Breaking out in a cold sweat

A deep panic, mixed with anger at myself, set in my gut.

Several years ago we were together with friends at the beach for one last fling before fall came and went we were overwhelmed with to dos and busy demands. We make the trip every year and it’s always a great time.

A couple of the guys and I had spent the day watching football at a nearby bar. I was the most relaxed I had been in quite some time. When our wives and significant others returned from shopping and chilling on the beach, we all walked back to our house.

A few hours later, I stood up with a jump. I realized that I had left my windbreaker hanging on the back of my barstool. I never really cared all that much about the jacket, but I had my car keys and cash zipped up in the front pocket. In my mind, I thought about how we were blocking everyone in the driveway of our rental house and how much of a problem it would be to lose the keys.

I was in full-blown panic mode.

I told my friends and raced back down the sidewalk running back to the bar. Think Usain Bolt running down the track. Arms pumping, legs purring like a motor, I was on fire. I’m pretty sure I broke my mile record running back to the bar. I walked in the bar out of breath and squinted trying to look around. The bar turned into a dance bar at night and I couldn’t see much.

I asked the bartender if he had seen my jacket and he shook his head no. I was about to head back dejected, but in an out-of-the way corner, I saw the barstool that I had been sitting in and, sure enough, my jacket was still there.

I might have sprinted to the bar, but I floated back home. I had what I had come for.

Lose something?

I thought of that old jacket when I saw Uber’s list of lost items last year. The company reported in April that clothing, luggage, headphones, wallets and phones topped the list of most frequently forgotten belongings.

People lose strange things too. The 50 most unique items included hair toupees, live turtles, police-grade handcuffs, a framed Taylor Swift autograph, and two containers with spiders in them. As far as the most forgetful cities, Miami, Los Angelas, and Atlanta topped the list. People tended to lose things the color Red most often, 9pm and 10pm are when most folks report lost items, and January 21st was the most forgetful day of the year.

Why it happens

Numerous studies have looked at why we lose things or are forgetful. Researchers list absent-mindedness as the biggest cause. We’re focused on something other than the object we end up losing — be it the TV remote or a phone or glasses — and the next thing you know it’s lost in space. We never really cemented where we placed it in our minds.

I know that happens to me. I’m multitasking when I should be focused in the here and now.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever lost?