This article was originally published on 365Economist
That Looks Like One Productive Fishing Trip
This family had been visiting the same lake for family vacations for years, so they obviously knew the best spots for fishing. They were probably expecting to go out on the day this picture was taken, and catch a few nice fish to fry up for dinner. What we're they didn't expect was that they'd wind up pulling their father's 20-year-old lost wallet out of the water, still as fresh as the day it was lost!
Alright, maybe it's not completely as fresh as it used to be. It does look a little soggy. But hey, at least now he can unpause his credit cards!
Moving House Is The Worst, Something Always Gets Lost
It's so frustrating to try to set up your new apartment, and to realize that something got lost during the move. If what you lost is important, it could make the whole move feel pointless, and leave you feeling restless until you replace it. Thankfully for this guy, he found his wedding ring pretty quickly after moving, but who could've expected where he'd find it? Does anyone else store their wedding ring with their floss picks?
This guy obviously would've found his ring eventually, and this picture would probably make a dentist very proud. Obviously, this guy keeps dental hygiene among his list of priorities.
Ah Yes, The Classic Rechargeable Television Remote
As we get older, we all tend to get a little more forgetful. So, when you're staying with grandparents, try to give them a little slack if things are out of place. Still, this guy was in for a shock when he sat down in his grandfather's living room and then tried to turn on the television. Instead of a TV remote, he found a phone. Then, he checked the phone charger and lo and behold...
To be fair, the remote fits in that phone charger pretty snugly. It's almost like it was meant to be plugged in there. Young or old, that seems like a mistake anyone could make.
Can Anyone Read What It Says Under The Car Here?
We've all lost things in unexpected places before. There's the classic phone in the fridge, the clean clothes in the dirty hamper, all of the usual misplacements. But, what about if you think you've dropped something, and you didn't drop it at all? This mechanic was left pondering that when his glasses fell off his head, and he couldn't find them anywhere on the floor. Then, he looked up at the car he was working on.
After getting stuck under a car, we're pretty sure these lenses are going to need to be cleaned. But, at least the guy doesn't need a whole new set of glasses!
So That's Where We Put Every Missing Sock Ever
Not all washing machines were created equal, and some have a greater penchant for stealing socks than others do. Unfortunately for the person from the image below, their washing machine is one of those that loves to eat socks. Double unfortunately, they never thought to pull back the rubber and check if any socks were stuck. So, after a few years, they found the sock trap and were left with enough spares to open up a store!
On the bright side, all of those socks have got to be pretty clean. They've been washed continuously for years! It can't get much cleaner than that.
When a Regular Afternoon Gardening Turns Into a Treasure Hunt
Apparently, way back in the '90s, this woman's mother lost her wedding ring while gardening. Over the years, the family forgot about the lost ring and continued tending to their home as any family would. But, a few years ago, when taking care of things in the garden, Mom pulled a carrot out of the ground and lo and behold, something was growing around it's stem. That's right, it was the missing wedding ring after all those years!
We're guessing this ring just got turned over and pushed around in the dirt for years until this carrot finally grew and pushed it up. How lucky!
Has Anyone Seen The Sixth Book In This Series?
It's pretty fun being from a family of avid readers. You're always competing with your sibling to see who can read more, and you'll always have someone to discuss your latest reading with. Well, this voracious reader had to take a break from reading for a few days in order to find the sixth book in the series they were reading. Even more confusing, they were sure that the family already had the book in the house!
If you haven't figured it out yet, the sixth book is sitting right there, upside down, disguised as the ninth book in the series.
Happy Birthday Son! Sorry It's About 34 Years Too Late
It is one of the greatest feelings in the world when you buy a birthday present for someone, and you just know they're going to love it. With that being said, it has to be one of the worst feelings in the world to buy a birthday present for someone, to know they're going to love it, and then to lose that birthday present! But, this person's parents have personal experience with that feeling.
Over thirty years after the fact, this person's parents found the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy they were going to give him. Bummer, but we hope he still took it out and played with it.
Vintage Ticket Stubs Can Be Worth A Lot Of Money
This person lucked out while cleaning out their car. They went to detail the car's interior, stopping to check the vanity mirrors, and all of a sudden this piece of paper fell down. Turns out, it was a ticket stub from the person's first-ever concert, way back in 2006. Nowadays, ticket stubs and classic memorabilia from events can go for a lot of money too, so this person might want to sell that old ticket!
Even if they don't sell it, it's great having a piece of memorabilia from your own life like that. We have plenty of old concert ticket stubs hanging up around the office here too.
Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Clean Up
When our parents used to tell us to put away our toys, they weren't just doing it for their own good. If kids don't take care of their things, they can easily get lost or misplaced, and then that will turn into a whole larger issue for the whole family. Take this toy, for example, this person left it somewhere at their grandparent's house but couldn't remember where. Years later, they found it.
Isn't nature so metal? It's pretty awesome that a tree could just grow around a toy like this and keep thriving. Maybe the tree is even playing with the toy.
Lost Book Returns Almost Twenty Years Later
When this young woman lost her favorite copy of her favorite book, she was devastated. But, she moved on and kept collecting other books she'd enjoy. Almost twenty years later, she had a chance to buy a copy of her favorite book that looked exactly like the one she'd lost, and she decided to go for it. Later, she found out this book didn't just look like her old copy, it was her old copy!
We don't know whether to call this luck or fate. Not only is it miraculous that she found her own copy of the book again, but the book's other owners kept it in great condition.
Honey, Kids, Has Anyone Seen The Car Keys?
The hilarious picture below was taken after a father found himself rushing out the door for work in the morning. Just one problem, he couldn't find his car keys. So he asked his wife, who didn't know where they might be. Then, he asked the kids, and his son informed him that he'd borrowed them. They went into the living room, and the father found his car keys sticking out of his son's plastic riding car!
It was an inventive move to say the least that this kid used his dad's keys in his car. But, these parents should be careful when the kid gets a little older.
We Could Listen To This Rap Tape Goldmine For Hours
Most people spend their young adult lives collecting something, usually related to pop culture. Whether it's pictures of the Jonas Brothers, or New Kids on the Block CDs, or Nintendo video games, keeping a collection is always a lot of fun. But, as we grow older and move around, most of those collections get lost. That's why this person was so stoked when they stopped by their parents and found all these old rap tapes!
This treasure trove of early rap hits encompasses some of the best artists from the era. Plus, if this guy's not keeping them, a few of those tapes are probably worth a good bit of money.
We'll Never Be Able to Replace Those Earrings, Or Will We
A few months before this picture was taken, a family found themselves on vacation when one of Mom's earrings popped out. Everyone searched high and low to try to find the lost earring, but to no avail. That is, until a few months after the fact, when Mom finally looked at the bottom of her sandals. Apparently, the earring had lodged itself in the shoe, and had never been lost after all!
It's almost like this earring knew what was going on, and wanted to go home with the woman. Still, we hope she washed it before she put it back in her ear.
Not Just The Nintendo 64, But the Original Goldeneye Too
The Nintendo 64 was one of the greatest consoles from the early generation of video games. There were so many classic games, and growing up these games were a staple of countless sleepovers and late weekend nights. That's why this person was so excited when they realized that their old N64 hadn't been lost at all, but was just in storage at their parents'. They even kept all the best games!
It would be hard to resist plugging that thing in and starting to play immediately. But, maybe check you've got the right voltage outlet first, before you blow the thing up.
Does Anyone Feel Like Doing A Little Bit Of Fishing?
If you're not an experienced fisherman, chances are, you have no idea what you're going to catch if you go out fishing. Don't get us wrong, we love to fish! But, for a lot of us amateurs, we're really just throwing the line into the water and hoping something happens. The guys in this picture did exactly that, but instead of a fish, they caught something even crazier: an old prison warden's wallet and badge!
The wallet and badge were promptly returned to their rightful owners after this. Well, semi-promptly... the wallet had already been sitting at the bottom of a lake for a while.
All Those Years And a Few States Later, Class Ring Returned
When this woman lost her class ring while on a boat trip in Virginia, she figured it was lost forever. But, a few years later, she received a call from a Good Samaritan in Tennessee with some exciting news: they found her ring! Apparently, the ring had been tossed and washed around, heading downriver over all that time, and washed onshore near the other woman's Tennessee property. How lucky is that!
You can tell from the rusted exterior of the ring that it's seen better days. Still looks pretty good for a piece of jewelry that got washed down a river for years though!
Darn, That Was Such a Good Tie Too, Where Could It Be?
Don't you just hate when your favorite items of clothes go missing? Whether it's a shirt, pants, or even a pair of underwear, our favorite things give us comfort, and when they go missing that's always such a hassle. This guy was dealing with exactly that when he thought he'd lost his favorite tie, but then he found it when he went to visit his librarian wife at her job.
Apparently, the Harry Potter display for the kids was more important than this husband's outfit for work. But this woman clearly loves her job, so we're going to give her a pass on this one.
Missing Suitcase Floats Downriver, Soggy But Untouched, Months Later
When a young couple went away to the lakehouse for the weekend, they never expected the woman's suitcase to go sliding into the river. They couldn't save it, and had to watch it float away. Well, apparently that suitcase lodged itself against a branch, stayed put, and only shook loose a few months later. It wound up washing up right onto the young man's mother's property, and she recognized the lost suitcase immediately!
It's a shame this suitcase got lost too, because it looks like these two were going to have themselves a fun weekend. Sunscreen, bathing suits and Crown Royal? Are we invited?
We Would've Cried So Much, It Would Look Like Purple Rain
Back in the day, we didn't carry around concert tickets on our email accounts on our phones in our pockets. We needed to carry an actual, physical copy of the concert ticket to the show, and only then would we be allowed in. This poor woman remembers that all too well, because she lost her ticket to see Prince back then, and since the ticket was missing, she was forced to miss the whole show!
Only years later did she find her lost ticket tucked away in the back of a book. But, as we've seen with other collector's items, since the ticket is untouched it could bring a much higher price.
This Is A Dual Use Piano, It's Also A Toy Chest
Everyone had that special secret hiding spot in their homes. It was where we'd keep illicit things we didn't want our parents finding, or where we'd hide toys if we didn't want to clean them up. So, when this young man returned home to help his mother tune her piano, he finally remembered that secret hiding spot from all those years ago, and sitting inside the piano were all his old toys!
This has to have been a fun day. We wouldn't have been able to resist playing with all the toys and taking a trip down memory lane. Is that transformer in the bottom there?
Lost Wedding Ring In the Ocean, Found It Four Hours Later
This guy's vacation was off to an awful start after he lost his wedding ring in the ocean, but thanks to the actions of one kind woman, the day was saved. As the guy frantically searched for his ring, a passerby who was using a metal detector offered to help. Then, four hours later, she stumbled on the missing ring! Look down at that picture and you can clearly tell how happy they both are to have found it.
This must have been a relief for everyone involved. The guy gets his ring back, the lady gets to back to metal detecting in other areas, and everyone gets a good story to tell!
Please, Just Nobody Make Any GI Jane Jokes
GI Joe was one of the most popular toys back in the day. What Barbie became for women, GI Joe was for young boys. Everyone had a few action figures to mess around with, and those things took a beating too. More often than not, those action figures wound up mangled beyond repair. Or, they got misplaced and forgotten. This particular action figure in the photo got misplaced, forgotten, and then turned into a nature installation.
That's one way not to lose your toys we guess. But, it must be a little hard to play with that thing if it's embedded into the tree.
We Hope This Wasn't the Rent Money That Got Lost
The best day of the month is always payday, and the worst day is any day that you wind up losing money. That's why the person from the photo below must have been stressing out like crazy because they lost an entire money clip at the office. After looking for a few days, they'd just about given up, until they finally decided to flip over their keyboard. That must have been a relief!
It may seem obvious, but a lot of the time we lose things exactly where we first thought we lost them. If the money clip was on the desk when you last saw it, check under everything on the desk before freaking out.
IPhones Are Notoriously Bad With Heat, But They Handle The Cold Quite Well
Dropping your phone is the worst. You're always worried if it's going to be cracked, you have to wipe all the dirt and moisture from the ground off, and if you're unlucky, it could skitter away and you won't be able to find it! That's what happened to this person when they dropped their phone in a friend's driveway, and by the time they found it a few months later, the thing was frozen solid into the ground!
This is a pretty common occurrence for toys, leaves, animals, basically anything that sits out in the cold for long enough. It's always really spooky looking down into the ice and seeing things frozen in time, too.
Just Hang Those Skates Up Outside To Air Out
After a long morning on the pond, our feet can get pretty smelly and stinky in our ice skates. So, our mothers never used to let us bring them into the house. Instead, we'd hang the skates on a tree down by the pond, and then return for them the morning after. The only problem with that is that you've got to remember which tree you decided to hang your skates on!
This guy, unfortunately, forgot his skates and didn't remember them until years and years later. By that time, an entire tree had already grown around them, so he won't be doing any skating anytime soon.
We're Getting A Kick Out Of This Antique Soccer Ball
Getting autographs from your favorite athletes is always so exciting when you're a kid. But, unless you trade in memorabilia, you can't really use autographs in your day-to-day life. So, they usually wind up collecting dust off to the side and being forgotten about entirely. That's what happened to this signed, 1992 Liverpool Football Club ball, but one day this guy finally found it again at his mom's house, and he was totally overjoyed!
We can't blame the guy for being excited. A 30-year-old antique soccer ball, and it's signed? That thing could fetch a pretty penny.
We Couldn't Find Our Roommate, Then We Checked The Shelf
We've seen some pictures of people sleeping in weird places, or uncomfortable positions before, but this one might take the cake. How did this girl even fit herself onto that little shelf? There's also a wide-open bed sitting right next to her! Why not sleep in the bed? This picture cracked us up, but also left us with so many questions that still haven't been answered. Do you think she was comfortable in there?
For a person to sleep in a position as weird as this, we can almost guarantee there was alcohol involved. She has to have been drunk or something, right?
Lost Wedding Ring Found In Garden Years After the Fact
Wedding rings can be very sentimental things for people. They're a signifier of a bond between two partners, and a pretty significant investment that isn't taken lightly when lost. That's why it's always such a relief when we see stories of people losing their wedding rings, but finding them in the end. Plus, they usually find them in some pretty crazy places, like oh, we don't know, growing in the garden?
This dad loved to garden, and apparently, his ring slipped off while doing just that. After a while he gave up the search, but years later while tilling the same patch of ground, he finally found the ring.
This Table Has a Super Secret iPod Shelf
When this unlucky girl lost her iPod, she searched everywhere in the house for it. Those original iPod touches were the coolest devices, they had games, messaging capabilities, and music storing, so she definitely needed that thing back! But, her family couldn't find it anywhere. She was devastated, but a few years later was able to rejoice when the thing popped up. The whole time, it had just been sitting on a shelf under the kitchen table!
By that time, we're sure she had a new iPod, but maybe a younger sibling could use this one now. Just tell them not to store it under the kitchen table.
Slap a Little Glue On Those Bad Boys And They're Good To Go
Even though it's used so frequently by so many me and women, makeup can still be incredibly expensive. When you have a good pair of fake lashes, you want to hold onto those things. But, this woman was distraught when she thought she'd lost her favorite pair. For months and months she searched until finally, they showed up in a notebook she keeps in her purse. And look, they're still in perfect shape!
This is like the makeup equivalent of finding money in your pants. A little dab of glue, and this woman is going to be ready to hit the town in her favorite fake eyelashes all over again.
Childhood Memories Always Make For The Best Adult Presents
Thanksgiving isn't normally a holiday that we remember for the gift-giving, but nonetheless, some people take that opportunity to shower their loved ones with extra love. For this family, this Thanksgiving was an especially good one, because the mother had found a few of her kids' favorite old mugs and brought them as gifts. Just look how cool this giant stegosaurus is. Could there be anything better for a morning cup of coffee than a ceramic dinosaur?
This is a good reminder that even though it might cause clutter, hanging onto things that make us happy also has a lot of merit.
Dog's Favorite Toy Turns Into Lawns Newest Ornament
It's so cute when a dog has a favorite toy, and they carry it everywhere with them. But, to the same effect, those dogs can be just like toddlers if they lose their toy, and it can lead to temper tantrums and trouble for the family. It's especially hard since dogs can't talk and tell us where they think the toy might be! It's even harder when the toy in question has turned into part of the lawn.
The amount of moss covering the top of this toy shows that it's clearly been outside for quite a while. But, a good power wash, and then trip in the washing machine should take care of things.
Lost Video Game Treasure Trove Found In Parents' Attic
Those lazy Saturday mornings during childhood where we got to kick back and play away on the Game Boy were some of the best days of our lives. The variety of games and experiences we could have with those little handheld computers was exciting enough as a kid, but as an adult, the memories make it an even greater experience. That's why this person was so excited to find all their old games in their parents' attic!
We imagine they must've spent a long few days playing after uncovering this treasure trove. Then, when they're done, maybe they'll give their own kids a chance to try.
Pulling Up Weeds, Only To Find The Dog's Lost Toys
Weeds are the bane of a good lawn owner's existence. If you're spending an entire spring and summer trying to beautify your lawn, you can't have any ugly crabgrass cutting through and stealing precious water and minerals from the rest of the fresh grass. That's why weeding is an important process. Plus, you never know what you're going to find. Just ask this guy, he pulled a weed up and found one of his dog's old tennis balls!
Certain plants in nature are so resilient, that they can burst through the hide of a tennis ball and grow, despite the layers of rubber and felt trying to stop them.
Wallet Falls From Roof, Sticks the Landing On the Door
We've all done it at least once. You get in the car, put the trash, or a drink, or your phone on top of the car, and then you go driving off. Usually, whatever was on top of the car goes flying, and it's never found again. But this guy got incredibly lucky when his wallet slid from the top of the car, and a magnet inside the wallet grabbed onto the car's door panel on the way down.
He's lucky he found this wallet quickly too. We can imagine some lucky thieves getting pretty excited at the thought of a free wallet only hanging on by a magnet.
Lost Child Turns To Superheroes For Help
One of the scariest thoughts for any parent is the idea of losing their child in a crowded place. A big convention can be the scariest, because the layout is already like a labyrinth for adults, and a lost kid barely stands a chance of finding their way back. That's why this mother was overjoyed to see her son doing some quick thinking, and turning to the superheroes for help when he found himself lost at Comic Con.
Thankfully, Superwoman and the Flash were able to get this boy back to his mother safely. So mark that off as another of the many, many reasons why we absolutely love superheroes.
That's Like A Million Couch Cushions Worth Of Change
Who doesn't love free money? So, here's a tip. If you have a car that's going to be sold, stripped, or scrapped, you might want to take a peek under your carpets before shipping the thing off. Chances are, a few coins have slid under the seats over the years. And, if you're as lucky as these people, it'll be way more than a few coins. This looks like enough to go out to eat!
You'd be surprised how quickly spare change adds up. Just by keeping a bucket by the door and making sure you don't lose anything, you can save a lot of money every year.
Fourth Grade Wallet Found With Boatload of Cash Left Over
This guy got so lucky when going through his childhood bedroom. Somehow, he found a wallet that had been lost years and years before, and the wallet still had over $300 in it! Apparently, this lost wallet had been haunting the guy for years, but he finally had a breakthrough and found the lost cash. Still, that makes us wonder what else this guy might've lost in that room. We want to take a look around too.
Sometimes, all it takes is one extra look to find something you've lost. We're sure this guy wishes he looked harder back in the day, but the money will probably go to better use now.
Her Name Is Rio and She Dances In the Sand
Duran Duran is quintissential 80s music. Their style, both musical and fashion, represent everything that was great about that era. If we could go back in time and see their shows from back then, we'd totally do it. Unfortunately for this person, they had the chance to do it while the band was still popular, but they somehow lost their ticket on the day of the show! Only years later did they find it, and it was tucked away inside a book!
We're always going to advocate for more reading, but maybe this person could've picked a different bookmark and gotten to enjoy both the book, and the concert.