goodbye phone

i was so distraught yesterday when i realized that i had lost my phone that i almost lost my beautiful purple wallet and i definitely lost my right contact lens. but i'm getting ahead of myself. as always.

was hungry and had no packed lunch from home so i decided to eat a huge bowl of veggie monster at khas, the persian place at the UP arcade, that rundown building beside the university's infamous Swimming Hole of Death. spitting distance from the dome of the catholic church and the shopping center. checked horrible papers while eating, liberally sprinkling both food and papers with spicy patis. it was a hot afternoon and so against my better judgment, i took a TOKI jeep back to the faculty center. i usually just walk.

anyway, so i rode the jeep and once back at my office, i unloaded my bag as always: umbrella, sweater (haha, yes, on a hot day), palm, wallet, coin box, pen, bad papers and nothing else. no phone with kitty's picture as wallpaper. it was a shock that lasted well into the night.

M happened to be snoozing on the banig on the floor of my/our office. i rarely see her now as she has an admin job that takes up most of her time. anyway, she had the presence of mind to call my phone and talked to the kid who found it on the jeep. he spoke in english, probably a student. i called him, got his name ("David Peterson Hernandez/Fernandez") but was still too stunned to do much else. stupid me. i didn't get his number or anything else.

asked him to come to FC and bring my phone but he said he had an exam at math. so i said i'd go to him but he said he didn't know yet where the exam room was. i said i'd call again in 30 minutes and i did but i couldn't contact my phone anymore. either the battery died or quote david peterson fhernandez unquote is a bad person who lied about giving my phone back.

awful awful awful day. tried looking for him using the people search function of the UP website. tried asking the records section of the university registrar's office. no matches found. apparently, he or his name is just a figment of his/my/the imagination.

to misquote anne frank, i would like to believe in the basic goodness of people but i find myself reeling at the evidence proving the contrary. i've sort of resigned myself to the idea that i am not likely to get my phone back.

there's a lesson here somewhere, even if it's just the one about not using that damned mesh bag ever again on public transportation. it kinda made me wish i had just used the 6k i spent on my 3-month-old phone and used it to buy that beautiful green leather bag at fino.

about losing my wallet (almost) and my contact lens: left my wallet on M's desk at the ICW because i was so upset/dazed/stupid about having lost my phone. i didn't even realize it was gone till she went down and gave it back to me. how i lost my contact lens is still a mystery. i remember putting it into the lens case when i got home last night but i after i put on the left one this morning, i just couldn't find its pair anywhere. haaaay.

let's end with another quote, this time from poet's poet elizabeth bishop: "the art of losing isn't hard to master. so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. lose something every day: accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour dadly spent... it's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (write it!) like disaster."

yeahhh.