Finders Keepers.........by Vic Davey

 

Someone wise once wrote, "nothing is really lost until Mum can't find it."  How true that is. I've lost count of the number of times just this week when I have put down my Specs only to spend the next half an hour searching for them and then face the humiliation of Mrs D picking them up from right under my nose. 

However, according to a recent survey by an Insurance Company they are not the most frequently lost item in the home. That is, of course, reserved for the TV Remote. I say, Of Course because it is another item in our house producing much frustration when it goes missing. 

In this particular survey, Glasses come out in second place,  while on things lost outside the home, Glasses come in first, followed by Keys.

While I was reading this, I started to wonder what other stuff gets lost out in the wide world, so I turned to Transport for London and was amazed at some of the things which turn up in their Lost Property Depot in East London, the largest in Europe.

Apparently, some 6,000 items arrive each week and that  takes some organizing and processing. Each article is logged and given a Reference number in the hope and expectation it will be claimed, within the 3 month time period, when it then becomes the property of TFL.

 Some of the unclaimed articles are donated to charity, sold at auction to help fund the Lost Property Warehouse or just disposed of, recycled where possible.

 The Staff are often amazed at the expensive items which turn up, Wedding and Engagement rings and luxury Jewelry, Rolex watches as well as bags of money, some containing up to 15000 pounds.

But for me, it is the more unusual things which are handed in which I find amusing. I mean, how can someone lose a Prosthetic Leg? Or a box of cooked frogs, not just the legs, the whole thing? A Bollard, or a brand new 50" Smart TV? And what about a Dalek Costume or a Wedding Dress?

How can they be lost, left behind and not reclaimed? One also wonders who owned the Stuffed Fox wearing a Royal Crown....someone must miss him!

The numbers in Madrid are quite similar to the train and metro services in London. Around 5,000 lost items per week are processed with the majority being Transport cards, Identity I.Ds and Driving licences. They also have their share of unusual articles, ranging from Microwaves to bicycles, wheelchairs to dental appliances. 

Next time I can't find my glasses, I'll think of the person who left behind a Parachute on the Underground  and hope he realized it in time!