Having mentioned that I am a pack-rat, it will come as no surprise that I have lost things from time to time. At the moment, I am needing to deal with an important loss - my social security card. Our insurance provider has informed us that we need to have Indiana licenses by July 1st or our policy rate will increase. Of course, it is a bit tricky to find a time when the BMV licensing offices are open and my husband is home to care for the boys so that I can go in to get an Indiana license. But, seriously, it shouldn't have taken me almost two years to start these proceedings (indeed the book which I picked up at the BMV states that a new resident has 60 days to procure an Indiana license - I think I needed to know that 600 days ago).
When I headed to the licensing office, with my wallet bearing my Illinois license, I knew it was going to be a hassle. My husband has made numerous trips to this BMV and every visit has been a nightmare. They revise and change the necessary documentation you must have. He has been utterly frustrated with the process. So, I went in expecting defeat and I got it. I didn't expect to need my social security card to prove my identity.
I know exactly when I lost this valuable document. It was around the time when people began to stress how valuable this document is and common warnings were given to remove it from your purse or wallet. My husband asked me to remove it and put it somewhere safe. I removed it and put it somewhere very safe. It is so safe that I haven't known where it is since I took it from the home it always had (my wallet). I know the number by heart, so it has never really been a problem until now. Now, I must find time (and childcare) to visit two offices - the SS office and the BMV, and all of this before July 1. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it!
But, losing things isn't something new to me. In fact, I was grateful to my husband for cleaning up my little boys' room while we were gone. He found a thank you note which my neighbor had sent to me recently when I gave her a loaf of banana-chocolate-chip bread. My husband had handed me the note just as I was going to put the little boys down for their nap. I set it down, unopened, in the boys' room and it entered the twilight zone. Toddlers do have sticky fingers and tend to pick up stray items and set them down in entirely illogical places, but I would have been capable of losing it all on my own.
I'm trying not to beat myself up about it too much. Indeed, I'm discovering that other people actually lose things, too. When I told my parents about the license issue, my uncle freely admitted that he had lost his SS card and easily replaced it by visiting the local courthouse (now where would my local courthouse be????).
My father just lost something he called an "i-pac" (similar to an i-pod, but it holds personal information). He had plugged it into the only available outlet he could find in their hotel room in Milwaukee in order to recharge it. The next morning, when they checked out, they failed to retrieve it. Of course, calling the hotel was an unsuccessful venture. Is it a sin to curse the sin of dishonesty?
My sister-in-law recently accidentally dropped her cell phone into the recycling bin. She told a humorous story of passing the town dump and hearing her son suggest that they go look for her phone! Upon hearing that story, my cousin mentioned that she carries a big bag to and from work containing things to be dealt with in spare moments. Whenever their family loses something, her "bag" becomes the notorious culprit. I think I need to get a bag like that; perhaps then, we could eat on the kitchen table more freely.
Side note: The real problem comes when I remove my clutter from the table in an effort to tidy up for company. I just went through some "moved clutter" and found coupons for the electrician we used, the air-conditioning repair service we used, the Orkin policy we signed on for because of a recent ant problem and the restaurant we ate at for my husband's birthday. Disorganization is costly!
Of course, these are all fairly small losses. I know a writer friend who was struggling to make ends meet. She took several of her poems, framed and illustrated by her husband, to a craft fair and made a significant amount of money. On her way out to the car, she stopped off in the bathroom and set the money bag down. This was a devastating loss because they desperately needed that income.
I guess it makes me feel better to know that other people (even really organized individuals like my sister-in-law) lose or misplace things. So, I'm wondering if you could relieve my conscience even more and tell me that you've lost something important, too. It won't help me get an Indiana license in time to avoid the rate increase, but it will make me feel like less of a loser!
1 comment:
Oh Wendy, please don't feel like you're alone in this area. I think we've all misplaced or lost things at times that have caused us big headaches and money. Although I am generally an organized person, I know what you mean about scooping aside clutter before company comes over, never to think of it again until RSVPs have passed, coupons expired, etc... My hubby is terribly disorganized and we are constantly hunting for things he has misplaced. Because we also work together, he often tells me he gave me a file or document that we later find buried in his office somewhere. This particularly concerns me from a compliance standpoint that he may have a client document or file that is requested during an audit and we'd be at a loss to find it promptly. In that regard, I get on his case a lot to make sure that kind of stuff is given to me so we can file it, but every now and then I find something in his office that shouldn't still be sitting there and I cringe. We don't have a fail proof system for our important documents. I have files and we have a safe deposit box but somehow my passport and social security card got in the safe deposit box and Mark's did not (though he knew which box he had stowed it in). We were talking about formalizing our will and jotting down where documents are located and such and I realized that something as important as our larger life insurance policies, I know nothing about as far as policy numbers and location as he pays those bills each year. Again, he knew where they were, but for anyone to have found them--would have taken a very long time. Sadly, they are still there and we need to get back to that subject to move it to a more appropriate place. So, Wendy, you are not alone. If it was just you, and no kids or hubby, you'd probably know where all your things are...but with the input of 4 other individuals, all their belongings and shuffling things around, not to mention the drain on your energy and brain as the leader of the troops--its going to happen. It was long ago that I had to find the social security office to change my name and I don't remember how long it took for that process, but I wish you well as you hunt it down and conquer. Keep Smiling!! :) ~Karin
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