
I searched the pockets of other pants hanging in the closet, unpacked my suitcase and even my laundry bag, and turned my handbag inside out to no avail.
Then my husband and my friend helped me search the closet, his suitcase, looked under the bed, but no ID.
I hadn’t left the room during the night and didn’t think a thief had sneaked in just to steal my ID.
Meanwhile, I began imaging the dilemma of being without that precious card: how would I get aboard the plane to go home? Should we go to the police sation, but without a picture, how could I prove I was whom I claimed to be?
Although worried but trying to appear calm, we decided to eat breakfast so we could think what should be done. Soon after my husband sat down, he sneezed, so he dug into his pocket for a tissue and what should he pull out but my drivers’s license! I’d put it into the cargo pocket of his shorts that was hanging next to mine in the closet.
