Fingers Crossed

Last Thursday, as I practiced my speech for Toastmasters on the train, something occurred right under my nose that would screw up my life for a little bit. Well, okay, just a small portion of my life, but still...

With all the people who take public transportation in Tokyo it's common to get a monthly train pass, which are available at major stations for periods of one, three or six months. There is a considerable discount involved in these passes, so I bought mine on the first of the month. Since there are a few ways I can get to work, I decided to get a one-month pass and try out a route with slightly more transfers, but one which goes through Ikebukuro and Shinjuku, where I can hang out with friends on the weekends.

Then on Thursday, while I was preparing for my Icebreaker speech (see previous post), I had my speech written on a piece of paper in my pocket, and pulled it out to practice while on the train. Well, my train pass must've been enveloped in the folded page somehow, because at some point if was no longer in my pocket. When I exited the train and fished around in my coat for my train pass I almost instantly realized what must've happened. The problem was that whatever train I had lost it on was now headed out to the end of the line and I was starting work in 10 minutes.

I called my office to let them know what happened and warn them that I might be a few minutes late, and then I spoke with the station manager. Although he tried to be helpful by calling a few stations, in the end he said there wasn't much he could do for me. He recommended I check with the station where I bought the train pass in a few days time, because that's where it would be returned if someone found it and turned it in.

I headed to work and found my boss in the lobby of my building. He was just about to head over to the station to see if I needed any assistance. Well, that right there brightened my day a bit, but I still knew I was going to have to make a lot of phone calls and run around a bit if I wanted to get my train pass back, and that was really dependent on whether or not someone would turn it in. My boss encouraged me by saying that since my name is Western there was a good chance that someone would turn it in since, for one, they would feel bad for an American who lost his train pass, and two, they would easily be spotted using it and could get in trouble, therefore lessening it's value. Haha, go figure!

Well, on Sunday Jing stopped by the Ikebukuro station Lost & Found and they said a train pass had been found and would be delivered to their office on Monday. BUT, they said the name on the pass was slightly different, but the route and usage period was the same. So fingers crossed, they didn't mistakenly reported the name on the pass and it will be mine!