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I left my laptop at the train station. Not the good one filled with important documents and my best work, I left my company laptop.  I realized as the train made it to it's next stop. With no attempt at nonchalance I jumped up and raced out of the car.  Once on the strange platform I spun in circles.  I had no idea in which direction I needed to go to catch a train headed back the other way and apparently circles was the move my brain decided to execute. 

I finally gained control and consulted the departure board. Track 4. I ran. When I finally reached the track I waited. I waited harder than I've ever waited before. I waited more intensely, with more focus, more strength of will than anyone has ever waited with before. Never have I been so happy to have my ears assaulted by the deafening sounds of an incoming train.

I boarded. My mind, a flurry of expletives, reassurances, and self loathing, was reeling.

"It's still there, it has to be, who steals a computer on their way to work?"

"Dumb idiot, put it in your bag next time. Who cares if it takes up too much space and you have to carry your lunch."

"What if someone thinks it's dangerous? They're going to carry out a controlled demolition of your glorified calculator and then arrest you."

"If it's not there what am I going to do at the office? I can't even order a new computer because I need a computer to order a computer."

"...We're stopping? This isn't a stop.  WHY ARE WE STOPPED?!?!?"

"Ok, good. Yes, faster, FASTER."

Finally, the train creeped into the station.  It had been one half hour and the optimist in me was dead. I darted down the platform, up the escalator, through the hall, down a different escalator, onto the platform and there it was, the bench where my computer used to be. Instantaneous denial. I continued to search the area until finally, in a daze of disbelief, I sat on the bench, now a permanent memorial to my absent mindedness.

I couldn't let go, there was still hope, still the chance that someone had found and hid it from the dark, lustful eyes of the world. Reinvigorated I raced up the escalator once more.  This time my destination was the lost and found, that glorious safety net generally consisting of a few paperclips, a cell phone and 43 umbrellas.  Nothing had been turned in, not even the USB receiver for my wireless mouse.

I had to get to the office. I was already running late and had a lot of painful conversation to look forward to. Down the escalator once more and back to the bench where a plaque had already been erected by my mind, "In memoriam, the symbolic final resting place of Dell "Hot Keys" McFreeze."  I let my head roll back and decided to pass some time staring at the ceiling. My eyes fell on the camera mounted above the bench. My eyes fell on hope.

After and hour of speaking with an officer of the law and a not insubstantial amount of paperwork later I knew one thing. I knew one could still rest assured of his freedom to roam unburdened by the ever present gaze of big brother.  Those cameras are useless.

There are those in the world who stand firm in their beliefs, who even in their darkest hours will sacrifice for their fellow man. Some choose righteousness, justice, morality above all else.  There are those who fight the good fight each day, shoulder their burdens and carry some of yours as well.  And then there are those who see a laptop on a bench during the morning commute, wiggle their fingers fiendishly and think to themselves, "ooh, laptop."  There is no answer as to what makes a person lean either way but life carries on in the wonderfully mind-numbing monotony that is the daily commute.

Editor's note: My computer is still out there somewhere in the world,  scared, alone, cold, and naked without its neoprene sleeve. The investigation remains ongoing.