Losing My Hat

I took my actuary exam this Thursday that just passed at 9 in the morning.  It's a big deal, apparently, and the testing centers are made to be extremely secure.  You're not supposed to have anything in your pocket at all and you have to put everything you came with in a locker, and they scan a photo ID of you and take your fingerprint six times before they let you start taking your test.

Well anyway, one of their directions was that they don't have perfect control over the climate in their centers, so you should bring a coat in case it gets cold.  I brought a coat - and my hat - for exactly that reason, but sometime during the testing a woman came through and said, "Here, let me take that for you."

I wanted to say, "No, I want it in case it gets cold," but I wasn't cold, so I just figured I'd let her go.  They also yelled at me for using mechanical pencils (which she called a "pen") and said that I wasn't supposed to have anything.  She let me use them though 'cuz they were just pencils, and probably because I gave her a look of "That's ridiculous and your pencils suck" when she mentioned it.  Their pencils really did suck.

Anyway, on the way out of the testing center, I meant to get my coat and forgot.  I also realized that I didn't know where my hat was, so I called my mom to ask if it was on the island at home, and she said no.  So I went back inside and went to the receptionist.

"Hey, I was just at desk 21 taking a test.  Could you possibly go back and check to see if I left a blue knit hat there by any chance?"  So she went back to check, and while she did, I took my coat from the coat rack, which I had also forgot.  I reached my hand into my coat pockets as I often do, and in the left pocket was my hat.  Damnit!  Oh well.  I felt pretty foolish, but she already went to look, so I just let it go.  When she came back I kept my hands in my pockets and said, "Alright, well thanks for looking."  I think I sort of noticed her looking at my hands in my pockets as I turned, but I'm not really sure, and you definitely couldn't have seen my hat anyway.

Peace out.