finding wallets 1 2 3

Here are three stories about finding wallets. The first one is hopeful, the second one kind of amusing, and the third one sort of sad.

Krissa sent me a link (thanks Krissa!) to the first one about a Brooklyn fifth-grader who found and returned a wallet that had over $500 cash in it. The boy did the right thing of course as we shouldn't keep what isn't ours, and was duly rewarded by the owner with a $100 bill. He spent half of it on toys and is planning to use the rest of the money to buy his mom presents for Valentine's Day. Now that is sweet! But would you believe that in the comment section there were adults who actually called him an idiot for not keeping the $500? Who rationalized that if you lose that type of money you don't deserve to get it back? Unreal. Luckily the little kid had a lot more class.

Now the second story involves yours truly. Walking to work two weekends ago I found a wallet on the road but because I was in a hurry and it was early in the morning I took it to work with me to deal with it later. Unfortunately though someone had already gotten to it before me, stole whatever cash and credit cards had been in there, and unceremoniously dumped it where I found it. But there was lots of personal ID in it (and photos as well) so I knew the person would want it back. As it turned out the rightful owner (a wee slip of a girl in her early twenties) was only two blocks away from home so I returned it after my shift. She was overjoyed but also apologetic for not being able to give me any money as obviously there wasn't any left. I told her not to worry, that it wasn't necessary, and that it wasn't why I had returned it. But she did offer what she could: a joint! Well, she first asked me if I smoked weed to which I replied no, but then I told her that a friend of mine did thinking I could pass it along. So she handed me what was left of what she'd been smoking as we were speaking in her doorway, and I just laughed and told her it was okay. But I tell you though; if it had been on a Sunday night and I didn't have to go back in the next morning I might have just taken it and finished it on the way home!

The last story involves the friend I was going to pass the joint along to. When I told him what happened, he recounted his found wallet tale. When he came across a kid's wallet a few months ago he tracked down the parents after looking them up in the phone book. Upon calling they didn't seem too eager to come pick it up so he offered to drop it off. As it turns out they lived in a pretty upscale neighbourhood, but their manners sure didn't match. Now my friend, like myself, wasn't expecting a reward as such, but felt a little bit insulted when they didn't even thank him. And they didn't even grab their kid to come say thanks either! Just took the wallet and shut the door.

So what's the moral of these three tales? First, that you return things that don't belong to you because that's what civilized people do. Second, you do so not because of any hoped-for reward, but because of your moral code. And third, as eloquently put by Confucius himself:

Act with kindness, but do not expect gratitude.

Comments

[Krissa]

That is too funny about the girl whose wallet you found! Well, at least she offered you *something*, unlike your friend who went out of their way and was treated rudely. :( ... When I read that story about the kid in Brooklyn, there weren't any comments yet. That is so sad that there are adults (!!!) making fun of him for giving it back. Really pathetic. ... I haven't found any wallets ever, but I almost lost mine recently! It fell out of my bag at the shelter and I almost didn't notice. Thank God I did though. Wasn't much money in it, but my passport is in there! Whew!

[Krissa]

p.s. I like that Confucius quote.

[have gone vegan]

I agree. You would think all adults would be applauding him! But I guess that's the world we live in now. Or maybe it's always been like that? Glad you didn't lose your passport and wallet! Replacing official documents is a pain in the butt, and sometimes costs more time and energy than any money you lost. Plus you don't want to have to worry about ID theft.