My daughter recently said, “Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to get organized”, and I had to agree with her. Here’s what happened.
My 23-year old was in the first wave of workers eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine. When she came home after her first dose in January, I asked her for her vaccination card and told her that I would put it in a safe place.
A month later, on the day of her second dose, she came to me and asked me for her vaccination card. I looked at her blankly and said, “Do I have it?” She reminded me that I had put it somewhere in the file cabinet.
Frankly, I had no recollection of doing this, but it certainly sounded like something I would do! So I went into the file cabinet, found the hanging folder with her name on it, and started looking in the most obvious subfolders. No card. I expanded my search to other folders where I was likely to put it. Still no card.
At this point, I was in a little bit of a panic. I was also somewhat embarrassed. I tell my clients, “If you let me set up your filing system, you will be able to find any piece of paper you own in less than 60 seconds.” Clearly I had violated my own maxim.
Meanwhile, my daughter was still waiting for her card. So I went to the first of the subfolders in the hanging folder bearing her name, and started looking through them one by one. Eventually I found it. It was in the subfolder labeled with the name of her current employer, which contains the paperwork she filled out when she started working there.
Then it all became clear to me. Because she was eligible for the vaccine due to her job, she had had to bring along a pay stub. I had one in the file and gave it to her. When I took the vaccine card from her, I also took back the pay stub and filed them both away in the employer file. Had she been required to bring the pay stub the second time, I would have found the card immediately.
It was at that moment that she uttered the classic line: “Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to get organized.” I found this so hilarious that I immediately posted it on Facebook so that all my friends could have a good laugh at my expense.
I’m happy to say that all three of our vaccine cards are now in a file labeled “Immunizations”. However, the day before my husband got his second shot, he asked me for his card. He wasn’t taking any chances.
