On a random Tuesday,
I ‘m standing in the canteen at work, ready to have lunch and waiting to be
served.
I reach for my wallet to pay the obligatory 70 cents for my soup, and… it’s gone!
I reach for my wallet to pay the obligatory 70 cents for my soup, and… it’s gone!
No panic. It’s at
home, waiting for me on the kitchen table. I ask the kind lady to give me a 70
cent credit until the next day, and forget about this minor incident.
At home, in the
evening, I have some bills to pay, start up my computer and surf to the website
of my bank. First thing I need is, of course, my debit card. Which is in the
wallet on my kitchen table, naturally. And for the second time that day I reach
for a thing that isn’t there.
This is the moment that I start to get a bit annoyed and worried. If it’s not here, where did I leave it??
This is the moment that I start to get a bit annoyed and worried. If it’s not here, where did I leave it??
Not only my debit
card is in it, but also my ID-card and my credit card.
Slowly I start
retracing my steps, to find out that I last used it at the pharmacy just around
the corner. So it must be either in my car, or at the pharmacy.
I turned the whole car upside down, walked the way back to the pharmacy, asked the guy behind the counter, but my little purse seems to have vanished.
I turned the whole car upside down, walked the way back to the pharmacy, asked the guy behind the counter, but my little purse seems to have vanished.
This is where a
slight panic took over. I am leaving the country in less than a month. I will
be travelling for 8 months, and how is one to do that without money and ID… No
way in the world will a country let me in. I suddenly feel like a sans-papiers
in my own country.
I can’t find it, so
the only thing I can do is start the official procedure ASAP. This means
calling the police to report the loss, and blocking my bank cards.I can see the
complete Belgian bureaucracy falling on top of me. I can only hope that I can
get everything arranged before I leave.
I go to bed trying to
catch a bit of sleep, and at 2:30 am, I wake up with the smartest idea ever.
Whenever I step into my car with my wallet in my hand, there’s this small storage space where I put it. Did I check that? Hmm, don’t think so.
I hop out of bed, jump into the elevator, run to my car and yes, oh yes: there it is. It’s been waiting for me for two days there…
Whenever I step into my car with my wallet in my hand, there’s this small storage space where I put it. Did I check that? Hmm, don’t think so.
I hop out of bed, jump into the elevator, run to my car and yes, oh yes: there it is. It’s been waiting for me for two days there…
Never overlook the
obvious, I guess.