People lose stuff every day. Many items are often replaced by their owners, but cameras and the memories they hold of birthdays, weddings, vacations, and the people we love are often truly missed and irreplaceable. Cameras seem to be at the top of the list for items that are easily forgotten or misplaced. Recently I found a small Olympus camera in front of the house. It was inside a backpack. Guess someone had dropped it as they bicycled through the neighborhood. Looking for a clue to the owner’s identity I gave the pictures a quick look.
The shots weren’t typical. Road intersections, snow on cars, bicycle handlebars, and asphalt. There were also pictures of guys in hard hats. The camera is blue so I figured guy, right? Then I wondered how I could find the owner. First stop was the local Craig’s list where I posted my find along with all the notices of lost Yorkies, Pomeranians, coats, and driver’s licenses. Lisa Aschinoff— Quizno’s has yours.
I wondered if there wasn’t someplace to get some real visibility. I hopped over to Facebook and to my surprise there was already a group just for lost cameras. I added my find to the list of posts and checked to see if any matched mine. As I scrolled through a couple of pages I realized that there were many desperate postings by people who had lost cameras everywhere from Bangkok to Orlando, but none were for those that had been found. Discouraged? Not me. I rooted for the 1969 miracle Mets when I was a kid. I believe in fairy tales, one in a million shots, and improbable happy endings.
Where could I turn next. Then I discovered I Found Your Camera. On the website you upload the pictures from the camera and hope for the best. I was surprised to see that many cameras had been reunited with their owners. That’s hopeful news. Budget Travel did a good article about lost cameras and it repeats the information that I find to be true from my experience searching lost and found ads. People lose cameras on vacation, in transportation like taxis and buses, on top of slot machines, and at concerts. So be careful when you are distracted or in unfamiliar places. As soon as I can figure out how to retrieve the pictures from the Olympus I’m going to send them to the site. Maybe I’ll hit a home run like Tommie Agee. Could happen.
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