Lost & found- affirmations of goodness in many people

[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.

[Crankin]

I've had my wallet stolen (at ASU, when it was stashed in my briefcase under my desk when I was a TA) and it was returned, but only after I had replaced everything. What a pain. They saw my faculty ID and returned it to the department office. I've never lost anything, though.
I keep my small bike sized wallet in my purse, which is kept under the front seat of my locked car (I have a station wagon, so no trunk), when I go in to see clients at their homes or schools. I bring my work bag in with me, where I have my cell phone, glasses, and a couple of bucks. I don't take my wallet into my office, either. I used to take my purse in with me to clients, and then, about a year ago, I *think* I had some money stolen. I say think, because I couldn't remember how much cash I had. I rarely use cash for anything, and when I get it, it's usually a good amount, so I don't have to go to the ATM too often. I also keep my car key, the electronic kind, either in a zipped pocket in a coat, or in the same exact spot in my work bag or purse. I am obsessive about checking to see that I have it before exiting my car, as it's not the kind of key that can go on a chain.

[missjean]

For a while last year, my husband seemed to be leaving his wallet behind when ever he went to the grocery store or CVS (work was stressing him out) but we always got a call letting him know that they had it. Nothing was ever stolen.
I've found a couple of wallets in parking lots over the years and turned them in and once I found $60 in the grocery store and gave it to the manager.

[Biciclista]

Both Donald and I have found cell phones and wallets and returned them many times. Sometimes people even force you to take a reward!

But when you are a repeat finder, sometimes you find stuff that you just keep. We found countless stuffed animals along our rides (many whose faces appeared here somewhere in the forum) as well as lots of money (coins usually) and earrings.

But on one of Donald's last solo bike rides he found a gold bracelet. It was on the sidewalk near a bank and a supermarket. He brought it home and gave it to me. I still wear it. It is part of the magic that surrounded him in his last months of life. We looked in the paper and on craigslist to see if anyone had reported it lost, but there was nothing.
I know that one of these days, this bracelet is going to fall off of me and then it will become someone else's. In the meantime, it is one of the last things my darling ever gave me; right in time for our anniversary last year.

then just last month, right in time for Valentine's day, I found a brand new Starbuck's Card on the ground. It had 25 bucks on it. What could I do? I thanked him.

and that's the rest of the story.

[Aggie_Ama]

Mimi- Your post made me smile.

I try to find the owners of things I find if it is the type of item you can find the owner. I find countless water bottles mountain biking that have bounced out of the bottle cage. When I find one I stick it in my bottle cage or extra jersey pocket and watch for a rider without water. Once I have found the owner, one time I found a terribly unprepared young family who took the water (it was 100 degrees), most of the time I take them home and wash them then add them to the collection. I find tons of ponytail ties, I rinse them and give them to my cat because it is her favorite toy.

[AppleTree]

This was years ago, but I was on my way home with my son from a soccer game. I had the most HORRIBLE cold you can imagine, and my head was even foggier than usual. I stopped at the ATM in my car to make a withdrawal and then proceeded to drive off, leaving my card in the machine... I hadn't even finished the transaction, it was on the screen that said "do you want to make another transaction"!!!!!!! Didn't even realize what I had done.

Drove home, and then just collapsed on the couch. Well, pretty soon I got a strange call, asking me my name, and if I banked at such and such... I am always suspicious, so I'm a little terse with him, thinking he wanted to sell me something or was trying to scam me maybe. Finally I figure out what he was saying. Never been so shocked and relieved at the same time. This man had tried to follow my car home, to return my debit card, and failing that, he went home, looked us up in the phone book and called and then came over and brought it to me. I was so grateful, and thanked him over and over, but because I was so sick, never even thought to get his name or anything so I could try to send him a thank you gift later, or at least bring him over a cake or something. I hope that his good karma rewarded him later though.

When I think of what COULD have happened... OMG.

[eofelis]

This morning on my way into work (bike commuting) I spotted a credit cardish looking thing in the gravel on the corner a couple blocks from my office. Stopped to pick it up. It was not signed on the back, recently issued maybe. Then I noticed a lot of papers strewn around across the street and in a church parking lot. Went over to look at a couple. Same name as on the credit card. From the variety of papers it looked like this person just had a kid, was on food stamps, had overdue bills, etc. I picked up one that had the address on it. Maybe I'd try to get the credit card back to the person.

When I told one of my coworkers about this she wanted to help. Person had a unique name so she was easily able to find her on FB, etc. and send a message. Haven't heard if she got a hold of this person yet.