Today was an atypical Thursday for me. Though boisterous (at times), I find I expend a great deal of energy in social situations. I “recharge” by spending a period of time alone.
Tonight, I spent time with friends and colleagues drinking beer, although some of my German counterparts would disagree that I was drinking beer, and later some delicious frozen Margaritas (from a fantastic little restaurant called Maria Bonita in Berlin Mitte) only to find that my iPhone 5S was missing.
After much laughing, a decent amount of food, and (probably) too much to drink, I reached into my backpack only to come up empty handed. I wanted to buy a Tram ticket via my BVG app. No iPhone.
My always calm and level-headed spouse said, “Let’s retrace our steps.”
So off we, my spouse (@myobie), Schlubbi (@invalid_moe), and I went.
Stop 1. Schlubbi walks up to the door of Maria Bonita. The waiter looks quizzically at us. The waiter opens the door. Schlubbi kindly asks if a phone was found. The answer — no.
Stop 2. Schlubbi walks inside the bar we went to earlier in the evening. While waiting with my spouse outside, I rummage through my backpack again. No iPhone. Schlubbi walks out and says the waitstaff hasn’t seen my phone. No surprise.
But here is the surprise. I have no iPhone and I’m not upset. I’m not even disappointed. I’m glad that my friend Schlubbi is so generous with his time. He’s an amazingly caring guy — a great friend. My spouse is perfectly calm and reassuring (which puts me at ease). And I imagine that the person who has my phone right now might be able to use it. Whether that person keeps it or sells it or whatever. They’ll use it. And that’s fine by me.
I changed my passwords. I reset my 2 factor auth on things. Thank goodness for back up codes! And I wrote this article.
This is not the first time I’ve lost something. I imagine it won’t be my last. Things will be okay. My friend Cat Noone (@imcatnoone) reminded me of this fact recently.
So, here’s my message to the person who has my phone right now. I hope you get some use out of it. No hard feelings. Seriously. And have a good night.
