There is an infamous bumper sticker that reads, "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most."
Well, in my case, that's not true. I miss my flash drive the most.
Since I first came to Notre Dame this fall, I have lost many things. Some have been valuable, some trivial.
At first, I thought this was God's way of telling me to depend less on material possessions. If that were true, though, why would He cause me to lose my theology course reader? (Which, at $86, set me back a few material possessions by itself - but that's the topic of a different column.)
What sin was I committing that caused me to lose my Downy Wrinkle Release Spray? I know I'm supposed to give to the poor, but an unintentional donation of my Social Security Card?
I soon discovered, via Blogspot quiz, that being a loser is just my personality. I didn't like how that sounded, though, so I elected not to put the result on MySpace. Instead, I moved on in the Blogspot circuit to discover that - of all the Starbucks drinks - I am a caramel Frappuccino.
My next guess was that losing things was my way of discovering how great other students really are. After losing my ID card (the first time), the girl who found it e-mailed me. When I lost my cell phone (the first time), the girl called my mom and responded to my roommate's text. When I lost my keys (only once, thankfully), I found them safely nestled in the corner of Debartolo's lost and found shelf. I am eternally grateful to every person who has found something of mine and returned it to me.
Since then, I have become increasingly aware of others' possessions. I guess I have made it my personal mission to make sure that no other person has to spend an hour walking around Flanner and Grace Halls with a flashlight at 1 a.m. trying to find his or her cell phone. I hope that everyone reading this feels the same way, because, baby, it's cold outside.
So if you find an object that looks like something someone might need, please do what you can to help. If it's a cell phone, you can call and have a nice chat with some random parents. If it has a name on it, you can reach out and make a new Facebook friend. If nothing else, you can at least find the lost and found location of the building you're in and drop off the object for some lucky loser to find. Unless you find a 1GB Sandisk Cruzer flash drive; a fuzzy pink, brown, tan and white scarf; a pair of gray and white gym shorts; or my ID card. You can bring those to me.
