The Case of the Missing Black Pants

Last Wednesday I had plans to wear black pants to work. I had an appointment with the chiropractor that afternoon and was teaching at church that evening and pants, as opposed to a dress or skirt, are much more conducive to those activities. I went to my closet and my black pants were no where to be found. I knew that they were not in the laundry basket because I had not worn them yet that week and all the laundry was done over the weekend. It was extremely perplexing. So, I just grabbed a pair of dark gray pants and wore those instead.

In case you are wondering, I actually have two pairs of black dress pants, but one pair needed some buttons sewn on and I am terrible at sewing and had been putting off that task for as long as possible. In fact, Sunday afternoon I did finally manage to sew on the missing buttons, but I had already washed the darks and so after sewing on the button the pants went in the laundry basket. 

After Wednesday, I honestly didn't think about the black pants again until Tuesday when I wanted to wear them and once again, I could not for the life of me find the pants. I searched high and low. I looked in the closet, on the floor of the closet, climbed on top of the washer and looked behind it to see if they had fallen behind it or beside it. I dug through my gym bag, looked amongst some folded clothes, under beds and under dressers and y'all, these pants have grown a pair of legs and apparently run for freedom. 

When I got to work on Tuesday I decided to email the director at the Downtown Y to see if someone had turned in a pair of black dress pants. I hear back later that day that, not surprisingly, none had been turned in or found. She asked if maybe I had left them in a locker and I said no, that I usually put my clothes in my gym bag and just thought maybe I had inadvertently left them on the floor or a bench when changing one afternoon. So, the mystery continued. 

I looked again on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning, hoping that I might find them poking out from some nook or cranny some where in the house but I have still been unsuccessful in my quest to find the missing black pants and it's more than annoying. I can get by with one pair in the summer when I wear a lot of skirts and dresses and sandals; but in the winter, two pairs are kind of a necessity as I often go two or even three days of the work week in black pants. 

So, I've basically resigned myself to the fact that I will soon be forced to buy a new pair of black pants which really does not make me very happy. The missing pair, in fact, was my favorite of the two pairs I own, or owned as the case now seems to be. The only scenario that even remotely makes sense is that someone stole them out of my gym back and I never noticed until I went to wear them again. Although, who would steal a pair of pants out of someone's gym bag and nothing else? that just seems beyond strange to me. Although when I lived in New York I did have a favorite skirt stolen out of the dryer at the University and everything else was left behind; so, maybe it does make sense. At any rate, I have since purchased a lock (BOGO at Publix, y'all!) and am now using that at the gym for fear or losing yet another piece of clothing. Then again, maybe the black pants didn't disappear from the gym. Whatever the cause of the missing pants, it remains a mystery to me.