The Invisible Hand?
[a year ago, today]
Last seen: ???
It's Tuesday afternoon and I'm already worn out from meetings. Then an email pops up: hydro bill didn't go through, something something "payment method invalid". Sure. I reached for my jacket's pocket and…
Where is it!?
I double-check in case I'd missed a pocket, even pulling an Usher towards the end. Still, nothing. I started panicking. While patting down everything that had pockets, I dug through hazy memories of the day before.
The last time I remember holding my wallet was to tap my compass card on the bus home after a library run. Did it fall out of my pocket after I got off the bus? Did I drop it on the seat? Or worse. Had someone stolen it?
I gave up searching, certain I'd lost it. Fortunately, I remembered bolting an AirTag to the wallet and pulled up my phone to see if it'd picked up on the location.
Last Seen: 15 mins ago
What's it doing all the way in South Burnaby!?
I'd never been to that part of the city. Yesterday's errand run was in North Burnaby, very much the opposite direction!
Hei! No time to waste! (my West African expletives come out most when I'm stressed)
With an Uber already 3 mins away, I remembered to get back to my work machine to drop a message before rushing out:
The driver probably realised I wasn't in the mood for small talk. My responses were terse, distracted. With my forehead warm from overworrying, I bounced between the views behind the lowered glass (I needed the wind to cool off), and the map view on my phone.
The wallet icon had moved around a little bit. Whoever had stolen it was on the move!
Last seen: 27 mins ago
🎵 Feet don't fail me now, move without a sound…🎵
Terrel Hines' Get Up blasted through my headphones when we got to the bend of Arcola St and Hall Ave. I stretched my legs and cracked knuckles, ready to pounce on whoever thought they could do one on me.
Have a good d—
Thanks, you too, bye!
I'd jumped out of the car long before the driver could finish the customary salutation.
Last seen: 36 mins ago
I followed the trace, trying to sync my location beacon with the lost wallet icon. My heartbeat seemed to align with the song's tempo as I hurried around, trying to figure out where my wallet could be.
🎵 Comin' to your door, 'bout to take my money 🎵
Hmm, is it inside one of those planters?
🎵 Talk that shit, boy, you don't mean nothing 🎵
Or did the thief leave it inside their Kia?
🎵 Movin' with the jackals and hangin' with the junkies 🎵
Or maybe it's around that tree on the far side?
I tried using the live direction feature in case the wallet's airtag was still around:
🎵 Fuck the government 'cause they never gonna love me 🎵
Eii, where is it!?
Frustration built up with the crescendo of the song. I moved further down the street looking left, right, down, up, everywhere. My wallet could be anywhere. And every minute I spent not finding it was a minute the person could be moving further away, if they hadn't already (it's now been 40 mins since the tracker got a ping).
🎵 Everybody, everybody, everybody runnin'. Smile to your face but they all want somethin' 🎵
There was nobody on the street to ask (it's 3pm on a Tuesday). I looked at the tracker, nothing. I got desperate, whipping my head at every corner. My sight was now obviously vignetted with my anxiety. I turned off the music. The drama wasn't helping.
I turned around to head back to the intersection when my phone buzzed. Quickly, I pulled it out and felt slight relief. We have a signal now.
Last seen: Now
I walked right up to the same spot as the white car and looked the other way, at the building
I walked into the quiet office, my first time in an RCMP office. I headed down the hallway to the end with a glass barrier.
Hey there, what can I do for you?
I explained the situation to the woman behind the glass and showed her the tracker indicating the wallet could be in the office.
Oh wait.
I perked up slightly.
We got something, gimme a sec…
Could it be?...
According to the claims form, a woman had found my wallet lying at the Arcola bus stop, not so far from this police station and turned it in. How did it even get to the bus stop? No one knows, and no one ever will.
Regardless, I was very grateful to get my hands on it, and a little guilty about the 🎵 fuck the government 🎵 part of the song I lip-synced to in my frantic search.
I signed the release forms, said a dozen thank yous and headed on out, grateful for mesh networks and BLE technology.
Last seen: With You
I walked out, the vignette slowly receding into the background. With the tension coming down, I could see how unfamiliar this part of town was. Before, that uncertainty made the search so unnerving. But now that I was calmer, curiosity bubbled up.
I opened Gogomi to confirm that most of this neighbourhood was unexplored.
I took a stroll around the block, noticing things I'd blown past while hunting for my wallet. The cold breeze helped calm my nerves, though the eerily empty streets kept me slightly on edge. Still, there was life: in the slowly blossoming cherry blossoms, in that little garden patch, and—I'm certain—behind the closed doors and windows of the dull-painted buildings.
Later that night I posted on my socials about what had happened, and everyone expressed surprise at this story. If I average all the words it'd be: Woooah! That's crazy.
But there was one comment that took me back for a moment:
A very interesting conjecture! I imagine some invisible force slowly goading me towards places I'd never been before. To be honest, sometimes I myself wonder how I ended up on this quest to walk all of the city: whether mapping my walks made me want to walk everywhere, or wanting to walk everywhere made me start mapping. I'd never considered Gogomi as an embodiment of this curious and adventurous animating spirit.
Rationally, I know: wallet slips out somewhere, good samaritan finds it, drops it at the nearest RCMP. Simple. But had the wallet not ended up at the opposite end of the city, had it not been turned in to this specific station, I wouldn't have walked those streets. Was that the mystical animating spirit moving me? Coincidence?
