The lost wallet and the gained knowledge

It was one of those evenings yesterday - a highly dramatic one, which made emotions run on a roller coaster.

After getting back home and lazily stretching myself, I was preparing to get to play some tennis. My wife did not want to stay home alone and therefore hinted to accompany me. For reasons unknown, I allowed her to carry my purse rather than me carrying it in the bag. I even remember warning her that she should be careful because of the short pocket in the track that she wore.

Soon we were flying on the highway. Remember the highway to hell, yeah, the same road. After we had hit and bumped off the pot holes consistently, it struck my wife to check her pocket for the existence of the purse. Would it be there? No! She screamed and in turn my wheels screamed and halted.

We made around three to four rounds of searching with a panic look on our faces and enquired many. My wife was too tensed and I could feel the extra heat in my head even though it was a cool evening. My brother and sis-in law also joined us soon to the spot to help us find the wallet. It was a futile effort.

We then raced back home and began the ordeal of de-activating the key to all the e-Money that were available on the wallet through the debit and credit cards. It was learning for all of us! I had neither the credit card numbers nor their respective customer care numbers. What a shame!

It was the moment to learn what needs to be and what should not be kept in a wallet. I was carrying too many cards which I rarely used. I was carrying original licenses and signed bank cheques. I was not carrying my visiting card or my contact number. So that reduced the chances of me regaining my purse even if it went to a genuine person.

But I realized that the only connectivity was the Club’s id that I had in my wallet. So, I called them and told them about the happening. Though I had the least hope of regaining my purse, I requested them to have my purse in case someone dropped in and handed over the same to the club.

To our surprise, we got a call from the club within minutes. Somebody had called them and we were so ecstatic. My brother wanted everyone to stay calm until we got it on hand. It was so nice of this person to have claimed the purse on the road and to have linked to us. We thanked them a lot and came home. I found that one of my loved possessions was alone missing. It was this Thumb Drive and was influenced not to bother about it much.

It was a great relief for all of us. Lessons learnt!! Here are the Dos and Dont's that I would suggest to everyone to avoid pain even after loosing their wallet...

5. Do not carry too much of cash. Have a small home bank, where you withdraw and retain the money. Keep retrieving from that and spend. It also helps you to be “intelligently” aware of your expenses!
4. Once you carry any debit or credit card in your wallet, do note down the card numbers, the banks customer service number and all other details associated with it in a place other than your purse. Phone is a viable option to retain such data, but again it could become a source of information leakage.
3. Do not CARRY original government issued documents, unless there is a need. Have a duplicate.
2. Do not CARRY too many credit or debit cards. Avoid carrying them if you use them rarely.
1. Do have your name, address and contact number in the wallet.