Dr. Carolyn Lee reflects on a different cliché each week. In her recent blog, “Thank You for Your Patience,” she reflects on the idea of patience and the art of waiting. This week Carolyn explores the cliché, now you see it, now you don’t.
Learn more about Dr. Carolyn Lee on her biography page or investigate 29 more clichés in her latest book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live by.
Now You See It, Now You Don’t
I have a confession to make, an admission. I am a loser. I lose things. I misplace things. Where are my car keys? Where are my glasses? Where have I put my phone? I estimate that I look for my phone 5-7 times a day. It was right here! I had it just a minute ago! Where is that electric bill that’s due by the end of the week? It was on my desk yesterday. Where on earth could I have put it? And why would I put it anywhere? Have I also lost the last of my marbles?
I am comforted somewhat, knowing that I am not alone. Everyone seems to have “I’ve LOST it!” stories. And I believe this condition of mine is not necessarily age-related, although I admit that the number of lost-and-found incidents has increased in recent years. I remember, though, when I was a child, my mother would send me to school with my lunch money, but, by lunchtime, the money had disappeared. She pinned my mittens to a long string of yarn that she put through the sleeves of my overcoat, but, by the time I got home, one mitten was missing.
My behavior hasn’t improved all that much as an adult. Recently, I couldn’t find my watch as I was getting ready to leave my sister’s home in Colorado. So I went back to my home watchless—and grumpy. On my next visit to that Colorado house, we were getting ready to walk the Piedra Canyon Trail, and I found my watch in the toe of my hiking boot. Did I actually put my watch in my boot? Who would do such a thing? Did it fall off my wrist and land in my boot? Of course not. Might someone else be responsible for my watch being in my boot? I’m afraid not.
As an adult traveler, I have left things all over the world. I lost my good Konica camera in Spain; I left my fleece robe in Belgium, my billfold and all its contents in London. I have to mention here that on a couple of occasions the items that went missing were not lost; they were stolen. Someone lifted my purse from the grocery cart at Kroger’s. I had my billfold and passport removed from my backpack in Toronto. A very bold thief stole my purse and all its contents when I was doing research at the Lincoln Center Library in New York. I was sitting at a large table very close to the desk of the librarian, and I had my purse under my chair. The librarian called me to her desk to give me a periodical I had asked for. I took a few steps to the desk, got the periodical and returned to my place at the table. In those few seconds, someone absconded with my purse. I suddenly had no ID, no driver’s license, no credit cards, no money, not a cent. The librarian had to loan me subway fare so I could get back to my friend’s home. By the time I could get there and report the theft, more than $600 had been charged to my MasterCard.
As I list all these unfortunate losings and misplacings and incidents of thievery, I am asking myself if there is a lesson to be learned here. Oddly and interestingly enough, I believe the lesson might be—keep your eye on the ball. All of these experiences are characterized by carelessness on my part and a failure to pay attention, to be aware of my circumstances and my own behavior. Frequently, when I finally find my glasses or my car keys or my cell phone, I have no recollection of having put them in that place. I am repeatedly surprised by the fact that I was, apparently, unconscious when I turned loose of my possessions.
I am writing about this subject because I am in the throes of one of the most baffling and mysterious lost-and-found incidents I’ve ever experienced. I’m in the lost phase right now; I can only hope there is a found phase and a happy ending to this story. At about nine o’clock one evening a few weeks ago, I came home after a birthday celebration. I was wearing my favorite rings—a gold band I had bought in Spain fifty years earlier and a beautiful silver ring that a friend had brought me from Santa Fe. I changed into my pajamas and sat on the couch reading for a couple of hours, then went to bed at eleven o’clock.
The next morning, I was getting dressed to go out, and I reached for my rings on the ring-holder where I usually put them. They weren’t there. So I looked some other places where I sometimes put them. No, they weren’t there, either. Then I began looking in places where I supposed they could, possibly, be. No. I looked in every pants pocket and jacket pocket in my closets. I checked all drawers and cabinets, all countertops and surfaces. I checked under my bed and between the cushions of my couch. No. Then I began looking in places where they couldn’t possibly be—my waste can, my recycling bin, my pantry, my refrigerator. But no.
That was weeks ago. I still haven’t found my rings. But when I do, I’ll write another blog, a rhapsodic blog that expresses my relief and gratitude, maybe in iambic pentameter. Maybe the closing line will reveal that I found them in my hiking boot! No, I looked there.
What’s after ‘now you see it, now you don’t?’
Check out Dr. Carolyn Lee’s blogs on her website, she features a new cliché each week or you can order her new book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live By. Curious about the author? Read more about Carolyn here. We hope you enjoyed this article learning more about the cliché, now you see it, now you don’t.
