Have you ever misplaced something you just had in your hand? That happened to me the other day. I was up early (well, early for me anyway) editing a story that had to air that afternoon on WJTV. When I finish editing a story, I always download it onto a thumb drive and transfer it to my laptop, from which I upload it to the TV station.
She’d say, “I’ll give you a Yankee dime if you’ll do so-and-so.” A Yankee dime is a peck on the cheek — a short kiss. I’d rather have had a real dime, but I took what I could get.
Now, it doesn’t take long for one of these little flash drives to start filling up. For instance, my current drive has all of my completed stories for about the past year and a half on it. Plus, all the raw video I shot on a trip we took to Europe a couple of summers ago. There’s also a lot of field footage from which I edit my finished stories. Needless to say, that little drive has grown quite important to me.
To shorten the story a bit, after I did the upload to the station, I had a shower, got dressed, and went to work. Later that afternoon I put my hand in my pocket to grab that drive, and it wasn’t there. I always keep that drive with me.
So, I went back to the parking lot to see if I dropped it when I got out of the car. No luck. I called Jo to go look in the driveway and see if I dropped it there.
Meanwhile, I was inventorying in my mind everything I’d be losing if I didn’t find that drive.
About that time Jo called me back and asked me what I’d give her if she found it. First thing that popped into my mind was a blast from the past. I told her if she found it, I’d give her a Yankee dime!
Now, I had not even heard that expression in decades, much less used it. Mama would offer me a Yankee dime if I took out the garbage or ran across the street and got something for her from the store. She’d say, “I’ll give you a Yankee dime if you’ll do so-and-so.” A Yankee dime is a peck on the cheek — a short kiss. I’d rather have had a real dime, but I took what I could get.
I Googled “Yankee dime” to see if I could find out how the saying originated. Google was no help. I did find that the term seems to represent something that doesn’t have a lot of value. I assumed it was a saying from Mama’s childhood.
Jo found the missing drive in the pocket of the pajamas I was wearing that morning. I would have eventually found it myself. Well, maybe.
Working at the house in my pajamas has its advantages. I just have to remember to check my pockets before I get dressed for work. Either that or convince Jo a “Yankee dime” is worth more than its face value.
