Win Some, Lose More

I'd like to think of myself as a relatively dependable, consistent sort of gal. I've worked in the same profession for over 20 years and have never had a job I didn't like. I have a few friendships that have lasted 20, even 30 years. Without fail, I always pay my bills on time. And, I've kept most of my bad habits for nearly my entire life. One bad habit that persists is my ability to lose things.

While I have specific places for everything and a prescript way of doing many things, I manage to lose valuables all the time. My friends never let me hold the tickets to any event because within five minutes I will lose the tickets. I've lost my gas cap three times this year. I'm on my second digital camera and my third cell phone for 2005. More seriously, I've had 6 or more credit cards replaced over the last two years.

Traveling is seems to aggravate the affliction. I've misplaced valuables in almost every major metropolis where I've traveled. I lost a credit card in a Las Vegas casino, which I managed to cancel before someone won the jackpot on my dime. I lost my cell phone in a Washington DC taxicab. (The driver went through my address list and dialed the listing called "Mom" in an effort to track me down.) I lost my wallet in Athens, Greece and here is the video to prove it. Just this month, I lost my cell phone charger in Miami, though I can't be sure where.

Last year, I traveled to the Big Apple where I promptly left my purse in a taxi. I didn't realize my bag was even missing until I had to flirt with the bouncer from the Copacabana in order to let me into the club without an ID. My money, room key, and driver's license were traveling through Manhattan in some unknown, yellow taxi. But rather than fret, I chose to dance the night away and deal with the loss in the morning.

As I danced, the taxi cab driver made his next pick up- -a gentleman visiting New York for the first time to see the Dali Lama. This man found my purse. He learned my name from the driver's license and figured out the hotel address from my room key. When I finally crawled back to my hotel room, from a glorious night on the town (including Donald Trump, P. Diddy, and Marc Anthony sightings), my purse and all its contents were waiting patiently for me. I was a lucky, lucky girl. But, this sort of good fortune has been the rule, not the exception when it comes to finding misplaced items.

Despite my luck, you'd think that this pesky problem would bother me. I tend to be organized in all other aspects of my life. However, I have come to expect that I will lose something almost every week. I never worry or fret, even when the item is important

Part of the nonchalant attitude is due to the fact that aside from wasting a little money here and there, I have rarely faced serious repercussions for my errors. Despite numerous missing wallets, only once did I find a spurious purchase on my credit card bill. And thankfully, I have not been a serious victim of identity theft, like so many of my friends and acquaintances who are much more careful with their worldly possessions than I am.

I'm not trying to tempt fate. I do make every effort to take care of my valuables. But the truth is I am more than a little scatter-brained. Even as I child I was notorious for losing my toys, school books, and homework. This trait has only grown over the years. The old cliche is true --I really would lose my head if it weren't attached.