Sunday, February 27, 2011

Lost

Me: Did you lose your keys? (he had been borrowing my keys all day)

Father-in-law: (with certainty) No ... (then hesitates)I mean, I don't know where they are, but I don't think they are lost yet.

Clearly lost has a slightly different meaning in some contexts... I mean, if you don't know where they are aren't they lost? Or are they just misplaced, until it is permanent and they are never found?

Ah, keys!

My husband's family is a black hole for keys... if you lend them your keys, always demand them back immediately after the key-task is finished. They laugh at me because I am really anal about getting my keys back, I will come after you, right after you open the door and say: my keys, please. I will hunt you down...

Keys are important here because there are so many to get in and even to get out of a residence. There is a pad-locked gate outdoors to get out to the street. If you don't have a key, you can't get out. There is a barred door and then the front door, which locks when it is shut. (Don't get nervous for me with so many bars, I am not in danger--it is just life here) There is a key to the back sliding bar door that covers the sliding glass door, which also clicks locked when shut. We have locked ourselves out before (Thank you Nico! and another good reason to carry your keys on your person at all times) and had to slide Nico through two of the bars over the front window (thank goodness his head just fit through... next year we won't be so lucky).

When we went to the beach house (which has no bars, by the way, but it does have an alarm), my husband took both sets of keys to the truck... and at one point he realized that we couldn't find either set... for DAYS! How does that happen? I honestly don't understand.

I never lose or misplace keys, like ever. I always know where my keys are, I always put them in the same places or carry them on my person. So it is just bizarre that I live in a house where no one can ever find keys... seriously, like ever. Keys have been an issue as long as I have known my husband. Handy as I am, I am an excellent key-spotter. If you set them down and can't remember where, I'll tell you, because I saw them. My mind registers things like that.

They are also notoriously bad at searching for lost items (that weren't just set down somewhere odd). It's like they just can't fathom where they might be. I keep muttering: "Retrace your steps" and "What were you wearing?"

So I finally did an exhaustive search for the truck keys... and found one set of in a pants- pocket. The other set was found days later in another pants-pocket.

So in a sense, the riddle has been solved, at least for some of the misplacements... pockets is the answer. The keys just stay there and the pants come off.

So curious.

I suggested to my FIL that he look in last night's jacket pocket.

Another key mystery has been solved. The not-lost keys have been found.

8 comments:

Denise | Chez Danisse said...

Yes, I agree. Retracing steps and recalling what one was wearing almost always lead to the missing key. I'm glad your key mysteries have all been solved. Are you teaching now? How is it going?

mosey (kim) said...

I wish you lived at my house because I do have an occasional tendency to drop my keys and then they go into some twilight zone only to be discovered hours or days later in the refrigerator.

Danielle said...

HAHA! If I've lost something I ALWAYS check my refrigerator! It seems that at one point or another, everything in my life is related to food. Go figure:)
I've "lost" a couple things in pockets of cloths I seldom wear only to find it the next time I wear them a few weeks or months later.

Margaret said...

Had to laugh. I get anal about certain things being in their place. Keys are fairly high on the list, but the biggies are scissors, tweezers, and nail clippers. I mean, these are necessary things, but not the sort of thing I want to waste time thinking about!

Maggie May said...

we have a lot of not-lost items here too :)

Phoenix said...

lol it's so tempting to think only guys do this, but I went through a period of about a month where every.single.night after my boyfriend came home after me, he'd say, "Um, Tracy, do you know where your keys are?"

Sort of... why was he asking again?

He dangled them in front of my face. "I found them in the front door. AGAIN."

I did this about 12 times in the span of a month. Crazy, eh?

anymommy said...

Oh, Phoenix cracked me up, my husband finds our keys hanging from the door all the time! I am definitely not this good at finding things, but I always, always check the laundry basket.

mrs.notouching said...

I could be your family - I constantly misplace things and then find them later in my pockets... sometime in my own hand...