Last Sunday we went to a cheerleading competition which our daughter had been eagerly awaiting to attend - even though her ankle's not healed enough to compete yet. But off we went, and she got to get dressed in uniform and sit with her team as the parent's cheered on the cheer teams. It was well attended as they always are with hooting, screaming, stamping parents crowding the stands; proud daddies videotaping their girls and digital cameras flashing in the crowd. Of course, I was no different and was busy snapping photos and capturing some video with my camera as well as stamping and screaming with the rest of them. Ahhh... nothing like a competition to get you in the stampy, screamy mood. (And I'm nothing if not competitive ;) ) So at the end of the day (these competitions seem to go on forever), we got swept up in the crowd which surged to the exits. After gathering the daughter and her friend who was looking for a ride, we made our way to the door - but I stopped first to put on my jacket, setting my camera and purse on a nearby table (can you see where this is going?) and then grabbed my purse and left.
Later that evening, the daughter came in to see the photos and video I had taken so I told her to get the camera out of my purse. I knew the minute she said "Umm...it's not there." I just knew it wasn't here. With a frantic "Whaaaat?" I tore into my purse, the tote bag we had brought with us, felt my jacket pockets while D checked the car. No camera. Oh my freakin' gawd! I had left it back at the venue. Kiss it goodbye.
Sunday night I think I went from being enraged at myself for being so stupid, to being utterly depressed about having to replace it - I just felt certain that someone was saying "My lucky day!" as they pocketed it and went about their business.
Monday, although I'm pretty jaded about human nature, I'm also a ridiculous optimist so I thought maybe, just maybe, someone picked up my camera, looked at the photos which were mostly of our team and clearly showed the school team's name and maybe called the school to report it found. It's a stretch but it could happen. So I called the school and they said someone had picked it up and let our team's coach know they had it. I couldn't believe it! Talk about lucky - and I have it back in my hands today. D of course was crowing about me needing to reestablish my faith in human kindness well, that's a big step but for now I will say a prayer of thanks to the kind people that decided to be upstanding fellow humans.
