Suffering Loss

R.a.n.t. of week 06/20/04

That feeling you get when you suddenly realize you've misplaced something. It happened to me this weekend as I was in the park having fun with family and friends. As it was time to head out and I suddenly realized my keys were not in my pocket. The result? I spent the first 45 minutes looking in obvious place they could be; park benches where we were sitting or the path from the car to the group site. I then spent the next 30 minutes looking in the least obvious places; the sand by the playground, rooting through the garbage and climbing trees in case a squirrel carried them up were a few locations. Let me tell you, going through a garbage bin after a party for kids is no treat! My buddy Dan helps by lending me a flash-light that doesn't work and critiquing the mess I made with the garbage. I soon realized the chance of finding my lost keys in the dark were minimal. I decided to head home and look in the morning, fortunately I had a spare key. As you might guess, the next day I find them quickly and close to the ball field. Yes, the ball field, a place I spent a total of two minutes. If that.
Reprinted 10/13/12






*PLEASE NOTE - I recently found R.a.n.t. articles posted to an older website I once owned. I've decided to reprint them in my current run, but have decided to edit the articles. For comparisons sake, I've decided to run the unedited versions as well. In a way, it's kind of fun to see how my writing has changed in eight years.


Original R.a.n.t.
This weekend something happened that just really irritates me. I'm at the park with my kids; we're having fun with family and friends. Then as it's time to head out and I suddenly realize that my keys are not in my pocket where they are supposed to be. The result? I spend the next hour looking around the park benches where we were sitting, looking in the sand by the playground, rooting through the garbage on the chance they might have somehow slipped into the garbage somehow. Let me tell you, going through the park garbage bin after a party for kids is no treat! My buddy Dan offers help in the form of a flashlight that does not work and critiquing the mess I made with the garbage. I soon realized the chance of finding my lost keys in the dark were minimal. So what are the options but to wait for the morning light? As it turns out, I find them in the morning fairly quickly and close to the ball field, a place I might have spent a total of two minutes, if that, around. I'm ranting about this today because it's something that seems fairly common to me. I walk in the house and put my keys down, usually when I'm running late for work is when I don't find them right away. Typically I set them by my computer, but when I don't think about it, or have an armload of stuff I'm bringing into the house, I end up misplacing them. Same thing goes for everything else important that's needed fairly quickly; phone numbers, keys, money, and credit cards. It seems at one time or another they all disappear to the same place that my socks keep disappearing to.