DAMMIT. Left something valuable (only to me) in the grocery cart

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

At first, when I realized it, it didn’t seem too bad. It’s just the planner-type binder with some personal notes, grocery coupons and my Weight Watchers stuff tucked in it. Nice planner in and of itself (leather cover with zipper, brass nameplate with my initials on it), but replaceable, if a pain to replicate the other stuff. I called the store (50 miles away) and asked them to watch for it, and gave them my name and number.

Then my stomach dropped a little while later when I realized that I’d tucked the finisher medal from my first half marathon into the binder tonight. :eek: :frowning:

I’d been planning to show it to someone who was thinking about registering for that race this year. It’s not the usual generic piece of tin. It’s 4th in a collector series of 7 honoring the cities through which the event takes place, a showpiece on a custom ribbon, and it commemorates my hometown.

It’s gorgeous, and it represents a major accomplishment in my life, my first big race while I was losing 75 pounds. :frowning:

I called the store back and explained my new crisis. They said all the carts were in for the night (it was near closing) and nothing had been found. I asked them to please please please take an extra look and be on the lookout.

I had a few business cards in the pocket, easily visible, so an honest person can easily reach me (or could have turned it in at the store). I’m HOPING HOPING HOPING that it was just too dark to be noticed, or that whoever found it is just waiting until a decent hour today to call me.

And THEN later last night I remembered that there was also the receipt from my Weight Watchers meeting fee, which was run on one of those old slider CC thingies, and shows my DEBIT card number and my signature. :eek: :eek: :eek: Upon reflection, I’m thinking it would be hard to do much fraud with just that info, but I’m still calling the bank as soon as it opens.

I’m also headed back to the store in a few minutes to be there when they open at 6 am and look through the carts myself.

The kicker is that I found a cell phone in the gutter earlier this week and will be returning it to the phone store (also 50 miles away, in a different direction) on Saturday so the owner can pick it up. Hoping that I’ve earned enough good karma points to get my own goods back.

:frowning: :frowning: :frowning:

2

I hope you get it back, it would be really disheartening to not hear from someone who maybe found it and took it instead of turning it in or trying to contact you. It feels especially pointless when the contents are really not meaningful to anyone but the owner.

Make sure to check all nearby trash bins and around the cart corrals.

Plus… you live really far from stuff. :wink: Anyway, hope it finds its way back to you.

3

YAY, IT WAS THERE!!! Everything intact, medal and all. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

The binder was still in the seat of the cart, stacked with all the others about 6 carts from one end. The lady who was helping me spotted it from way down at the other end, and even before I did. I guess the employees last night didn’t look very hard, because it was totally visible from the near end. :mad: Would have been nice to at least have had a reassuring phone call that it was safe; I’d given them a full description and told them I’d be up late. Would have taken all of two minutes. Oh well, It was my responsibility, but they missed a chance to go above and beyond. Que sera, at least I got it back.

And I gave that nice lady this morning a big hug. :smiley:

And yes, I live pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Great for stargazing, not so great for bopping out for some sushi.

4

Woo-hoo! So happy for you. :slight_smile:

I lost my wallet at Christmas time, just dropped it on the ground outside of a store. When I realized it was missing (about ten minutes later) we frantically retraced our steps and there it was, lying on the ground, cash and all still inside. What a relief!

5

I was just coming in to say I was sure you’d get it back. I think most people are honest.

Last week, my stepson lost his wallet, and a few days later, it came back to him in the mail with a note, “found on the side of the road”. All his ID and his bank card was in it, the only thing missing was the cash (about $5). Whoever sent it back spent more than two bucks on postage.

6

I’ve left things in grocery carts before, but usually just the 12-pack of soda on the bottom or something like that.

Left my “race wallet” (small zip pouch I carry when I run, with ID and maybe a credit card and/or cash, depending on the venue) on the sink in the ladies’ room at a large hotel. Realized it about 5 minutes later. Ran back and it was still there. Phew! It was dark and blended in with the countertop. And the cleaning lady was working in there and hadn’t noticed it!

I wouldn’t even THINK of removing cash from a wallet I found, not even to pay the postage to mail it.

7

Glad to hear it was safe. I guess you did earn some good karma!

8

Oh, I don’t think the sender did that…the cash was probably gone when they found it. Also, we only have Dingbat’s word that there was actually five dollars in there. :slight_smile:

9

You’re probably right. But whoever did remove it (if it was there in the first place :wink: ) is a dick.

10

I remember I lost a doll in this very fashion when I was about 6 (strawberry shortcake’s friend who breathed out a peach scent when you squeezed her tummy). I left her in the cart and remembered before we even left the parking lot. But she was gone forever ;_;

11

Yay! What a relief. Maybe you’ll get a chance to see the Borealis tonight, to top off a good day.

12

Back when I was a little younger (about 13 years ago), I left all my professional photographic gear at a bar in Budapest. This was pretty much the sum of my earthly world possessions, and everything I needed to do my job. Absolutely everything that made me money was in that bag. After taking a taxi to the next bar, I realized that I was missing something. Fuck. I called the cab company. Nothing. I called the bar. Closed.

The next morning, I get in there when they opened (about 8 a.m.) I ask the bartender (the owner, who hadn’t been working the night before) if anyone turned in a bag. He asks me if it’s a plastic bag, or a backpack, and I say no, a canvas bag about yay big and yay long. I figured I was out of luck if he had no idea what I was talking about. He goes into the back room, and comes out with my bag, containing about $10K worth of photo gear in it. I’m ecstatic and offer him a $100. He refuses, asking me what was in there. A passport? I say, no, my job. My life. Anyhow, anybody visiting Budapest, that’s the Chain Bridge bar, Lánchíd Söröző, Fő utca 4, right on the Buda side of the Chain Bridge. Robi, the bartender in my story, still owns it.

13

Holy crap, pulykamell! I’d have been shitting bricks.

I was fully prepared to offer a reward if a random person had found and returned it. And I just heard from the race organizers; per my query, they do apparently have some leftover medals in storage and would have been happy to replace mine. :slight_smile: