Lost

Never have I seen so much stuff lost in such a small geographic area. Normal fare of course; office supplies, key rings, baseball caps, the spare sock even a few golf balls~~odd for the city but they’re around. What I’m referring to ranges from the unusual to the downright bizarre. Phones, roach clips, full wallets, large key rings, locks, fluorescent softballs, pairs of shoes and the winner to date has been a fully packed (and heavy) commuter bike bag. 

I’ve finally been beat down by the city–in fewer than six months my usual, folksy care-factor has dropped a few notches and I’m a shell of the conscientious person I once was; or thought I was. Early Spring was heading south on the Mt. Vernon trail and nearly wiped out not from the constant film of leaves under the ever shady canopy; rather from a combination of braking and swerving to miss a shiny object right in the center of the trail. Yup, a brand new iPhone: 

Regaining my footing I stopped and turned around to pick it up–surely everyone’s like me and doesn’t put a passcode on their phone so it can easily be returned to the owner! 

Two calendar days and about eight labor hours later I was finally able to turn it in to the County 5-0. Exhausted from train rides, walking in the rain, receiving countless holds, referrals and rerouting throughout the either (1) overwhelmed or (2) indifferent or worse yet (3) uncaring local law enforcement community I vowed to not again turn to them in similar situations. Ever. Never witnessed less caring local law enforcement. Ever. 

Yet the goodies keep popping up at me wherever I walk or ride and now it’s a mission to find either the most valuable or most bizarre.  Many of them I’ve repositioned in a more obvious place near the found location, some I’ve picked up and tossed as trash and some I’ve kept.  C’mon, how can I not give Sammy beautiful softballs that have simply been abandoned by their teams! 

Recently I was headed west on the Custis Trail when I found the mother load of lost&found items. Coming out of a downhill corner I had just sat up to head back uphill when I about bunny hopped over a very large oval/rectangular shaped black object. Immediately I knew what it was but I had this hill to climb, it was getting late and I really needed to get in the miles. Images of lost iPhone flashed in my memory and I refocused on the hill…..for only a few more seconds. 

Dropping an f-bomb amidst a string of obscenities I pulled off the trail and stopped to look back at the large commuter bag. No-one in sight. I leaned over my handlebars and waited, still cursing. No-one in sight. I headed back down the hill, grabbed the bag and again pulled off the trail, sweat dripping on its top. Loaded with commuter supplies (I envisioned) I searched for the zipper for far too long. Still no-one in sight. Finally the top opened and it was stuffed, mens collared, blue pinstriped shirt, wallet, keys, books, folders, and surprisingly no repair kit. This guy really gets in a workout just getting to the office! 

Thumbing through the wallet in search of a business card I found everything but: Metro cards, a big wad of cash, credit cards, membership cards, etc…..driver’s license! We have an owner. Picking through the folders I finally found paperwork with a business card and a couple phone numbers. As expected he works for a Federal Agency (as a well educated economist) and also as expected his work phone went straight to VM. Second try was home so I left a detailed message with instructions as to the location where I carefully concealed the bag. Taking a final look around, this time to be sure I wasn’t spotted hiding the thing, I left the tell-tale marker so the fella could find his wares and resumed my ride. 

A couple hours later I returned the call to the home number and the Mrs. picked up. She was at once exhausted, ecstatic and relieved. I struggled re-explaining the directions to her between her repeated how grateful they were and how stressed her husband had been all day. We said our final goodbye’s and I continued my ride. A few minutes my phone rang—then again a few more minutes later—then a third time by which I was in a position to pull it out and answer/talk while riding. It was the owner and he said his wife had headed down the trail and found it yet he wanted to personally thank me. It was rather awkward but his sincerity was obvious and I ended the call after another minute. With the phone out I checked messages and the wife had called and left a couple messages first indicating she couldn’t find it the second quite emotionally letting me know she had and that they really wanted to ‘take me out for a drink if I do that sort of thing’.  While they seem like quite nice folk I was simply happy they found it and that I was able to completely avoid pulling in the local marginally helpful law enforcement. 

Piles of Mostly Garbage

Unlikely I’ll have another find as interesting, yet I’ll continue accumulating both stories and things about   the things I’m certain to continue to find. In fact, just today I ran across another gem—clearly some one is missing this thing but just as clearly people need to learn to slow down and pay attention to something other than their mobile devices.