Story Of A Lost Wallet…Oops Portefeuille!

At 2:50 AM, on the 22nd of Jan 2015, I boarded my Air France flight to Paris. I was heading to the US for an official trip of 6 weeks. My first flight was uneventful. I reached Paris at about 8:45 AM. I was all excited about being able to converse in French here. I was happy of the fact that I could read all the signboards written in French. But what I had no clue of at that time was that my knowledge of French language was just about to be put to one of the most difficult tests of all time. 

As soon as I found the gate where I had to board my next flight, I walked into a nearest store that sold Charlie Hebdo Magazine. I bought their most popular latest edition that had a green background with a cartoon of Mohammed holding a sign board saying - Je suis Charlie (I am Charlie) and a text below saying - Tout est pardonée (All is forgiven). I wondered if everything could be forgiven that easily. Perhaps it's a sign of being a superior human to forgive an act of terror as compared to reacting violently to sarcasm. I saw the difference and realised that the message was powerful. 

I stopped by a restroom to freshen up and while returning noticed that I had lost my wallet. I ran back to the restroom but did not locate it. I was terrified. The wallet had my credit cards and drivers license without which I would struggle in the US. I traced my path back to where all I had been to before loosing it and found nothing. 

"This is not happening", I kept thinking, in despair. 

I ran back to the restroom to check again. There were two janitors there all the time waiting outside so I decided to ask them. One of them was an old lady of asian origin and another guy perhaps of Moroccan or Algerian origin. I did not bother to check if they knew English and directly spoke to them in French. They told me that a Spanish passenger had found it and he was looking for me. I suddenly saw a sign of hope. I calmed down and started to think how the passenger might have thought. If I were him, I would go to the nearest Air France counter and check for the passenger by the name to whom this wallet belongs. So I do that. 

Two French of African origin greet me at one of the gates. Speaking French came almost automatically to me as if I have been speaking it since my birth. I explained my situation and wasted no time in telling them that a Spanish passenger has found it and may be looking for me. They asked me for my name and flight details and told me that they shall let me know if they found anything. "Mais, c'est bon que vous parlez français", (But it is good that you can atleast speak French) he added before I left. This gave me a sign of hope. I might somehow manage to find my missing wallet with the help of the language. 

I then checked at my gate. Another French lady of African origin greeted me and I explained my situation again. I kept mentioning the word « Wallet » and seems like thats not the word in French. She had trouble understanding. I tried again « Walley », this time pronouncing the word "Wallet" in French accent - did not help. So, I explained the word "wallet" with several words. 

« Porte d’affaire » she said. She quickly called other counters and got a negative response. I requested her to make an announcement but for some reason she couldn't make such announcements. So I decided to go searching for it again. I went to another counter and checked. They asked me to check at customer service. On my way there, I spotted another airport employee who helps passengers with questions. For some reason, I felt like checking with him. When I asked him he was suddenly happy and excited. He asked me, my name. With that verified, he handed me my wallet. I thanked him but he requested me to check if it had all the things intact.

I took a quick look. He requested me to check everything in detail. I did that and found everything okay. He told me later that the passenger found it in the toilet and then went for a smoke. After that, the Spanish passenger approached him and handed over the wallet. He was about to hand it over to the nearest AF gate when I met him. I thanked him. The two AF employees at the first gate I verified waved at me with joy and gave me a heads up as they watched me collect my wallet. I also thanked the lady at my gate for trying to help me. She seemed surprised that I found it. Half the people from my flight had already boarded. I had to run, but there was a sense of achievement that overtook all other emotion. 

I have lost my wallet once in the past. Back then, I had not panicked much. I was although worried about the inconvenience it might have caused. Therefore, it was not finding my wallet again that made me happy but the fact that I spoke entirely in French for the last 30 minutes that I was in Paris is what made me feel thrilled. I will never forget this event and I shall never forget this exam I had to take which I think, I passed with flying colours. Also, I shall never forget the word - "Portefeuille".