The day’s horoscope encouraged me to “Transform your life into an action movie with you as the star.” It made me go…. Hmmmm.
What happened that day was action-packed alright… that is, if you can consider chasing a bus as exciting activity. You see, on the ride to the transfer station where I connect with the bus that drops me off my office, I left my carryall bag which contained my basic traveling essentials (umbrella, summer hat, Vitamin C supplements, cough drops plus the day’s brown bag for lunch). I realized the missing bag half-way through the trip to work. I’m the type who gets attached to my belongings and I know that if I didn’t do something to recover my stuff at that moment, my time at work would be… sheer hell.
So I hopped on the next train to return to my transfer station and stalked all the buses that took that morning route. After two hours of looking like a desperate fool, I decided that it was time to go to the office. I was very late for work as it was. Fortunately, I had the good sense earlier to make a call to let someone know about what happened and to expect my tardy arrival. I felt disappointed for the time wasted, but not defeated. At least, I did the best I could to track the missing bag.
I called the Lost and Found section of the bus company and received the message that items lost that morning would be delivered to them after noon of the following day. By then, my sandwiches would have already spoiled unless someone took the liberty of eating them.
The next day I called again and after what seemed like an eternity waiting for a live voice, I was told that the bag I described wasn’t turned in and I was advised to try again the following day. It is now the third day since the bag was missing in action and I figured that if the bag hasn’t turned up yet, chances are, it never will. A bus driver told me that they turn in the items left on their routes only if passengers who found those were honest enough to give them to the drivers. If a passenger didn’t take an interest in my stuff, the driver would eventually find the bag on the seat where I had left it.
The moral lesson I gained from this episode: When commuting via public transit, I must chain my belongings to my body. It takes only a mere moment for attention to get diverted specially in the rushed commuting world. Leaving anything on public transportation can take so much energy recovering it. I’ve lost a pair of gold earrings on the bus before and what were the chances of getting them back? Zero! If the article is not of any monetary or sentimental value to me, the best action is to simply accept it as a lost cause and just chalk up the experience to the lack of human honesty. These days, I, like everyone else, will be so very lucky to be the beneficiary of people’s kindness.
