08-15-2003, 12:10 PM
[cool]It would seem that you are a lot luckier than those forgetful souls who leave things behind. The 
part of it is that you hate to see anyone lose gear that probably meant a lot to the family budget to buy it. But, in a lot of cases...where you are a long ways from any big town...the people probably don'e even discover the items are missing until the next time they need them. Then, they get the mental picture of where they saw them last...right where you found them. I know, it has happened to me, both ways. I have lost stuff and found stuff.
I usually have a mental checklist I go through before leaving an area. I double check all around my vehicle and near the water where I came out in my tube...especially if it was after dark. Many is the time I have found something with my flashlight that I had dropped and would have sorely missed if I had left it behind. I think that's how a bunch of stuff gets left behind...just not doing a good job of cleaning up the area before they go.
I have always been a money finder. I walk a lot and I could't begin to total up the amount of coins and bills I have found walking through neighborhoods and shopping center parking lots early in the morning. I have found quite a bit of money along streamsides and lakes too. Excited anglers are in and out of their pockets while fishing and don't pay attention to dropped change, bills or even wallets. I once found and returned both a wallet and a set of car keys to a guy who was frantically searching along the bank...and couldn't remember where he had taken them out of his pocket because they were uncomfortable. Boy was he relieved...and me too.
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part of it is that you hate to see anyone lose gear that probably meant a lot to the family budget to buy it. But, in a lot of cases...where you are a long ways from any big town...the people probably don'e even discover the items are missing until the next time they need them. Then, they get the mental picture of where they saw them last...right where you found them. I know, it has happened to me, both ways. I have lost stuff and found stuff. I usually have a mental checklist I go through before leaving an area. I double check all around my vehicle and near the water where I came out in my tube...especially if it was after dark. Many is the time I have found something with my flashlight that I had dropped and would have sorely missed if I had left it behind. I think that's how a bunch of stuff gets left behind...just not doing a good job of cleaning up the area before they go.
I have always been a money finder. I walk a lot and I could't begin to total up the amount of coins and bills I have found walking through neighborhoods and shopping center parking lots early in the morning. I have found quite a bit of money along streamsides and lakes too. Excited anglers are in and out of their pockets while fishing and don't pay attention to dropped change, bills or even wallets. I once found and returned both a wallet and a set of car keys to a guy who was frantically searching along the bank...and couldn't remember where he had taken them out of his pocket because they were uncomfortable. Boy was he relieved...and me too.
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