It is raining and we can not find the best umbrella. We went for lunch the other day and it was only thanks to a kind and observant waiter that it wasn't left at the table. Today, when it is needed again, it is no where to be found. Is it lost then, left on the train, perhaps?
I feel old.
There is a new(ish) sandwich bar on the main road, with a sign on the door -
"Were hiring"
Is this a ' sorry if you want a job, but it's too late"? A victim of the dreaded predictive text? Or simply another case of a missing apostrophe?
(Did I mention I felt old?)
There is a website that can put you in touch with the railway lost property office. You just have to be able to describe the missing item. (Was it red, black and square? Or green, black and square?)
I wonder if there is a home, a lost property office for all the missing punctuation? An index drawer in some retired librarian's filing cabinet, perhaps, where all those apostrophes, semi-colons and brackets join together and dance through the cobwebs.
After a settling cup of coffee, the umbrella was found in the boot of the car. Of course, we had been shopping that day and not on the train at all!
The apostrophe, from the sign on the shop door, is still missing.
I think the lost apostrophes find themselves turning up in the most unexpected places.
ReplyDelete