One of the more common philosophies on life that I have heard is “Treat others the way you would like to be treated.” There are a number of iterations of that, the most well known could well be “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” A more recent variation is “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. They are all basically suggesting that we should set the example of how we would like to see the world.
The other evening, we were out walking Ray when we saw a wallet on the sidewalk. We picked it up and opened it to see if there was any owner identification inside … and there was, together with a significant amount of money. A quick search on Google and we had a likely address about 5 minutes walk away!
The address turned out to be a multiple units building and, upon finding the wallet owner’s name on the occupants listing next to the units call buttons, we buzzed the owner. She confirmed her name and, when requested to meet us in the reception area, she agreed … and we waited.
Not too surprisingly, she seemed rather serious as she approached the glass doors into the reception area where we were. She was a young lady, in her late teens, and I had to wonder what was on her mind as she saw two total strangers and a large dog waiting for her!
She opened the door and, without actually coming through the door opening, she looked at us. I introduced all of us (including Ray) and simply said “We have found something that is yours.”
She gasped a very excited “You have my wallet? It’s silver with a character painted on it.” I asked her whether she knew how much money was inside it. Her reply was perfect, so I handed it over to her. She asked where we had found it and then, after an exuberant “Thank you so much”, she turned around and went back to a waiting elevator. She stepped inside; the doors closed, and we turned around to head back home … when we heard it!
From within the elevator, there were uncontrolled screams of delight. We both smiled at the thought of her probably dancing around in the elevator celebrating the return of her various i.d. cards, public transport passes, credit card, and a lot of money! She had every reason to celebrate, and celebrate she certainly appeared to be doing based on what we heard.
In retrospect, we could have simply kept the money and thrown the wallet away or, if we felt a little more honest, we could have simply taken it to our local Police Division. In both those scenarios, we would not have experienced the sound of ecstatic delight as she celebrated being reunited with her wallet. I think that I will remember that sound coming from behind those elevator doors for a very long time. I certainly hope so.
We were honest, and went out of our way for a few minutes. The reward for doing so was priceless.
We are not expecting to see her again, so she will never know how much pleasure she gave us. Who knows, perhaps one day she will be in a similar situation and will remember our honesty. She will remember those two elderly people and that big dog who returned her wallet, with all the original contents, to her. Who knows, perhaps one day she might just do the same for somebody else. Just thinking.
I’m so glad there are still wonderful people like you in the world. I would have done the same thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Chrissy, although “wonderful” seems perhaps a little excessive! We simply behaved exactly how we would like others to behave. Of course we know that it will not always be adopted but, if our behavior is repeated by at least one other person, who knows how it can spread. Thank you so much for your Comment, and I hope you will come back again and perhaps explore other Posts here. 🙂
LikeLike
I agree. I love to spread the positive
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
Doing the right thing often has its rewards!💜💜
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would suggest that it always has its rewards, although there will be occasions where the reward is simply the knowledge that you did the right thing! 🙂
LikeLike
Yes you are correct, I would always rather do the right thing as if I did not I would feel so guilty.💜💜
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
Gold star for returning it to its rightful owner. 🌟
LikeLiked by 1 person
A kind of intuitive thing to do…. but gold star accepted! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great reminder of just exactly why we should treat others the way we want to be treated!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It really is such a simple concept, and yet so many people have trouble grasping it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOVED this post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was one of those Posts that was an exceptional pleasure to write. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Money can never bring such a boost to our hearts as the joy we created in others can. It is priceless. I found myself smiling all the way reading the story.
My daughter once left her handbag in a train station. Only after a few minutes, she noticed. Until we were back, the bag was gone. She was 11 and her first mobile phone was in it together with iPod and some money. She was desperate. We called her phone and someone picked it up. After some confusing hours, she got her bag back with everything in it because of the honesty of the finder. He did not even accept a reward. AWESOME!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I believe that those kinds of incidents happen regularly, but we just don’t hear about them. Sadly they are not considered of “news value”.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I believe that too and yes, such news don’t sell that well. Perhaps that’s why it is even more important that we all make it an effort to support such incidents.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always pleasure chatting Erika. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, it really is and I missed our chats 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I believe that these are Maya Angelou’s words : “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” Your rainbow melted her cloud of fear. Well done! Sure hope that she remembers this and passes it on…and holds on to her wallet better too. Thank-you for a lovely Monday morning ray of sunshine!
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂
LikeLike
What elderly people? Oh, you mean from her perspective! 🙂 You have taught her a fabulous lesson.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope it impacted her such that she will recall it as necessary. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s great that you took the time and effort to return her wallet. All those cards are so hard to replace.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absolutely. The reward (her screams of delight) and my personal satisfaction, were well worth the 5 minutes to locate her and 5 minutes to return the wallet to her. That is a pretty amazing reward for taking 10 mins out of ones day! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Do as you would be done by. Great post Colin, and I’m glad it was you and Carol who found the wallet rather than someone who may not have been quite so forthcoming.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was surprised to see not only a lot of notes/bills, but also important personal stuff like credit card, bus passes, student card, photo i.d. etc. etc. It was a great opportunity for identity theft if in the wrong hands however, all’s well that ends well! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
She was extremely lucky Colin, You hear so much about identity fraud, this was a golden egg in the wrong hands.
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with Ginger. I’ll bet you set the stage for that young lady to pay it forward. That seems to be how the universe works. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
If that’s what it takes, than I am okay with that! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t think of a better ending to this than this young lady ‘paying it forward’ one day.
Kudos to you and Carol and Ray. Not only for your honesty, but for making sure the lost wallet, and ALL its contents, got into her hands.
And yes, you will never look at an elevator again without hearing her squeals of delight!! What a fun memory.
🔹 Ginger 🔹
LikeLiked by 3 people
One just never knows how a simple act like that can turn out! A fun memory indeed. 🙂
LikeLike
Awh! A great heart warming story to start the morning off. I am sure she was thrilled! You and Carol absolutely made her day and she made yours with her screams of delight. A win-win situation and who knows what chain you set into motion.
A chain of bringing happiness to others, what better chain is there!
Who knows you may run into her again since she doesn’t live far away and I bet she will have a wonderful smile and cheery Hi for all of you. Including Ray. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike