I washed my wallet this morning, accidentally left it in my pants when I dumped them into the machine downstairs. I found it when I went to put the clothes in the dryer, the leather sticky and wet, the contents soaked through. Since I was late, I dropped the ugly mess on the kitchen table, gathered up the essentials -- driver's license, credit card, cash -- and headed off to work.

Three hours later, I had completely forgotten about it when I reached into my pants and pulled out a slightly damp five dollar bill to hand to the woman behind the counter where I was buying my lunch. You could follow the conversation she was having with herself by the expressions that ran across her face.

"Wha--? Something's wrong with this money. It's-- It's wet! How in the world does money get we-- Oh, my God!"

I've decided it would probably be a good idea if I waited a while before going back there.