Jerome's Sock

I was thinking the other day about Jerome's Sock.  It's always capitalized, always.  Here goes.

Once, when I was teaching a sock knitting class at a local yarn shop, I had a student, Mary, who was knitting a pair of socks to surprise her husband, Jerome.

We were about halfway through the four weeks of class, and one evening just as I was getting ready to leave for class, my phone rang.

“Hello, this is Andrew from Alaska Airlines.  This is going to sound strange, but your business card was found in a bag of knitting on one of our flights.”

Okay.

“There was also a note in the bag that says ‘Jerome 10 ½ inches’.  There is a lot of needles in there, it sort of looks like it might be a sock?  We know you were not a passenger, but I wondered…”

The penny finally dropped.  Jerome!  Oh heavens!  I told Andrew that the knitting was not mine, but one of my students.  Could I come and get it?  (I live very close to the airport)  I certainly could, as Andrew really didn’t want to be responsible for all those needles and Jerome’s Sock for any longer than necessary.

Now, I had visions of Mary getting home from her flight and ransacking her luggage looking for her errant sock… what could I do?  I called the yarn shop and asked for Mary’s number.  Got it!

Called Mary’s house and (oh dear) Jerome answered.  Mary wasn’t home, but was expected at any moment.  I explained to Jerome that Mary had left her knitting on the airplane and that I was going to collect it from Alaska Airlines and bring it to class with me.  A Confused Jerome agreed to pass on the message.

A rush to the airport and the lost luggage desk at Alaska, thanking them profusely for not chucking the mass of needles and ersatz sock.  (I wrote them a nice note after and I hope Andrew got a brownie point)  Then flying to class and returning Jerome’s Sock to its rightful owner. The socks were completed, and Jerome was surprised.  How many Airlines, or airline employees would take the time to do this?  Not very many.  Thanks Andrew.

Lesson learned, I always keep my business card in all project bags.  Thanks Alaska Airlines and Andrew for recognizing the importance of Jerome’s Sock!