It wasn’t more than a passing thought, really, except it is staying with me. Just a moment, standing outside the condo building in the Mexican resort. Yeah, a good place to be standing, I realize and something I gave thanks for frequently every day for the entire time I waddled from buffet to pool or buffet to beach or buffet to, um, a la carte restaurant. Oh boy, it’s Italian tonight!
It was when I first started to contemplate the rapidly approaching end to this vacation and a return to regular, everyday, hum drum, nose-to-the-washing-machine drudgery. And the cold.
There was the towel guy unloading a trolley of freshly laundered and folded towels which the white whales would spread upon their lounge chairs for the day. Even at 7:30 in the morning, the sun still rising, some people were deciding where the prime poolside spots would be and drizzling towels, books, hats and other marking devices over an assortment of lounge chairs just in case they might use them some time in the day.
Avarice in paradise.
Weird.
Anyway, back to watching the towel guy (I refuse to call a male person of at least 60 years of age ‘boy’ but, somehow towel man doesn’t feel right either) and the gardening people out trimming, clipping, digging (everything but spraying which they do at night when the guests cannot actually see why there are no bugs here in the tropics) and some kitchen helpers pushing a trolley of enough fruit to feed an irregular army.
It was a simple thought: when I go home I am going to a place, to a life that the people working here would consider luxurious, my every day is their idea of a holiday. They’d find it cold, definitely, but something they covet as I do when looking at yachts and luxury homes of the wealthy.
Now this was on the 3rd to last day of a 2 week visit to this resort. In the course of these weeks I had managed to lose my wedding rings in the surf and my camera in a daytime lounge.
Side note: this lounge was one of the 2 places in the resort with free wifi for those of use with the correct colour of wrist bands. Something I thought an immense burden, grumbling about it every morning and evening as I was forced (unbelievable, I know) to walk across the resort with my laptop to the wifi lounge. To check my email and cruise facebook. How unnecessary, a blatant attempt at forcing us into paying for the wifi service in our suites. Outrageous.
Anyway, I was very upset at losing the rings for the what they represented. But my long suffering husband had bought me another ring a few years back when on a work trip to India. He suggested, quietly, I transfer it to the now bereft finger. See, I bought you that one too, dear.
The camera loss was upsetting because it became obvious someone had taken it 
without the intention of turning it in. Side note #2: apparently there is no lost and found at the resort. Yeah. Not because things aren’t lost.
Anyway, I spent the next few days looking carefully at the cameras being used by anyone at the resort. I will pat myself on the back for not immediately suspecting any staff.
There were pictures on that camera from the trip that had not been uploaded. I hope whoever has it is enjoys my memories.
But, all things considered, I’ve gained more than I’ve lost. And I’m not talking about adipose or vanilla.
