Before anyone assumes it, I’m not making myself look good or reaching for praise. I’m ranting about society.
It’s pretty pathetic that doing the Right Thing™ results in an obscene (a lot, not indecent) amount of praise, these days.
Trigg’s birthday was last Tuesday. She rented a party bus for Saturday and we all went out. I got home around 4am and started walking toward the elevator. There lay a wallet.
It was a bit tattered and looked empty, but I picked it up just in case. It wasn’t. I started looking for a phone number, but couldn’t find one. I recognized the guy from his picture; he lives in the same building and same floor as I.
When I got into my apartment, I kept digging through it. Colorado driver’s license, no help in figuring out which apartment he’s in. Credit card and debit card, not much help. I could maybe call the companies and read them the information and ask for his apartment number or phone number, but I don’t know how well that would work–it may get them cancelled and new ones issued, which wouldn’t be fun for him. $50 cash, that certainly won’t help. A few business cards? None for him.
Finally, a break in the case! Two credit cards in a name not his. They had what I assumed was his father’s name and a company name. Corporate credit cards, he must work for the family business.
Delaying a shower and sitting in cigarette stink (hurry up and pass a smoking ban, South Dakota), I enlisted my trusty pal Google. Bingo!
I found a page with his name and picture as well as the picture of the guy who I assumed (and, based on the age of the guy in the picture, have proven) was his dad, again with a matching name. I looked around for an email and sent an email to the address saying I had it and when he could get it (and that I’d take it to the office if I didn’t hear from him during a specific hour later that day).
I didn’t hear from him. I eventually took it down and left it with the landlord, who recognized him instantly and mentioned which apartment he’s in.
I got to work today and shortly thereafter got an email. (Stuff for a project is under my personal email, which is a good thing, and various work-related emails still get addressed to that address instead of my work email. I just keep both open throughout the day.)
I have contacted %firstName.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KINDNESS AND THOUGHTFULLNESS.
His dad was quite appreciative. About 15 minutes later, I got another email.
I am so thankful that you held onto it thanks a lot, I tried stopping by I live in %apt I have an appt to go to at 10 but ill be home rest of the day after that. Thank you again very appreciated
I emailed him back to let him know that I had long since dropped it off in the office and got another reply.
Thanks so much ross
These two didn’t surprise me too much. I know our society, so I kind of expected such responses. What threw me was that his mom emailed me about half an hour later.
Dear Ross,
I am %firstName’s mom. My husband (%business) got the email about finding %firstNames wallet. You are so very kind to return it and go the extra mile to look up an address on Google. I know %firstName will be ecstatic to get it back!!!! Finally got hold of him this morning to tell him so he will be over there very soon if he hasnt all ready. It really made his day since he was pretty down in the dumps about losing it.
You are so right about being “too many dishonest people” out there. There sure are so it really makes our day to hear about an honest, decent person like yourself. %firstName is lucky you were the one to find it. So again, thanks Ross. You are greatly appreciated!!!!
%lastName’s
His entire family (okay, so I don’t actually know how large his immediate family is, but a large percentage of it if nothing else) emailed me thanking me for returning it. Corporate credit cards, I think (no personal experience, really!), are easier to fraudulently use than personal ones so those two could have been a huge headache, and the debit card could have been a pain, but the personal credit card and driver’s license were likely not too bad would they have been stolen. I saw no SSN on the driver’s license. The $50 would be gone for good, but given the annoyance that the others could be, $50 is a “small” price to pay.
I took nothing. I remember the driver’s license was in Colorado, but that’s it. I’m good with numbers, so I made sure to not look at any card numbers to accidentally memorize part/all of any of them.
What’s pathetic is that people who would take nothing and would go out of their way to get it returned, while quite likely the majority, seem to be the minority as far as people who find (or at least pick up) lost items. There’s no reason that people should be that appreciative that I did the Right Thing™; it should be commonplace.
np: Hoover Street from the album “Life Won’t Wait” by Rancid