You dropped your wallet!

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I, Master of Common Sense and Infallible Detector of Deception, had a weird adventure last evening. I went biking and at some point I passed one guy. A couple of minutes later the guy has passed me and, while doing so, informed me that I have dropped my wallet. My first thought was that it was extremely unlikely, as I was not in a habit of doing so, and last time that I lost a wallet was when I was 11 (I found it later intact). However, why would the stranger lie to me without reason? So I have spent next 10 minutes going through a complex reasoning in my head, imagining all possible ways for dropping the wallet and estimating the probabilities. This all to decide whether I should stop and check the wallet or not.

Suffice is to say that I have found dropping the wallet to be nearly impossible. It was possible that I had forgotten to fasten the zipper to the pocket in my backpack, where I keep the wallet while biking. It was also withing a realm of possibility that a hole was torn in the bottom or side of the backpack, or a seam has ripped. However the wallet was in the internal pocket, and other things would need to fall before it, specifically the cell phone or the metal wrench. Since it was all so improbable, I decided to ride to the usual resting place, and check the wallet there. So I did, and of course it was where it should be.

Now I am totally bewildered - first, how gullible I was, and second, why was the guy lying? Maybe he wanted me to stop and give him some breathing room? But this hypothesis is likely false, because racing another biker is a sure way to increase speed and improve the overall time, and so a desirable thing to do. Do you have any ideas that would explain that guy's weird behavior?

Magic, don't feel bad. If I was in your position, I surely would have said "Thank you," pulled over, and would have checked for my wallet, immediately.

I don't know how to explain his behavior. It's possible that he actually did see a wallet on the trail, and thought it might be yours. Or maybe "you dropped your wallet" is some kind of expression signifying something else. Or maybe, he was just a jerk who wanted to cause you some inconvience for his own amusement. I guess it is possible that he wanted some breathing room, as you said, but it seems odd that he would make up an excuse, rather than just asking you to fall back, or increasing his own speed.

This is rather impossible, because had the wallet been lying on the trail, I would have surely noticed it. Other reasons are quite probable.

Thanks for good words.

These kids in grade 12-- well, they were like in grade 9, and tiny comparedd to me, little boys, but there were more than one of them... they kept doing it, and always to me! Why me? Another time one of them shouted out of a car, "Are you a guy or a girl?" (AT the time I had short short hair and was waring a male-like blazer that day). Sometimes they would also say "Dropped your pocket!" When I talked to two kids who had dropped out of school like me they said that they hated it when it happened to them; it was so annoying. If these kids were kept busy and stimulated properlythey wouldn't have to do demeaning jokes and pranks and the dropout rate would be much lower IMO.

i know a guy who says things like "your head fell off!!" and they'd look around like they dropped something before realizing what was actually said.. ^^; but i always thought it was funny..

I've had it done to me before - I'd just gone through some local shops, and I guess was staring at bikes, I saw the same model as mine, but had been sprayed (a good way to hide stolen material). The owners looked at me and I stopped. Whilst cycling along the path, I heard them behind me shouting I had dropped my wallet.
I knew I hadn't (could feel it in pocket) and decided that they were after me, my wallet or my bike. Needless to say I headed into the city so they wouldn't follow.

My first thought was that the guy wanted you to instantly put your hand over the pocket where your wallet ought to be as you confirmed it was still there. That way the guy would know which pocket to target when he stole your wallet five minutes later.

Or am I just paranoid?

I read somewhere recently that the NT sense of humour tends to involve laughing at other people, while the autistic sense of humour usually involves something silly, puns, etc. For some reason, some NT people seem to like to yell random crap to strangers because it... makes them cool or something? And there's the whole "Made ya look!" thing. Whatever.

Or yeah, he could have been trying to see what pocket you check so he could pickpocket you later.

my first thought was that maybe there was a trap of his friends set to rob you... like if you did go back they would know that
1) you have a wallet on you.
2) it has something valuable in it.

There is a similar scam (possibly and urban legend) with cars where they bump you and then while you exchange insurance information, they carjack you.

Two words: wallet chain. They work nicely with Ducti's.

If what happened to you were to happen to me, my paranoia alerts would begin blaring, and I would prepare for an impending ambush from all corners.

Good fortune,

- Icarus is not easy prey...

No.
This story really stressed me out- I go through the same kind of mental gymnastics. Bicycling is much better exercise.

My first thought was that someone else had dropped a wallet, and the guy thought it was you.
After reading the other posts, however, I now think this may have been part of a plan to rob you.
Then again, he may have just been a jerk who wanted to pass you.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be." -Shakespeare

One day when I was in high school, a boy I didn't know walked up to me and said, "Your tampon is showing." I had no idea why he would say that other than for the purpose of making a complete and utter fool of himself.

Regarding the "wallet," when someone sees a dropped wallet, don't they usually pick it up and either a) attempt to return it to the owner or b) keep it? If someone said to me, "you dropped your wallet" and wasn't at that moment handing my wallet to me, I'd be very suspicious.