I have never had expensive sunglasses or an expensive pen, because pens and sunglasses are easy to lose or break, and the expensive ones break and get lost just as easily as the cheap ones. Of course, I’m not always so intelligent or consistent.
Most of my life, I got picks for under 50 cents each. I had preferences in size, shape and material, but they were always cheap – and that’s good because I lose picks far more often than I wear them out. But along came bluegrass music, and it seems that any old pick won’t do. The holy grail was true tortoise shell, but those are highly frowned upon, since tortoises don’t volunteer to give up their shells for musicians. And so other, spendy versions have surfaced.
I do have some expensive picks. And frankly, they terrify me. I know how easy it is to lose a pick, regardless of its pedigree. And so I rarely use my fancy picks, and never use them at outdoor festivals. The color of a $35 Blue Chip pick is that of dirt. Drop one in the grass, especially near or after sundown, and it might as well have slipped into a sinkhole straight to the center of the Earth.
Losing little stuff is easy, and most of us realize that and live with its inevitability. But it’s not that to lose anything, really. I’ve been at gigs where someone brought an empty instrument case and was horrified to discover it after a long drive. I have hear many hilarious, but harrowing, tales of instruments (including Lloyd Loar mandolins) being left at restaurants and people’s homes.
I was once driving home from a gig and suddenly realized I hadn’t loaded the 4 guitars I had brought to the gig. I left these instruments neatly packed in their cases on a public patio! I did an about-face and went back, and lo, and behold, they were there.
Oddly, there are a lot of good stories where instruments left behind are recovered, despite the mental lapse. One night, after a rehearsal, our mandolinist accidentally left the mandolin sitting in its case on the sidewalk and drove home. A frantic phone call led to a frantic search – and sure enough – it was right where he left it.
The best venues have sharp-eyed proprietors who know to scan the stage area after a show and securely stow left-behind gear. It’s not their responsibility, of course, but it’s huge relief to find out that the instrument is in a known location and can be recovered, albeit with some chagrin.
I know of no sure-fire cure for these mishaps. I think we all know it behooves us to keep track of what we load in, whether it’s a gig or a jam, and then make sure we load out the same stuff. But fatigue, or distraction by a lively conversation can blow all that concentration away, and leave with with a sickening realization down the road.
