A Missing Coat

Monday was a very warm day, so Hiromi carried his coat to work instead of wearing it.  It would be after dark when his shift ended, so he thought he would need it then and he hung it in its usual place in the employee break room area.  He couldn't find his coat when it was time to go home.  "There was one left hanging there pretty close to where I usually hang mine, but it didn't look like mine at all," he said.  "I hope it was just a mistake and not somebody stealing my coat."

Over the next few days he talked to the people in the personnel department about who might have gotten off work during a certain time period--in the 2-hour time slot after he last saw it hanging there and before he left for home.  Someone there suggested he make a sign and post it near the coat hooks.  They also said they might be able to check the surveillance camera for the record of what happened during that time period, in case someone took it.

Hiromi made the sign and waited.  In the meantime he wore his everyday coat to work.  It is not a pretty coat, and I voiced my objection to him wearing that "ugly old thing."  He was undaunted and merrily assured me that it was all the better if people noticed his ugly coat because then everyone would be more helpful in locating his better one.  Indeed, for the rest of the week, people at work inquired solicitously about whether he had found his coat yet.

We talked about it several times, imagining the guilt someone was feeling if they had stolen it, or the chagrin when they discovered that they had accidentally taken the wrong coat home.  How could they mistake Hiromi's coat for theirs if it looked as different from the rightful one as the leftover coat did?

Yesterday he was puzzling over what he could wear to church this morning.  I was happy to hear that he was not considering his everyday coat.  He finally decided he could wear his light jacket with a sweater underneath.

I put on my coat this morning before Hiromi did.  I first looked for it on the "front door chair" which serves as a staging area for whatever needs to go out the door when we leave.  It's a wooden Ethan Allen captain's chair--massive, with wooden arm rests, and the side piece of the back extending up past the top.  It makes a perfect coat hook, and I sometimes hang my coat there--at least until I get it to my bedroom closet.  Hiromi does the same thing, and sometimes we have a double-layer of coats on the same "hook."

This morning the coat there wasn't mine.  I held it up and gave it a quick look.  It was Hiromi's lost coat!  I called out the good news to Hiromi and then went looking in the closet for mine.  Not there.  In the hall closet maybe?  Not there either.  I couldn't find it anywhere.

"I'll bet you took my coat to work instead of yours," I announced, as the evidence mounted.  "No wonder the coat left there didn't look like yours--because it was probably mine.  So did you actually wear my coat to work?" I asked incredulously.  It does indeed look very different from his, color being the only clear similarity.  He didn't have a good answer.  It was only later that he remembered that he had carried "his" coat on that day.

The explanations at work are bound to be a little awkward.

Hiromi's busy trying to think how to word a new sign for the break room.  He's planning to start out like this:  My coat stayed at home all of last week.  My wife's coat stayed here all last week.  

My husband seldom has blond moments.  I pretty well have a monopoly on those in our household, so this is quite entertaining.

Oh yeah.  I wore my school coat to church this morning and he wore his church/work coat.  Problem solved.  Till tomorrow.  When the explanations begin.

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I'm pondering the wisdom of seizing the moment for some moralizing:  No matter how right you think you are, and how wrong you think other people are, the reality may reveal something very different from the perceived reality.  This highlights the need for caution in promoting our own "reality" as the one everyone should adopt.

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I can't find my most beautiful crystal dessert/salad serving bowl.  It has straight sides forming a tapered shape, and has designs etched in the glass.  It's quite heavy.  It was a wedding gift from some dear Ohio friends from Maranatha School teaching days.  If anyone knows where it is I'd love to have it back.  When I find it, it's entirely possible that I'll have another blond moment to record in my repertoire of such events.  I need all the help I can get though, so I'm asking for help.