I had lost track of time and was racing the clock. According to my plans, I had five minutes before I needed to leave the house so as to make my scheduled appointment on time. I went to grab my phone, my car keys and my glasses. The phone was plugged in, the car keys were hanging on the designated hook, but my glasses were not on the table where I expected them to be. What is it they say about the best laid plans?
I shuffled some papers and quickly rummaged through my ever-present pile of stuff. Nothing. I went upstairs to check the table by the bed. Nope. I scanned the computer area. Nada. They weren’t on or near or down the sides of my reading chair. I even checked the top of my head to make sure I wasn’t wearing them. (It has happened.)
I looked at my watch. Now it was time to get logical. I mentally retraced my steps and thought, “Where did I last have them?” I searched shirt pockets, the kitchen counter, the bathroom counter, every possible flat space where I could have laid them and then I searched spaces that weren’t so flat. It was now past time for me to leave.
The glasses are mostly for reading; I don’t need them to the extent that I can’t see without them, so I decided to leave them behind. Dang. Once again, I was running late. Once again, I didn’t leave when I should have because I forgot something and had to go back and get it, or I remembered before I left that I needed it but couldn’t find it.
Those who research the frustrating phenomenon of losing and/or misplacing items tell us it is a very common practice. A survey conducted by Pixie Technology, a California company which markets a “smart location solution using augmented reality” to find misplaced objects found that Americans spend about 2.5 days a year looking for missing stuff. We also spend $2.7 billion each year replacing lost items. It was only a small comfort to me to learn I am not alone in running late. More than half of those surveyed report they are regularly late to work or school due to time-consuming searches.
Respondents to the survey were asked which items they searched for at least once a week. The TV remote (45 percent) came in first followed by phones (33 percent), car and keys (28 percent). Misplaced glasses were a close fourth at (27 percent). Again, a very small comfort to know I have company.
In Great Britain things are much the same when it comes to losing things. A survey of 3,000 adults conducted by Esure Home Insurance found that mobiles/smartphones are the No. 1 misplaced item. This is followed by house keys, car keys, paperwork and sunglasses/spectacles. It’s clear the “special relationship” America has with England is more than our common heritage and traditions. (It also makes me wonder if this tendency to misplace is not a sub-text of the Beatles/John Lennon’s song “I’m A Loser.”)
I was curious that No. 19 on the list was “cars” until I remembered that classic Seinfeld episode where they spend the entire episode wandering a parking garage trying to remember where they parked their car. Come to think of it, I guess I’ve misplaced my car a time or two.
I returned home from my appointment and begin the search anew. After some time, though, I was on to other things. At one point I was walking toward the kitchen and noticed, from my position and angle of vision in the hallway, my wire-rimed glasses on the carpet under the table.
I sometimes wonder if I lose things because I am getting older. Maybe that is part of it, but more than one survey reported Millennials are twice as likely as Boomers to lose their stuff. Now that’s a comfort I can embrace.
