When things go missing, they typically turn up shortly after. That's the way it works in our lives, and in the chaos of twins. We're typically multitasking from the moment we're awakened through the time we put the kids to bed, which means that things you have in your hand at one moment don't always get to their destination as planned. TV Remotes, keys, cellphones, documents... these all end up being displaced for a brief period of time, and are usually, ultimately recovered hours or days later.Usually. But not this time.
When my wife said she could not find her phone a month or two back, it was par for the course. It's not unusual for either of us to struggle to find things. I found it for her after checking a few spots... I believe it was at the bottom of one of the many diaper bags we still tote around. She was getting into her car with the kids and I handed it to her. That was the last either of us saw if it. and a day later she realized she could not find it again.
I didn't panic, as it's always been a matter of time, and even a month later, though it'd not resurfaced, I expected I'd stumble across it under a car seat, in a shoe drawer, under a cushion or in the kids playhouse, with a hefty rate of international toll charges racked up with calls placed to the north pole.
I was close on one thing... the international toll charges.
While glancing at the bill this weekend, my wife said, almost matter-of-factly, 'somebody has my phone'. It turns out that, a day or two after it's disappearance, 7 or 8 calls were made to El Salvador, racking up charges until, apparently, the battery died, as the calls ceased at that point. Somewhere between our driveway and her travels, it landed on the ground, where it was picked up and used as much as possible before going dead.
We have the phone nbrs in El Salvador, I'm tempted to call, just on the odd chance that I might reach somebody that speaks english and can explain to me why somebody who found a phone and could make unlimited calls would only use it until the battery died, when every target store carries chargers for less then $10.
Well, whatever the case, this'll be something to consider the next time something goes missing and we just assume it'll show up at the house.