The Day I became an International Emergency

Anyone who has known me long enough is very aware that I have an extremely hard time of holding on to my property. I have had the "Oh No, I Lost My Glasses" Episode, followed by "Tales of the Missing Camera," "Let's all Search in the Parking Lot for Harp Car" Parts 1, 2, and 3, and "If You Were My IPod, Where Would You Be?" just to name a few of the classics. Well, last week was the first installment of my newest epic "Phone Fun!" It all began a week ago Thursday on an innocent Christmas shopping trip. The last thing I remember was writing a text message while riding the bus and then placing my phone in my purse. Several hours later -- it was gone!!! (the phone, that it is -- though, knowing my track record, I wouldn't be too surprised if I lost a bus or two!) Obviously, the first thing I did was search all my bags and pockets, then I dragged Sarah to the bus station's "Lost and Found" which happened to be closed. Friday not only was a hectic day, but the weather was awful (cold, wet, rainy, windy) and by the end, the last thing I wanted to do was to go splashing through puddles on a quest for the aforementioned missing item. Feeling very depressed, I decided to call (on Sarah's phone) the forces: My LOLs! Saturday found us calling the police, the bus terminal, and taking a wild ride down the streets of Hamamatsu as I attempted to navigate back to every store I had originally visited. At one store, a young man (who was obviously very knowledgeable in all things cellphone) insisted that we shut off the phone. Come to find out, Japanese cellphones have a special bill-paying feature directly connected to one's bank account. So, if someone has the cellphone, they can also get access to one's finances. This information found us scrambling to the closest cellphone store to cut off all power. Come to find out, the feature wasn't on my cellphone, but it scared us enough to put a remote lock on the phone thus blocking all users. That was a week ago.....





Yesterday, when I returned to my school's staff room after teaching, one of the teacher's practically jumped out of his chair to tell me that I had received an "emergency" call from an "Otsuki-san" (one of my LOLs). Someone had returned a cellphone to the police department and it matched my phone's description. However, since it was locked, nobody could check the number to make sure it was my phone. So they wanted to know if I could identify the attached strap. After correctly describing the three monkeys sitting on a bunch of bananas (don't even ask why I have that strap on my phone -- it's a completely different crazy story!) I was informed that, yes, indeed, the phone was mine. However, since the police station is closed on Saturdays and Sundays (I guess one can't commit crimes on the weekends here in Japan) I had to arrive by five! Unfortunately, due to a various events out of either my or my LOLs' control, it was going to be an impossible feat. Therefore, claiming that it was an "International Emergency" my LOLs insisted that the police department remain open till 6 so that I could claim my phone before I leave on Monday for Florida. They must have been very convincing because at the specified time, I was escorted into the police department, with numerous police staring in awe of a blonde walking through their corridors. With much tradition and lots of bowing, my cellphone was returned and soon we were able to easily remove the remote lock. As far as I can tell, nobody used my phone to make any calls during the past week and my bank account is still intact. All in all, it was just one more crazy adventure in the life of the tentmaker (who now just happens to be on the Japanese police's black list!)