Don't Forget Your Wallet!

Our Apartment Building

Mornings are always uneventful for me, if you don't count this morning...

It all started as we were leaving for work.  As Chitrak boarded the elevator and began his descent, I noticed he had left his wallet on the table.  I ran over to the window, and watched as he walked out of the building without it.  

I shouted at him, "You forgot your wallet!  Let me bring it down to you!"  

"Don't worry about it," he said.  Any extra time would have made him late for his driver.

"Are you sure?"  I asked, because I was pretty sure he needed it today.

"Just throw it down to me," he said.  I contemplated it for a second, thinking of all the worse case scenarios in my head.  The most horrific thought played like a movie in my mind.  I could see all the credit cards and Yuans suspended in the air, moving in slow speed as it showered to the ground among the bushes and rain puddles that had remained stagnant for days.  

"Ok."  I said, and thought of a strategy of how to send it.  I'll send the fold down first, and let it drop straight down... I know the money won't fly out then.

In a matter of seconds, I had released the wallet from my hand and watched it float down to Chitrak... or the window ledge on the second floor.

What a disaster.  My driver would come to collect me in 10 minutes and all our money is now sitting in a puddle on an unreachable ledge.  I was certain there was no way to retrieve it.

At this moment, I had noticed an elderly woman had watched the entire act from beginning to finish from across the street.  She ran up to Chitrak expressing her dismay in Chinese.  She wasn't the only audience I had this morning. 

There was no time to waste.  I grabbed my keys off of the table and hopped in the elevator.  When I reached the ground floor, I found the only way to climb the building was through a balancing act from the wobbly rail, to the creaky door, and a not-so-humanly-possible jump to the ledge..  this wasn't going to work, although I did try one attempt to make absolutely sure the option was ruled out.

In the end, Chitrak made it to work on time, and I did as well.  As luck might have it, I had climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor and found a window.  After sliding it open, I crawled out onto a ledge, then hopped over to the other ledge with the wallet.  

Oh, and what was it that you asked?  Did Chitrak have his wallet for work today?  No, I left it at home on the table to dry.  :-)