I lost my wallet on the bench in the subway station near my house. Is it called a wallet if it carries cards but no cash? Anyway I must have had it to swipe my MetroCard entering the subway, but I didn’t have it when I wanted to swipe for the bus to finish my commute. I knew right away what had happened. While waiting for the subway I usually put it in a coat pocket so it’s handy for the bus (as opposed to throwing it in my purse). Today I didn’t have a coat pocket, so I had it on my lap with a book I was editing. I was sure it slipped off when I stood up.
I filled out the MTA lost property request but didn’t report the cards stolen. Instead, I took a different route home so I’d wind up on the same side of the station (local station, no connection), looked around for it, and tried to find a local station master’s number but no luck.
Late at night a dude called with my wallet! So I raced over to his house (not that far), and the guy tried to get me to come into his room. It was sordid. I slipped him a $20 and bolted. Everything was there except the MetroCard.