The Absent-Minded Wonder Strikes Again, But Has Finally Gone Too Far.

While typing away at my introduction yesterday, I had attempted to charge my iPod. This involves plugging my wall-charger into a socket, but upon doing so I found that the socket in my cubicle didn’t work. So, I easily resolved the issue by plugging the iPod into my laptop. A while later I went for coffee and never returned.

Twenty-four hours after my coffee break, L asked me where my iPod’s wall-charger was. “In my backpack,” I responded. But it was not there. Then, in a flash, I realized that I had no memory of ever having unplugged the charger from the socket. I left it in the cubicle of the Natural Sciences Library!

We immediately jumped into our somewhat fancy rental car and sped to the university. Needless to say, though I will say it, I felt quite useless. I understand that my studies grant me a certain degree of absentmindedness, but this was simply going too far. Those things are like forty bucks!!

Well, we arrived at the university and L said I should mentally prepare myself not to find it. I parked the car in the loading zone and ran to the library. Flinging open the rather heavy doors, I ran up the stairs to the second floor. You could tell from the speed of the clicking of my boots that I was no sleepy-eyed undergrad, sluggishly making my way to a cubicle where I will half study, half sleep for several hours. No, the clicking of my boots on the library floor suggested intention. I knew precisely which cubicle to check and I wasted no time in reaching it.

In said cubicle I found an older, international student, whom I impetuously accosted with a “Pardon me, I need to check your cubicle.” He, of course, seemed bewildered by such a demand, so I quickly explained that I had forgotten a wall-charger there and would like to see if it was still in the cube. He stood up and turned over some papers, lifted his laptop, and checked under a bit of bubble-gum wrapping, but before I had finished explaining the purpose of my search I had already seen that it was not in the socket. I told him that it was “okay”; he continued to shuffle papers. I expressed that it “is not there,” but he checked under his laptop. I thanked him, and he confirmed that my lost object was not beneath his gum wrapper. I don’t think he understood what I was looking for.

Plan B involved more fast-paced, determined boot clicking all the way down to the circulation desk. I’m certain the person behind the desk saw me enter and heard my loud boot walk, so as I made my way down the stairs, he was already looking in my direction. Then I corrected my course to walk unmistakably in his direction. Having arrived at the circulation desk and pausing to take a deep and hopeful breath I asked: “You wouldn’t happen to have a square, white iPod wall-charger in the lost and found, would you?” Without a word the clerk wheeled his chair two feet away toward a cardboard box marked “Lost and Found.” I could see that there was a long, black scarf in it and I held my breath as he lifted the scarf and, to my amazement, held up my small, square, and white wall-charger.

“IT’S A MIRACLE!” said I, taking possession of my precious object.

So I would like to publicly thank the person who sat in that cubicle sometime between 2:15pm on Friday and 2:15pm on Saturday, not only for returning my wall-charger, but also for confirming my faith in humanity.