Lost & found- affirmations of goodness in many people

[VeganBikeChick]

It's so nice to hear about the goodness of others. I lost my wallet last week - pretty sure I left it at a restaurant I picked up takeout from. Have called several times with no luck, even put up an ad on Craigslist with no response. When I called my bank to report my card lost, there hadn't been any fraudulent activity, so I just keep praying that some good soul will find it. In the meantime, it sure has been a pain getting replacements of everything!!

[shootingstar]

I would have visited the restaurant in person to make the query with a piece of paper/business card in hand. Have you tried at least reporting it to the police? You never know.. Make sure you do this. The police aren't looking at craiglist (much).

Catrin, that's cool.
Adventurecycling, impressive. A diamond earring. Now, I would not be good with quite expensive jewellery.

Oh yea, more stories:

*My partner left behind his pannier full of some clothes, etc. in a parking lot. We were finishing a group bike ride. He forget to check on the other side of the car that was giving us a car lift with bikes, belongings. Then 30 km. later, he realized his pannier wasn't there. They drove back to parking lot but it was gone.

Dearie received a phone call a day later. A woman with her child when shopping, picked up the pannier.

So dearie went from Vancouver (cycling), took a 2 hr. ferry ride over to Vancouver Island (where we did our group ride) and biked, then got the pannier back from her. He biked over 120 km. that day.

[Owlie]

My dad lost his wallet in the Dallas airport, somehow. (Luckily, he was on his way home when it happened.) Some kind soul found it, got our address off his driver's license, and mailed it to him, cash and everything still in place. Dad sent him a very nice thank-you note.

More recently, he left his wallet in a hotel room in Boston and checked out. He discovered his lack of wallet when he got to the airport. (They did let him on the plane. How, I do not know. I think he had alternate but unconventional forms of picture ID on him.) The hotel housekeeping found it, and the hotel called his cell phone to tell him they had found his wallet and that they'd FedEx it.

Yes, my dad has a knack for losing his wallet while traveling.

[OakLeaf]

Years ago I was between jobs and, when the end of the semester approached, I went back for a couple of weeks to the college where I'd graduated, to type people's term papers and try to make a few bucks.

This was in the days before ATMs and large chain banks. All my earnings, like $1500 in cash and checks IIRC, were in my wallet. I was couch surfing and didn't really feel I could leave anything valuable in the apartments and dorm rooms where I slept for a couple of days at a time before mooching off another friend.

This was also in the days before cell phones, Facebook and Google. My name and home address 100+ miles away were in my wallet. No local contact information, since I didn't really have any.

I skipped off to church one morning. By the time I came back from services, the person I was staying with had had a phone call from campus security that someone had found my wallet in the grass. I hadn't even yet noticed I'd lost it. They'd tracked me down through the grapevine. Nothing was missing.

[PamNY]

There's a slight complication to do-gooding in NYC. Police have planted backpacks and purses, and arrested anyone who picked them up. This news story says the person is arrested only if they walk past a uniformed police officer without turning in the item, but I still would not touch anything on the subway. I'm glad the person who found my wallet in the subway station and returned it to me wasn't afraid to pick it up.

When I found a wallet on the bike path, I was a little worried about picking it up, but it seemed unlikely that a sting operation would be set up in that location.

[redrhodie]

Years ago my dbf was at the dentist having some work done, when he got a phone call, not to his cell phone, but at the dentist's office phone. It turned out to be a guy who found his wallet in a cab, and noticed the appointment card in there. He didn't even notice the wallet was missing yet, so he got it back before going through the stress of knowing it was lost.

This is a great thread.

[Penny4]

There's a slight complication to do-gooding in NYC. Police have planted backpacks and purses, and arrested anyone who picked them up. This news story says the person is arrested only if they walk past a uniformed police officer without turning in the item, but I still would not touch anything on the subway. I'm glad the person who found my wallet in the subway station and returned it to me wasn't afraid to pick it up.

When I found a wallet on the bike path, I was a little worried about picking it up, but it seemed unlikely that a sting operation would be set up in that location.

Seriously?? Surely there are better things for police to be doing?!

I was on the greenway a few months ago and saw a car key on the side of the path. I thought about leaving it, in case the person who lost it was trying to find it. But I decided their chances of finding it were slim. I picked it up and asked every single person I passed or who passed me from behind if they had lost a key. Most folks looked at me like I was crazy, which i thought was strange.
I got to the parking lot and hadn't found the owner. I went back down the path about a mile or so again asking everyone I saw. Finally I went back to the parking lot and tried to figure out what to do. I thought about turning it in to the police, hanging it on the trail head sign...just wasn't sure what to do. Finally, I realized, duh, i can figure out if the car is in the lot by hitting the unlock button. I foudn the car and waited around for 15 min or so to see fi the owner returned. In the end, I wrapped the key up in a piece of paper and stuck it on the front seat, out of site. Not sure if it was the right thing to do...but I hoped that the owner got back to his car before a thief did. Would you have taken it to the police?
I always double check to make sure my key is tightly secured in my saddle bag now, in the key hook thingy!

A few days ago I was trying to open the hood of my car to put more washer fluid in. FOr some reason I always have trouble with that, I can't ever find the latch. A guy pulled up next to me and asked if I needed help and popped it open. Only took a second of his time, but it just made me smile. It's so nice to have a stranger lend a hand when you need it.

[OakLeaf]

I wrapped the key up in a piece of paper and stuck it on the front seat, out of site. Not sure if it was the right thing to do....

I've found keys in someone's car door and just locked them in the car. Not that you can do that with a modern car, but at the time, I figured that if they didn't have a second key, the cost of a locksmith is still less than the cost of a new car. Nowadays I'd probably make a note of the plate and drop them at the cop shop.

[Artista]

In the end, I wrapped the key up in a piece of paper and stuck it on the front seat, out of site. Not sure if it was the right thing to do...but I hoped that the owner got back to his car before a thief did. Would you have taken it to the police?

Some nice person did this for me when I dropped my key next to my car in a grocery store parking lot. I was very appreciative that someone took a moment to help a stranger and thankful that I didn't have to try to track down the key in the store or police dept.