It was when I was driving homewards from our local Waitrose store that I discovered my wallet was missing. Sitting at a red light, I felt my trouser pockets and the pockets of my fleece jacket but the familiar shape simply was not there.
I pulled into the block-paved area in front of our house and searched the car's hidden recesses. Then I checked the shopping bags in the boot (American: trunk) but alas the wallet was not there either. Oh - woe was me!
Inside our house, I deposited the shopping and nervously informed her ladyship. Naturally, she went into a frenzied rage, calling me all the names under the sun, comparing my intelligence to that of an earthworm. In reality, she calmly phoned up Waitrose as I jumped back in the car.
The store closed at 9pm so when I got back there it was all locked up. However, I managed to collar a night shift worker and just as he was about to make enquiries about the wallet, two women employees came out to see me. They had responded to her ladyship's phone call by searching hither and thither but had seen no sign of the lost item.
I drove home again wondering what the hell had happened to my wallet and how on earth I could have mislaid it. It is the first time in my life I have ever lost a wallet though I once had one stolen from me by a prostitute in a bar in Lautoka, Fiji.
For most men, a wallet is more or less part of his anatomy. In the modern world it is a vital aid to existence. Without it you feel ill-prepared for life's daily challenges. Mine contained my debit card, credit card, driving licence, fifty pounds in cash, a new National Lottery ticket worth £64 (8 weeks), several names, addresses and phone numbers that I don't have anywhere else and some small irreplaceable family photos.
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| The Findig Shop in the MBK Mall, Bangkok This is where I bought my wallet |
Returning home, I wondered where my "Findig" wallet might be. I bought it in Bangkok in 2011. I wondered if a thief or ne'er-do-well might have it but alternatively I knew it was very possible that an honest citizen might have spotted it and I would get it back.
Back in the house, her ladyship insisted that I should cancel my bank cards. And I did this ten minutes before her mobile phone rang. It was the manager of the night shift team at Waitrose. He had found the wallet. It seemed rather biblical - like the story of the prodigal son in Luke. He was lost but is found again.
For the third time yesterday evening, I headed back to Waitrose. At the night staff door, I waited for the night manager as agreed. He came out with my wallet. I expressed my gratitude and attempted to give him a monetary reward but he just would not accept it so I told him I would be getting in touch with the store's general manager to sing his praises. I also said it was heartening to live in a society in which most people are as kind and honest as him.
Panic over and time for two cans of "Pedigree Amber Ale". God, that tasted good!
I'd be off in a panic, too, if I'd lost my wallet. I'm so glad to hear it was found...what a relief for you, Yorkie.
ReplyDeleteYes...I said "wallet". I'm a woman, but my wallet is also part of me. Wallets are not the domain of men only.
I don't use handbags...I hate handbags...useless objects that end up filled with useless burdens.
My wallet is all I need to take with me when I go shopping. It is an extension of me...just like a wallet is an extension of a man's anatomy.
Let's not get sexist here! :)
In England women have purses that they keep in their handbags. Frankly, I have never heard one English woman who claims to possess a wallet. However, a woman's purse acts almost exactly like a wallet - the only difference being that it contains a section for coins. Men carry coins in their pockets.
DeleteAussie women have purses, too...that they keep in their handbags. It just that I prefer not to use a purse or a handbag.
DeleteMy wallet is similar to this one......
https://rushfaster.com.au/product/status-anxiety/status-anxiety-dakota-ladies-wallet-black/8793/?gclid=CjwKCAiAx57RBRBkEiwA8yZdUJDdFh726aPYXgwSgDLoVj9psXNzDe0L6qIs04s1QaWjA5b5Vh_oERoCjaIQAvD_BwE
My wife has a similar one of those but she calls it a purse. As I said before when you have a section for coins, to 99% of English folk it is no longer a wallet. It's nice to know that Australians don't use the term "purse" in place of "handbag" like those crazy Americans.
DeleteLOL -- I was going to say, a purse to me is the same as a handbag! (And I have neither, for the record.)
DeleteAck . . . I know the feeling, YP. I posted not too long ago about losing my equivalent to your wallet in an out-of-town store. In that case, too, it was found and returned by an honest employee. The sheer relief!
ReplyDelete"Ack!" to you too young lady! The relief after te panic is so sweet isn't it?
DeleteThe lost wallet thing puts the stress level right over the top. That's a hard way to get a few beers!
ReplyDeleteHard but it made the beer taste much better Red.
DeleteWhat a bummer to cancel the cards and then have the wallet returned! Good to get the photos though.
ReplyDeleteI left my wallet in a church a few years back, it cost me quite a bit to get a new drivers licence etc and of course the wallet showed up the next day
I was tempted just to keep my fingers crossed but Lady Pudding and I have a joint bank account so it was important that I went along with her wishes.
DeletePhew! All's well that ends well, right?
ReplyDeleteLike you, I have never lost my wallet and usually know at all times where my wallet, my keys and my mobile phone are. But back in October, I lost my mobile phone, thinking I was putting it back in my handbag when in reality I slid it between my handbag and my coat so that it fell to the ground. I only realised it was gone when I was home and frantically searched my coat, my handbag and my home. Then I thought of ringing my mobile from the landline. To my surprise (and relief), after two or three rings, a man answered. He had found the phone, and we arranged to meet at the pub. I dashed back into town and we had a drink together. Like your night shift man, the finder of my mobile would not accept any reward, not even allowing me to pay for his beer. He was a kind, middle aged man, working in the construction business and having some interesting stories about Stuttgart's biggest construction project to tell. I don't even know his name, but I will always remember him with gratitude.
Your story - t was a useful reminder that the majority of our fellow citizens are honest and kind - just like us. That's ho I felt about Mr Weaver -the supermarket night manager.
DeleteI 'lost' my wallet when we were travelling back from France. I frantically searched all my bags and pockets and Paul was about to turn off the motorway to head back to the hotel when I realised I was sitting on it! Duh! Horrid feeling though.
ReplyDeleteHa-ha! But isn't the relief so very sweet Sue? It's almost worth the panicky experience of loss.
DeleteI'm always fascinated at why some people carry so many items that are valuable to them if lost. The only items I carry in a wallet are my two debit cards and then only when I'm going to buy something or draw out money. Why is it necessary to carry a driving licence for instance, mine is tucked away at home, as are photos, names and addresses, and cash is carried in a small purse.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am not as sensible as you Derek but there is no way I would carry a small purse - even if it was made from the hide of a crocodile I had wrestled to death on the banks of the Limpopo.
DeleteIn Germany, you are required by law to have some form of ID on you at all times. Since I don't drive (and never had a driving license), my ID is simply the ID card issued by the German government (not a passport).
DeleteAlso, in case of an accident, I have my organ donor card in the wallet.
Debit and credit cards are in there, too, as are my health insurance card and another health-related document that could be important if I had an accident and would be unconscious.
Then there is some cash (never much), my train travel pass, and the coin-like chip for the shopping trolley when I go to Aldi's.
Thank you for this information Meike. If I am ever snooping around in Ludwigsburg I will not be tempted to mug you. It wouldn't be worth it!
DeleteMy purse was wrestled from the hands of the local cobbler for the sum of £1.50
ReplyDeleteDaylight robbery!
DeleteCheaper than losing a wallet full of cards,etc.
DeleteYou sound like a tight Yorkshireman Derek!
DeleteArgh! There's hardly any worse feeling than realizing your wallet is gone. Glad it surfaced again. I carry only my Oyster card and my bank card -- everything else I leave at home. (Of course I don't drive, which makes that easier.)
ReplyDeleteDo you need Oyster cards any more Steve? Nowadays my "kids" just use their debit cards on London transport.
DeleteI can imagine the sickening feeling. Sadly you will have to renew some of the cards you cancelled but you have the other irreplaceable things back. It is lovely to think there are some good people about like the night manager at waitrose.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good job that Mrs Pudding has her own cards so we are not completely stuck. By the way, I meant to say that the picture of your mother in your blog was a lovely one.
DeleteJust as an hour spent in the gym can challenge and stimulate your physical body, an hour spent trying to find a lost wallet can challenge and stimulate you mentally. You beat yourself up with self-doubt, you stretch the limits of your memory, your mind takes you from hopelessness to high hopes in a matter of seconds. If there is no closure, a returned wallet either intact or with a few things missing and discarded, the effects will drag on for a while. I lost mine just outside the door of the bank and didn't notice until I was inside, trying to find it to deposit a bunch of checks I'd been carrying around. For 2 hours I retraced every step I'd taken, every store I'd been in. Finally I made my way back to the bank to cancel my credit card. The teller smiled at me, asked my name and said, "Can you describe the wallet?" I did and she handed it to me, intact. The next person who came through the bank door after me had picked it up and turned it in even before I discovered it was missing and stormed back out the door to find it. I did learn something. Don't rush to judgement, of yourself or anyone else.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how you described your wallet Jan? "It's a red Make America Great Again wallet with a signed photo of the 45th president inside."
DeleteYou are right that such incidents can send one into a whirlpool of self-recrimination.
Wow, absolutely fantastic blog. I am very glad to have such useful information.
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