I was invited to speak at a conference in Switzerland several years ago. To get to the event, I flew into Zurich and traveled by train across some of the most spectacular countryside in the world. The efficiency of the train system and its passengers was both remarkable and unsurprising in a culture that prizes businesslike precision.
As a result, I was surprised to read this headline: “Swiss authorities search for the person who left $191,000 of gold bars on train.” The package was found in the carriage of a Swiss Federal Railways train traveling from the Swiss town of St. Gallen to Lucerne in October of last year.
Officials state that despite “extensive investigations,” they have not been able to locate the owner of the package. The gold bars have been confiscated by the public prosecutor’s office. Officials said the owner has five years to make a claim for them.
Several explanations are possible. I’ve listed them in ascending order of apparent plausibility:
One: The owner(s) forgot they left the bars on the train. They would have to be remarkably forgetful, however.
Two: The owner(s) are embarrassed to have left the bars and unwilling to reclaim them. They would have to be remarkably wealthy to abandon them, however.
Three: The owner(s) are too busy to take time to reclaim the bars. But see explanation number two.
Four: The owner(s) do not realize their loss. But see explanation number two.
Five: The bars were stolen; when the thief accidentally left them on the train, he or she was unwilling to risk claiming them. But the owner from whom they were stolen would surely have claimed them by now.
Six: The owner(s) died after accidentally leaving the bars on the train. But someone in their family would likely have notified authorities upon learning of the loss.
Seven: The bars were payment for illegal activities such as a drug deal. The owner(s) are therefore unwilling to claim them….
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