having my cake and a muffin too.
This year, I'll be thankful for losing my wallet. Standing in line at the DMV today, I felt a calmness in me that has been missing for a few months.
My mom asked me if I thought someone would return it and I told her I didn't. Mostly because the only place I could have lost it was in Monterey Park. Hah. But also because I imagined what the person who found it must have thought: This guy doesn't need it.
Contents of Lost Wallet:
- about $200 (neatly ordered in increasing denominations)
- three (3) gold American Express Cards (I'm on my mom's account)
- a Chevron gas card
- an Open Table dining check for $100 (this one kills me)
- several dry cleaning receipts
- service slip for my truck
- my college ID
- my work ID
- various ticket stubs ranging from indie films to Hollywood crap
- ??? (I will never know…)
- the wallet itself which was Gucci and worth about $300 (it was a gift)
It's not that I don't believe in the goodness of people anymore but rather that there is nothing about the wallet that would compel someone to return it, especially if the person who found it was in need of cash. No past due electricity bill. No tattered singles folded in half. No picture of a family. Just a cold wallet of some lucky 24 year old kid.
When I lost about the same amount in the Philippines a year ago, I was pretty confident that whoever found it needed it more than me; I was planning on having a suit designed. Seriously. I’m going to believe the same thing this time around.
I am thankful that I lost my wallet this year because it reminded me of how quickly things change. The fluidness of it all. This time last year I didn’t even have $200 in my checking account. And as painful as it is to lose the wallet, I am grateful to have friends that would buy me something so ridiculous. Before the Gucci I was using a 3 dollar leather wallet I bought at Shoe Mart. It’s funny... cataloging everything in my wallet I almost didn’t recognize the one dimensional identity it portrayed, until I figured out it was exactly who I had always thought I wanted to be. Weird... in losing something I found perspective and the realization that I have so much more, really. Something worth so little is all that was needed to remind of the things that are truly priceless.
My mom asked me if I thought someone would return it and I told her I didn't. Mostly because the only place I could have lost it was in Monterey Park. Hah. But also because I imagined what the person who found it must have thought: This guy doesn't need it.
Contents of Lost Wallet:
- about $200 (neatly ordered in increasing denominations)
- three (3) gold American Express Cards (I'm on my mom's account)
- a Chevron gas card
- an Open Table dining check for $100 (this one kills me)
- several dry cleaning receipts
- service slip for my truck
- my college ID
- my work ID
- various ticket stubs ranging from indie films to Hollywood crap
- ??? (I will never know…)
- the wallet itself which was Gucci and worth about $300 (it was a gift)
It's not that I don't believe in the goodness of people anymore but rather that there is nothing about the wallet that would compel someone to return it, especially if the person who found it was in need of cash. No past due electricity bill. No tattered singles folded in half. No picture of a family. Just a cold wallet of some lucky 24 year old kid.
When I lost about the same amount in the Philippines a year ago, I was pretty confident that whoever found it needed it more than me; I was planning on having a suit designed. Seriously. I’m going to believe the same thing this time around.
I am thankful that I lost my wallet this year because it reminded me of how quickly things change. The fluidness of it all. This time last year I didn’t even have $200 in my checking account. And as painful as it is to lose the wallet, I am grateful to have friends that would buy me something so ridiculous. Before the Gucci I was using a 3 dollar leather wallet I bought at Shoe Mart. It’s funny... cataloging everything in my wallet I almost didn’t recognize the one dimensional identity it portrayed, until I figured out it was exactly who I had always thought I wanted to be. Weird... in losing something I found perspective and the realization that I have so much more, really. Something worth so little is all that was needed to remind of the things that are truly priceless.
posted by Al Sal at 10:53 PM
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