F*cked up massively - work related. Perspective needed

[Stupidworkgirl]

I have an important business trip abroad tomorrow which myself and several other colleagues are going on. It is a major event in our industry and we have been planning it for a while. I have done the majority of the planning and have enjoyed it and was excited to attend. Our company director is going along with my boss and several coworkers, one of which reports to me.

I have lost my passport. I only realised this at 4pm today when packing. I am meant to fly out on an early morning flight. We have a very tidy minimalist home and have searched everywhere, it is definitely not here. I last travelled a few months ago and can only think I dropped it somewhere between security and my car.

I have called my boss who has told the MD. My boss was understanding and kind about it, I don’t know what the MDs reaction was. I’m absolutely gutted. Missing out on the event is a horrible feeling but is actually the least of it, that will wear off once it is over at the end of this week. It is more the damage to my reputation and how people might think of me going forward. I’m honestly considering leaving and finding a new job, as I don’t know how I will mentally bounce back from it.

Looking for reassurance or perhaps any similar tales or fucking up at work.

I don’t think it’s a massive fuck up at all. Everything is booked correctly right? All your colleagues going will be there to represent the company, so it’s not biggie for the company in that respect - they aren’t loosing face by not showing up. Just one person out of the group couldn’t make it - that’s not a massive fuck op because there are a million reasons why someone might not make it at the last minute (covid, broken leg, hamster died etc). So honestly do not go and resign over something so minor.
your reputation will not be damaged, you will
simply become a funny story and then everyone will move on and forget it ever happened.

I found mine inside a notebook, double check there a reading book?
Try not to escalate, it's unfortunate but out of your control; sounds like they are aware of that

Ok I found something that has been lost for years. It was STUCK to the underneath of a shelf.

Everything had been pulled out looked through, no one had run their hand along the underside of the shelf.

Could it be stuck to the underneath of a shelf?

Describe where it normally lives?

I never did get it back, this was the last straw that gave me a nudge to get out of that marriage.

This seems unlikely. If you had lost it the airport, it would most likely have been handed in.

Don't hand your notice in, it will be forgotten in a few weeks.

One question though, did you not have to provide your passport number when the flights were booked for you, most airlines requir this don't they? If so, did you have your passport then?

He told me on Sunday after dinner, the night before I was due to fly.

Underneath your mattress? (Happened to me with bank card once)

How long is the event? Could you get an emergency passport appointment and book yourself on a cheap flight or would that just be massively complicated? I know it’s horrible and embarrassing but it genuinely is fine. It’s all okay. No one will be cross and if they are that’s because they have their own issues.

Considering resigning over this is nuts. You didn't fuck up the trip for colleagues or boss. That's what I thought it would be.

Pull out the drawers and check behind.

What is the duration of the trip? If you can get a premium urgent passport appointment tomorrow or Wednesday can you fly out to join them?

If you'd dropped it at security or on the way to the car someone would in all likelihood have handed it in and it would have been returned to you (I assume).

That hasn't happened, so, it must be in your home.

Are you totally sure you checked the same rucksack you took with you last time - or perhaps you took a different bag?

You say you rushed back to work the following morning after your return - could it have got mixed up with with work related docs?

Also - where do you keep travel insurance docs - could it be with them?

Do you park you car in the garage - has it fallen out there and got hidden under something?

I shall keep everything crossed for you.

Are you due to fly out of the same airport you arrived at last time? If so, could you phone them and see if it was lost there last time and handed in? (no idea if airports have a lost & found but worth a try).

Also worth checking you desk / office at work as early as you can get in.

I once 'lost' my passport in a handbag I'd stowed in the bottom of the spare wardrobe but my house isn't remotely minimalist, sounds like you've looked in all those sorts of places already OP.

The worst work-cockup type one I've heard of was a colleague of DHs who was seconded abroad. Come the morning of their departure, they belatedly realised they kept their passports on the bookshelf ... the contents of which had been packed and shipped so the passports weren't exactly lost but somewhere at sea.

Male dominated industry? So deal with it like any of them would. Say Ffs then style it out. Work isn’t made up of one chance it’s made up of many and there is no need for a routine error to cause you any long term problems. Anyone who thinks they could never lose anything is an arse. My perspective may be shaped by the fact that I lose everything - all the time. Just found my passport, needed for my work, stuck behind a plant pot in the kitchen. I need my work lanyard to get around and have been found locked out trapped in the courtyard as I failed to scan out and didn’t have it one me. I have a great reputation at work - no one cares because I don’t. You are clearly a very careful person with high standards - now you just have to work on your generosity to yourself.

This happened to my partner the night before we flew to Mexico. He had been on a work trip the week before.
we luckily found it… he had came in, sat it on the sofa and it had lodged down it and ended up under the cushion. Why I thought to look there I’ll never know. Worth a look if you have not already

Check every bag you own. You might have put it somewhere different for safekeeping or something. When you can’t find something it’s always because it’s somewhere you don’t expect. Or lost in transit as you’ve said, of course! If you don’t find it, worse things have happened. It is insignificant in the big scheme of things and I’m sure you wouldn’t think badly of your colleagues if they did the same thing.

Can you get an emergency in person appointment to replace your passport tomorrow and join your colleagues a day later?

You sound like a really organised person- if your bosses/team mates have worked with you for any amount of time, they won’t judge you for something that could happen to anyone.

Chances are they heard the news and thought “Oh, that’s a bit shit.” and thought nothing more of it.

Did you have any airport shopping when you walked in last time?

Have you had to use your passport to prove your identity recently? Eg opening new bank account or similar. Could it be with papers relevant to that task ?
Final comment - if you expected it to be in the safe , get someone else to check for you . It might be there after all , I lost some earrings recently, searched high and low ( including the safe ), but there they were all along .

Have you had to use it for ID since you last travelled? If so, for the bank etc, is it filed with those papers?

@hoophoophooray, you’ve made my day with that story! On placement from my engineering degree I designed a very simple beam for a very posh high-end extension & when they got it to site & put it up it sagged in the middle. They made me go & inspect it but it was my last day & I couldn’t work out what I’d done wrong so I just left them to it.

OP - your employer would far rather you demonstrated resilience than punished yourself for a simple mistake that could happen to anyone.

Do you have a note book or folder with papers from the last trip? I keep all my old note books - could it have got into one of those? computer bag, iPad, kindle?

Amy chance you took it to work / office and left it in your drawer / locker?