Thursday, May 12, 2011

Lost and Found

It seems we've had a streak of losing things.  About a month ago I lost my wallet.  I always keep it and my keys in my purse, so I only ever don't know where they are if I change my routine for some reason, or if the little people around here get into it.  We were out on a Saturday to see the cherry blossom festival and had taken the subway, sans Hunter who was at scout day camp.

I had bought some melon bars in a subway station at a 7-11 (yum yum - they taste like honey dew) and hadn't put my wallet back in my purse which was hanging from Tristan's stroller.  I needed to visit the ladies room so wheeled the little man along with me, but used a small stall that his stroller wouldn't fit into so I put it right outside my stall.  My purse was hanging from the handle of the stroller.  I thought, "if someone grabs my purse, at least I have my wallet", but really wasn't concerned because we always hear and witness how honest Koreans tend to be.

Naturally, that particular door didn't latch shut, so I held it closed with one hand while I took care of business so I set the wallet down, and didn't think of it again until half an hour later when it was conspicuously missing from my purse.  We rushed back to the subway station; it wasn't in the stall, nor was it at the help desk.  The man working the help desk charged into the women's bathroom and tried to push his way into the stall to investigate.  It was occupied, and the lady soon came out without even flushing.  He looked around and was satisfied that my wallet was gone. He took my phone numbers...  haven't heard a thing.

We are awfully disappointed that someone wasn't honest and took it, when she could have left it alone or taken it to the help desk. There wasn't a lot of money in it, but did have everything else, including my military ID, Korean and American drivers' licenses, hospital cards we're supposed to have here, ration card to be allowed in the PX and Commissary on base, check book, bank cards, taxi driver directions in Hangul (to get back to the base), temple recommend, etc.  Dean had the following Monday off, so we spent a lot of it on base replacing cards.

When we did our taxes soon after on the base, I took all the kids files of information because we needed their SS numbers.  When it was time to register Kyler for Kindergarten, I couldn't find any of the files.  Oh, the horror.  Their birth certificates, SS cards, shot records, etc are all in them.  Fortunately, they turned up a couple of weeks later in my disastrous sewing room - what a relief.  I still need to register Kyler.


The night before going to UFG for two weeks, preparing all the "stuff".

The beret ("cover" or hat)

More recently, Dean came home from work on a Friday and sat with me on the sofa for a bit.  Come Monday morning he couldn't find his beret, and of course soldiers can't be seen in public without a complete uniform.  He couldn't imagine what might have happened to it, and searched the house over, including under the sofa we were sitting on.  He ended up wearing his patrol cap to work for a week, which they are only supposed to wear during a training exercise or when deployed.  He had been working on shaving and shaping a new beret, but it is a long ordeal.  Finally on the following Tuesday I was decluttering the paper pile on the kitchen counter behind the sofa, and there it was under that Friday's stack of mail.


Side view of the patrol cap.  He returned from two weeks "in the field" for UFG last October rather ill, so had been put on a nebulizer - he's trying to suppress a grin after I picked him up :)
Front view of the patrol cap.  It seems so much more useful than the silly berets, which offer no sun or rain protection.  Again, returning from the UFG exercise.

Of course this school year Hunter has lost most everything that isn't attached to his body.  He lost two real lunch bags the first week of school, so his lunch goes in a grocery bag every day.  We spent the $60+ for a cubscout uniform, and he usually can't find it for scouts.  We haven't seen the hat in ages, so it's probably long gone.  His bus pass is missing about half the time, and I've had to replace it once.  He's lost a wallet, full of his money (I think around $50 - about a year's worth of birthday/holiday money for him).  Every day he spends considerable time looking for his shoes.  That's what I can think of now - I'm sure there's more.  I hope he gets his head together some day.

Yesterday Dean came home from work and the kids got right down to business as usual tormenting him to use his iPhone or laptop (to play games).  There are requirements for such privileges.  If Hunter's room is clean and his chores and homework are done, he may play such games for as long as he has practiced the piano that day.  It actually works (if you don't consider that "cleaning" means stuffing all the contents from his floor into whatever nooks and crannies he can find).  He sets the timer for 30 minutes and practices the piano when he wants to play games.  So he came down to do that.

Then Dean came through looking for his iPhone, as he uses it to time his exercises (sit ups, push ups, etc.) and also to listen to Rush while he works out.  He couldn't fathom where it was, and even sent Hunter out to his car to look, wondering if Hunter wouldn't fess up and produce it if he had anything to do with its mysterious disappearance.  He didn't.  Finally after much angst, Hunter pulled it out of Dean's underwear drawer where he had hidden it, for later use?  Of all the things the kids do, being so dishonest and deceitful are probably the most upsetting.  They are like drug addicts who will do anything to get the next fix of video games.  That's why I never wanted video games in my home in the first place.

Dean's mother always talks about what a good boy he was, and how he would get up in the evening between 7:30 and 8pm and just go to bed when he was their age.  I was honest almost to a fault as a child - could count on one hand the number of white lies or indiscretions I've committed my whole life.  So we just don't understand this sort of behavior.  John Rosemond says not to question it; it's just what kids do, and it's our job to teach them better, but ultimately they are humans, and can make their own choices - good or bad and will suffer the consequences.

2 comments:

Kristal said...

I am always losing stuff! I had my wallet stolen about a year ago and it is a royal pain in the toosh to get that all fixed! You know it happens, but when it happens to you it makes you wonder how people can conscientiously do that and live with themselves.I'm glad your pregnancy is a little easier this time, but it sounds like you need it...Tristan is a handful!

Dawna Greer said...

Sometimes I feel like I literally spend half my life looking for things--usually I've just misplaced them but UHG! What a pain. Good luck with getting everything replaced and no problems with the cards that were lost.