One of my neighbours have had to do just that and in a big way. He had a gold pen that he bought … who knows how much? One Saturday afternoon, another friend called him on phone for a chat that lasted more than one hour. As the talk went on, he picked his gold pen and toyed with it. At a point, he became absorbed in the discussion and unconsciously put the pen at the back of his ear flap. That was the root of the drama!
When the phone call was over, he wanted to write a greetings message on a gift card he bought for a beloved friend. He started looking for the gold pen. He searched all his bags, drawers, pockets, but no success. He started to think about the people that visited him. Could it be that this person or that person made away with the pen? He actually called two people and asked if they found it. The pen had a mark on it with which he could identify it anywhere he saw it – luckily, he thought.
He dressed up and was heading to the police to make a report in person. That was when I met him and came into the scene. He told me how sad he was – looking for the gold pen – and what he was about to do. I noticed that there was something at the back of his ear flap. I asked him, “are you talking about the pen on your ear”? I did not want to touch the pen so that he would not consider me to be a magician. He moved his hand and grabbed the pen. He was speechless for more than seven seconds, with his mouth open. And then we laughed and laughed and laughed.
Lesson:
There is evidence that a lot of people have, at one time or another, fallen victim of this funny search. If you ever find yourself in this situation (again), give yourself a little quiet time to think otherwise you might end up going farther than this my neighbour.
