FINDING LOST ITEMS

Finding A Lost Camera

A good friend of mine recently lost his camera on a busy day whilst travelling around a city in cars, taxis, tour buses and visiting museums.

I don't think the camera was in the taxi - though the taxi was very dark. I looked back as we got out to see nothing was left behind. It is my policy to always look back when leaving a bus or taxi or train. And on planes I check under the seat, and around the seat cushion and in the pocket on the back of the seat in front. 

Guarding Possessions On Planes

I don't leave loose items such as umbrellas and duty free goods in overhead compartments. If I do, I note the number of items. 

Better still, I put the smaller items inside the larger ones - duty free goods inside my carry-on bag. Or I tie the handles of one bag to the other. 

Watching Bags & Coats in Restaurants

In restaurants I never let the waiter take away a jacket or coat. I keep it on the back of my chair. First I empty the pockets. We have lost wallets and sunglasses from jackets in restaurants hanging on the backs of chairs. It happened to us on holiday in the Czech Republic.

Other friends have had bags stolen from the floor under a large table for ten people. I keep my ankle inside any bag on the ground to prevent it being forgotten. Or anybody pulling it away. (They could still cut the bag handle.)

In restaurants I keep my bag under my coat. Between myself and the wall - not between myself and somebody else on a banquette.  I try to pick a table against a wall so I can sit shielding my possessions from other people. Before leaving I check under seats and on tables. Then you know nothing is left behind and can eliminate the venue from a phone-around. 

Conference Carrier Bags

In public places such as conferences often everybody has identical bags. So it is easy to forget yours, take the wrong one, or find yours has been taken deliberately or accidentally. 

You might forget it because as you glance around when leaving nothing identifies it as yours . I have even rescued my goodie bag which was being picked up by cleaners who were going around the press office every hour throwing away abandoned carrier bags. 

You can distinguish your bag by tying on a piece of coloured ribbon or string. Or use a highlighter to write your name across the top of the bag. Draw a coloured line across the top under the handle or mark the handle. 

Hotel Bedrooms

What have I heard of being lost? A child's teddy bear left in a cot or bed. A child's toy which, unknown to the parents, he had put in a wardrobe.  

In the adult's bed, night clothes, underwear and socks. Contraceptives under the pillow. One of a pair of shoes, or slippers, left under the bed. 

A dressing gown left behind the bathroom door. A man's sports clothes in a drawer. 

A last minute check of the bathroom which we'd already cleared on more than one occasion has produced my toothbrush. Everything else had been packed but that was left out. 

Once a friend left behind what we in England would call track suit bottoms. The Americans would say sweat pants. 

It is rather alarming at checkout to hear an American say, 'I've lost my red pants'. In the UK we say trousers. Pants to us are what Americans call underpants. 

I had visions of the man's transvestite gear, ladies' garments. The Americans do say trousers but these are part of a formal dark suit.

If you've lost something, it's important to describe it in words that local people understand. I always ask if they can open the drawer or room where lost items are kept. They then suspect that I want to claim an item which is not mine. 

Sometimes they ask which day you lost the item. Or where you lost it. If your goods have your name on them, there's no doubt.

Checking Hotel Bedrooms
On leaving hotels, we should have done a double room check. Not a check of a double room. A check of the bedroom by two people.  

A French family I know says that the father insists that the parents and children all check the room. So three or four of them all look. With two of you, both parties could take turns holding the door open whilst the other one checks everywhere, including behind the doors for coats and dressing gowns and behind bathroom shower curtains for clothes hanging up to dry. 

Hotel Suitcases

If you have several suitcases and bags, it is easy to leave behind the last one. It is also easy to check. 

The porters (called bell hops in the US) might take the big suitcases but leave behind the handbags and carrier bags. If you have a black bag, put some distinguishing mark on it, such as a coloured strap. 

On a couple of occasions I've asked a hotel reception for my bag and been told they don't have it. So then I've asked if I can look for it in the left luggage room. We had to wait for somebody to bring the key to the luggage room. I waited. I was not leaving the hotel without my luggage.

I remember peering in and there were dozens of suitcases. I looked at two or three of the nearest bags. The porter insisted, 'It's not there'.  

So many bags - lots of black ones. But I spotted it in a distant corner because of the yellow strap! 

He said, 'All the bags at the back are from two days ago.' He pulled it out and asked suspiciously, 'Are you sure it's yours?' I showed him my address label.

Mobile Phones & Chargers
A white or gold or coloured address label on a mobile phone is good. This loss of a camera has prompted me to check my mobile camera-phone. I just labelled the latest phone. I stuck a fresh label on the old phone over the old label which was dirty and unreadable.

I temporarily lost my mobile phone the week before I went to the US on a business trip. The phone turned up 'under' the seat of the car. I had felt under both front seats late at night in the dark. Later in the daylight I found it between the front seats.

Phone Chargers

A hotel in the USA had a box full of mobile phone chargers which guests had left behind. The receptionist told me that guests find it quicker to buy a new charger, and cheaper than paying the postage. Your black charger looks like a piece of hotel equipment and is almost invisible as you glance around the room. Again, the trick to noticing it is to tie on a coloured ribbon or address tag.

I also paint plugs with nail varnish. You can buy nail varnish in red, orange, pink, green, silver and gold.

Shoes

How do you find your shoes which you are obliged to leave at the door of a temple? You arrive and you are first off the coach. Your one pair of shoes is on the right. When you return, two hundred pairs have been placed on top of yours. Or the attendant has moved all shoes left on the ground into 500 pigeon holes. Your coach is honking and about to drive off without you.

Bags At Buffets

I've left  an item behind in a hotel. That happens so often. You get up to go to the buffet for dessert. You come back and it looks as though another diner has taken your bag. No, it's the staff who think you have finished your meal and gone off without it. The item has disappeared to lost property. When they say nothing has been handed in, ask them to open the lost property drawer and check. Maybe somebody else has put the item in whilst they were busy. 

Maybe what you call a bag, they call a purse. Maybe they don't have your umbrella, but it's inside the carrier bag you left. Either you put it inside the bag or the waiter did so.

At a Singapore club the receptionist opens the lost items drawer and regretfully tells me that no item matching my description has been left. But I can see it! What I think is black, he calls grey. (Or vice versa).  

I hadn't had time to add a label. But I'd already marked the shop's price ticket with a highlighter with my initials. That was a precaution in case I left the item behind in the shop whilst my friends continued browsing. I am delighted to be reunited with my purchase.

May you be reunited with all your lost items. Better still, may you never lose anything.