Lost Phone

For the first time in my life, I have suffered the loss of my mobile phone.

I was just paying for some items at SM Harrison, and placed my Nokia C3 on the cashier counter, so that I could take out both my wallet and in-store membership card. I saw some items nearby and just took a look. Before I knew it, it was gone.

Of course, I was mad. Mad and fuming at a lot of things, not least of them my sheer carelessness in thinking I could get away with leaving an item on a public space (even though it was just nearby) without it being pocketed by someone else. I was also mad at the several SM employees who were just rooted to the ground when I started asking questions. I was mad at the person who took it, because I believe that the no-no against taking what does not belong to us has been imprinted in our memories since kindy years. Oh well.

It was a silly scene at Harrison. All I was asking for - nay, begging for - was access to a mobile phone so that I could try calling my own phone. I understand that the employees were not allowed to bring their mobile phones with them while working but good Lord, I was asking them to ask their managers to lend me a phone. It took all of half an hour (and more) for one manager to take pity on my situation (at this point, I had to flash my De La Salle University business card) and took some semblance of an action. She went to get her own mobile, and that took another 10-15 minutes or so. At that point, I knew it was gone.

On Blame
Of course, the responsibility for this particular unfortunate event does not entirely fall on the shoulders of one party. I learned this the hard way, when I was so hard on myself for the first half an hour of the theft. Then, I realized that there was pretty much nothing I could have done. The CCTV camera over the cashier was useless, since the employees told me it was switched off (how STUPID is that?), and therefore my sense of security in the mall was pretty much false. Also, the person - God bless his soul on the judgment he will receive - who took it could always have turned it in to the Lost and Found section, or at least had the decency to receive my calls later and return it. Was that too much to hope for? I personally didn't think so.

Lessons learned, and I know much better now. Surprisingly, forgiveness came easily. As my mother was raising me, she'd say of stolen things: "At least when you have something stolen from you, it made the thief happy for a while. Give it to them." My boss, who I notified a little later said, "That's alright. That should give you some sense of detachment from the material things of the world." The wisdom from this incident! :)

So yeah, do not text or call me at my old number anymore :P

Jay~