Ever had one of those days where you can’t get it together? Your mind is going a million miles per hour, and you’re not exactly sure what day it is. You forget where you put your glasses and keys, or you can’t seem to do anything right that day?! Yeah, that’s me like 85% of the week because you know when you have kids, it’s hard to adult.
Sometimes those moments turn into embarrassing moments. I’ve been through it all. But in my opinion, from all my crazy moments, there’s just that one awkward moment in 2019 that hits the home run!
The Moment
Picture this; I begged a fast-food manager to let me take full trash bags to my house. I know what you are thinking, “Why would she ask for that?” or “Ew! She likes to look through trash!!” Well, that’s precisely what I felt when I left with those trash bags. Let me explain my day and what lead me to this.
The Story
That day I was tired from staying up late trying to nurse my infant because he was going through a sleep regression. So I was functioning with only three hours of sleep.
When I picked up my daughter from school, I thought, “Let’s do an early dinner before dance class. Something easy and that the kids will love.“
So we went to a fast-food restaurant down the street. That day the restaurant was celebrating its one year birthday of being open, so they had cake and ice cream for everyone. It was a packed house. Of course, one thing leads to another. I’m thinking I put my wallet in my purse, but I didn’t.
I ended up throwing it away. I didn’t realize I threw it away until I came home and couldn’t even find my wallet or my phone. (My wallet has a holder for my phone, so I had lost both). So I took both of my kids and drove back to the restaurant. When I got there, I explained to the manager what happened, and they were more than happy to help me. But they had to get the key to the trash can. As I’m waiting, they grabbed one of the employees to help me go through the trash bag. He insisted that he goes through the trash bag and looks for it instead of me, but he didn’t find it.
That made me so anxious. Every passing minute I’m thinking, “Why couldn’t I have been more careful?” So finally the manager asked if I can call my phone, and of course, that would have been an excellent idea. But my phone at the time I lost it was at 2%, so I felt even more embarrassed and explained.
So here comes the embarrassing moment. I asked the manager if it would be possible to take the trash bags home and look for myself. They all were in complete shock. The manager said, “I would hate for you to do that. Let me try to have my employee look through it again.”
The same employee looked through the bag but just shuffled through the top of the trash and couldn’t find it. I don’t blame the employees or the managers. Who wants to go through trash? I certainly didn’t, but when not only my wallet with all my essential cards are inside, and my phone is lost inside . . . YES, I will look through the trash (with gloves on, of course).
With everything that was going on, I completely broke down (ugly cry) in front of the manager and explained, “I know it sounds gross, but I KNOW I accidentally threw away my phone and wallet. Please let me take the trash bag home, and I will go through it myself.”
Of course, at that perfect timing, my daughter saw one of her classmates and her family coming inside. So that took my embarrassment to a WHOLE new level. The manager agreed, and they walked the bags to the trunk of my car and wished me luck. I proceeded to do the “drive of shame” back home.
Luckily, I was able to find my cell and wallet within minutes of going through the trash. It was inside one of the kids’ food bags. I was beyond relieved! Since the manager had called my cell to find my phone, I had his number on my phone, so I was able to call him back, explaining with relieved excitement that I found my phone and wallet in the trash bag!
I learned to pay more attention to what I am throwing away. I bought the Tile GPS tracker for my cell and wallet. Both my husband and I have one now. If you asked me if I ever returned to that particular restaurant, yes, I did! It took me three months to pass the embarrassment, but a girl has got to have her chicken. The funny thing is that none of the staff seemed to remember me as the crazy, going-though-the-trash lady. That’s a good thing.
