Lost Oakley Sunglasses – Honesty Story #4

If there is one item I know people lose, it’s their sunglasses. In fact, I know some friends and family members that just don’t bother buying expensive designer or brand name sunglasses anymore. It would be hard for me to think of one person that I know that hasn’t lost their sunglasses. Ok, maybe my mother, just because she doesn’t wear sunglasses. In order to validate this assumption, I searched the Internet and found at least a couple of sites that had a report by the Bureau of Accessory Statistics (I didn’t know there was such an organization) that found Americans lose the most sunglasses in the world – that is over 1.6 billion pairs of sunglasses. According to the report, that would equal to 50 sunglasses lost each second or six pairs of sunglasses lost per American each year. Italy came in second place followed by Japan, Portugal and Iceland which also were in the top five countries that lose the most sunglasses each year.

I am not the exception, in fact just last year, I lost my favorite Oakley sunglasses. At the end of the Atlanta Lawn and Tennis Association (ALTA) City Finals (I was a spectator), I was helping the team captain carry some of the things to the car and since the sun was going down I took my sunglasses off and hung them from my shirt (bad idea). It wasn’t until I was driving off that I realized my Oakleys were no longer hanging from my shirt. Immediately, I panicked and thought how ironic it would be for me to lose my sunglasses especially that I hadn’t put an ImHONEST ID label on them. I could just hear it coming from those people that I had repeatedly told why they should label and register their portable valuable items.

I stopped the car and looked inside just in case I hadn’t dropped them while getting in. I ran back to where the car was parked and then tracked my way back to where I last remembered having them. I happed to look over at one of the tables just off the side of the path to the courts, and there they were. My first thought was “wow, those really look like my sunglasses” so then I asked the lady that was sitting their watching the match whether they were hers. She said she had just picked them up from grass next to the path and figured somebody might come back looking for them. I said “yes, they’re mine, thank you so much”. I thanked her at least a couple more times for her honesty. I walked back to my car happy to have my sunglasses and grateful to know there are still so many honest people. I also made it a point as soon as I got home to stick an ImHONEST ID label on my Oakleys so that if they ever were to get lost again the finder could report having found them.

(Photo Oakley Inc.)

Add comment January 25th, 2007