I'm exhausted. It's 2 a.m. Entering the final week of my internship in Singapore, I lost my wallet. Inside the wallet lies my survival items: training employment pass, debit cards, ID card, driving license, etc. I am in a country without any family nor relatives. Work was packed today. Had to do paperworks for checking out of the dorm. Out of all the days in the week, why today? Or why at all?
My wallet; a gift from my sister-in-law-to-be. 2013–2019.
Dear future Wenny,
if you ever lose your wallet again, it's okay, the universe is refreshing your expired alertness instinct. You're probably feeling lost, you're panicking over how to best mitigate. You might want to call a friend right now but hold on, save your phone battery.
If you're still using prepaid SIM card, please, please, please check that it has enough balance, because I know it usually doesn't. You should still have access to whatever e-banking app you're using, top it up. Then right away, call your banks block your cards. Don't forget to check whether the last transaction on that card was actually you.
Do you still have a back-up transit card outside your wallet like you always do? Good girl.
Ok now you shouldn't have that much to lose anymore. Check your phone battery, if it's about to die, text your closest friend and tell them briefly that you're in a bad shit-uation right now, then secretly hope that they offer to help. Just kidding, you can do this on your own.
Let's take a deep dive into your memory of today. Trace back to the latest moment you had sight on your wallet. Position yourself as the wallet, and replay whatever happened down to this second.
"We were in Wenny's room and she packed me into her backpack. I was put on top of other useless stuffs, then she zipped the bag. I was already scared because the zipper was not at all secure. I knew something was bound to happen. But what can I say? I'm just a wallet."
By now you've found the most probable reason why your wallet decided to leave; you didn't give her a secure position. You rode two buses along the way, walked through a bridge and went inside your destination building. Then you noticed that it was gone.
I told you to save your battery right? Do you still have enough left? If yes, let's do a simple backtrack with the phone's torch on. If no, let's do a backtrack anyway. Thanks to the laws of gravity, you can narrow down your line of sight. Imagine dropping your wallet at every point that you walked on. Where would it end up? If you still have enough computing power, try to imagine if it got accidentally kicked.
There's an important thing you should do along the way. If you meet a person that you previously met, ask that person if they saw a stray wallet and pray to God that they answer honestly. The building receptionist, the security guards at your dorm's gate, the janitor you greeted, that stranger at the bus stop. Do this not only because you think they might have seen it, but also to not regret future thoughts — "Darn it I should have asked that person!"
You traced back to the place where you last saw your wallet. If you find it, reward yourself with some ice cream.
If you're still reading up to this point, maybe today is not your day. Sit down and get ready to jot down some words.
We tried thinking backwards, now it's time to think forward. Before that, take a moment to thank the Lord you still have your passport…. right? Right??
Let's replay the whole thing once again. You rode two buses. I'm quite sure you still remember their numbers. Find out their lost-and-found procedures and contact them. Won't hurt to also contact the building management and your dorm's administration office. Drop them some e-mails and give them your contact number. Now, you've contacted everyone who might have seen or have even the slightest chance of finding your wallet.
What did you just lose?
- Your training employment pass. You knew you only had 1 week left, and getting a new one can take as long as 14 days. Your flight back home can't be rescheduled and your next internship starts next week. Great, Wenny, great. Contact your immigration PIC from your company, wherever you're working right now. This is probably not the first time it happens. They will know what to do. Nevertheless, you probably would need an official report from the police, so note it down in your calendar.
- Your debit card. You blocked it, right? You also made sure that the last transaction was really done by none other than you. It's okay, they're now dead pieces of plastic. Sort it out tomorrow. Visit your friend and borrow $20. Pay them back later, and treat them good food for being there.
- Your ID card. You can deal with this when you get back home. Note that you'll probably still need to go to your hometown police station to get an official report too. Just remember not to drive there because you just lost your license and you would get the kind of report you don't want.
- Your driving license. Ugh. The most dreaded part. Remember that time you went to get your license? You'll have to do it all over again. But it's alright, public transport is not that bad.
- Some cash. You just withdrew $200 that evening. I warn you, do not get your hopes up. Just think of it as a donation to whoever is lucky enough to find it, which might also end up being you. You learned from this and minimised your cash usage. So I hope that if this ever happens again, you would've been all cashless.
- Some loyalty cards. Geez you know you're not that loyal to any brands anyway, good time to stop hoarding those stuffs.
- The wallet itself. Wait you're still using a physical wallet? Whatever, it's sunk cost anyway. It's probably a gift cause you know you don't buy wallets for yourself.
Doesn't sound so bad does it? You're alive, your passport is with you, your phone is with you. You did a good job.
Now are you tired? Go home, you can go talk to your friends, but withhold it from your family because they would be worried. Tell them later when all the stuffs are settled, like what you did that time. Vent it out and doze off. More things to take care of in the next few days.