digital pen, digital paper.

Untethered.

I went with a few friends to Sea World this past Friday. Several of us went there roughly six months ago, and the tickets we purchased at the time were upgraded to Seasonal, good through the end of the year, for only an additional four dollars. This trip last Friday cost us nothing to get in, but for fourteen dollars, we purchased Sea World’s version of the “fast pass” which basically lets you skip all of the lines. Wait times for us were never more than three minutes.

Sea World has two coasters. Kraken has been there for quite a while now, but Manta was new as of our visit when we purchased the tickets. The new and exciting concept of Manta is that instead of sitting in your bucket seat and riding above the track, after you strap in, the seats flip up toward an overhead track so that your body is face down, and you fly like super-man… or like a Manta-ray, same number of letters.

Unfortunately the ride was experiencing technical difficulties when we first arrived, so instead we started with Kraken. After a couple back-to-back runs on Kraken, we walked around a bit and saw Manta had started up again. Another couple back-to-back runs on Manta, but on our second go around, my friend Erin looked at me from my left, exclaiming something about Alex’s phone. Alex, on my right, passed back a confused look. He had his phone in his pocket. Erin revealed she had seen something fly away from the coaster. It appeared to be Alex’s Blackberry phone. I began fearing that she did indeed see a phone go loose, but it certainly was not Alex’s. His was safely in his front right pocket, the same location that I kept my iPhone.

Front right pocket.

Which was now empty.

Our other friend in the row behind us called forward. Who in row one or two lost something?! Erin replied for me. Jon’s iPhone had slipped out of his pocket.

I immediately walked to Guest Services to find out what could be done. They added my name to a form where I gave some brief information on what had been lost and where. After the park is closed, employees walk the grounds with flashlights searching for lost items. I will have to call back the following day to see if it is found.

Like some high-schooler or college flunky who is making near minimum wage will actually put forward any significant effort to find a black iPhone on a cold, dark night amongst the bushes and shrubs under the coaster?! I wanted to search for it myself, so we did our best to narrow down exactly where it might have landed. Certainly it would be cracked and broken, but I needed closure. I also might need the pieces in order to file an insurance claim for a replacement.

Erin and others were trying to bolster my confidence. She had witnessed it cascade toward some bushes, so perhaps it would not be broken. Calling the phone resulted in four rings before voicemail, another sign that the phone was still powered and functional. Even still, it would have to be located. A working iPhone lost in a theme park does me no good come work on Monday. We decided to ride Manta another couple times to try to narrow down which bushes it fell to, which actually turned out to be quite helpful. We had it figured to two specific areas, both under the coaster so that it was unsearchable without getting ejected from the park. I searched nonetheless, at least in the sections that were more accessible, but with no luck.

Returning to Guest Services, I asked if I could remain after the ride had shut down, to search the specific locations where it likely had landed. They were unable to allow it, and urged that I let the overnight maintenance crew search as the do on a nightly basis, scouring the park at any time around midnight to retrieve lost items. Could I add a note to the report I filed to help guide them in the right direction? No, because they do not see the reports. They search and deliver all findings back to the lost and found department. Reports are only used for purposes of making a claim.

I would have to wait until morning.

We did our best to make light of the situation throughout the day. I subscribe to the adage of laughter being the best medicine. My friends joined in on the fun, of course not for my sake, but the sake of mocking me in a loving manner. We also tried calling my phone throughout the night in the event that it might help the maintenance crew hone in if they happen to be in that area, but it always hit voicemail after the fourth ring.

I called in the following morning from a friend’s phone, fully anticipating that nothing was found. The woman with whom I spoke declared a Blackberry had come in that morning, but would have to check for an iPhone, and placed me on hold. I knew I would have to ask for a manager for access to the park immediately after close. Would they deny me the opportunity to search for my own phone when I had the knowledge of where it might be found?

Sir? We did have an iPhone come in. It’s black. Sixteen gigabyte. It’s in one piece? And works? Unlikely it would be mine. Mine had no case on it at the time. This one has no case, sir. Can you look at the picture, the wallpaper image that is on the phone? Is it… a fat horse?

Yes. It IS my phone! I cannot believe it survived.

Thank you, fat horse. Thank you.