A Tale of Lost Keys and High-Speed Bus Chases

I’m taking a break from hearing aid-related stories today to tell you about an adventure I had last Thursday.

It was about 4:00, and I had just come back from school on the 38 bus from Southgate, and I walked from my stop to my house. When I got to my front door, I reached into my coat pocket where I always keep my keys, and THEY WEREN’T THERE. I freaked out a little bit, frantically patting all my pockets to see if I had somehow put it in the wrong pocket, but no such luck. I grabbed the spare key, went into my house, dropped my stuff off and grabbed my spare car key, and headed out to find my keys. I couldn’t think where I might have left them, because the way my coat pocket is on my jacket it’s unlikely that anything would fall out. I figured the best bet was that I had dropped them on the bus at some point, so I went to find that 38 bus.

I saw a bus before I had even left my neighbourhood, so I pulled ahead of it, parked and went over to the nearest bus stop. When the bus came, something seemed a little off, so I got on and just started to say “I think I left my…” when I realized that there was a different bus driver, different passengers, and I was on the wrong bus. This bus was going to Southgate, not coming from it. The driver confirmed that it was the wrong bus, so I asked him where the other 38 would be. He wasn’t sure, but he could tell me that its route took it all the way down Riverbend Road. I hopped back in my car and headed on.

I drove perhaps a little recklessly, a bit over the speed limit maybe, panicking and praying the whole way. All along Riverbend Road I slowed down just slightly as I passed each bus stop so I could read the signs and confirm that I was still on the right route. When Riverbend Road intersected with Rabbit Hill Road, I still hadn’t seen the 38, and I wasn’t even sure that I hadn’t passed it while it went into some side neighbourhood or something. I continued on Riverbend Road, but after passing a couple more bus stops, I realized that none of them said “38” on the signs.

I pulled a U-turn in the middle of the (empty) road, went back to the Riverbend/Rabbit Hill intersection, and this time I turned onto Rabbit Hill Road. As I passed a few stops there, I was able to confirm that I was on the right track again. I still hadn’t even seen the 38, though I had seen several other buses. Finally, I got to the intersection of Rabbit Hill Road and Leger Blvd, and I figured that if I hadn’t caught it at this point I must have missed it or passed it. I decided to wait at the bus stop there and hope the 38 would eventually come. It was about 4:30.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It was almost 4:45 now, and I hadn’t seen a single bus, much less the 38. I started hearing some yelling, and I looked around to see who it was and where it was coming from. After a moment, I realized that it was a guy in the balcony of his top floor condo across the street yelling at me. I couldn’t quite understand what he was saying due to street noises and deafness, so I jogged to the corner and then across the street during a break in traffic. I still had some trouble understanding him, but I was able to catch the drift of it. Basically, he was telling me that there was no bus that came to that stop (despite the two benches, sign and glass shelter). I saw no reason not to trust him, and at this point it seemed as though my keys were just gone, so I drove home pretty dejectedly.

Once I got home, I looked up the number for ETS lost and found and I called them, but they close at 4:30. I was pretty done, annoyed and worried about how I would have to get all the keys replaced and everything. My Dad came home about this time, and I told him my story. He asked me where I had last seen the keys, and I had to admit that I had no idea. They could have fallen out at any point since I last drove my car the day before. My Dad then asked me what jacket I had been wearing when I was driving that day. I realized that I had worn a different jacket then. I went to the closet, and with a mix of hope and horror, I reached into the pocket of my other coat and pulled out my keys. THEY WERE AT HOME THE WHOLE TIME.

I was happy to find them of course, but at the same time I had now just wasted an hour pointlessly searching and chasing buses. It was an interesting day.

So that’s my story. Has this (or anything like this) happened to you? Please let me know in the comments! (Please. I don’t want to be the only one.)