Sunday, August 17, 2008

Believe it or not

In the past I have stated that I truly feel that each and every one of us is inherently good under it all. There is no doubt in my mind that there are "crazies" out there but another of my beliefs is that these same people have somehow been forced into the role they play; if the situation were right, and I mean just right, there would be no evil. Let me explain why this has been brought to my attention recently, so much that I felt the urge to write about it.

This past weekend, my wife and I took a few days and went out of town to have some fun. One of our favorite past times is going to a casino, any casino, and spending a few dollars enjoying the experience of the chase. We're not looking to become overnight billionaires (as nice as that may sound) but we actually enjoy playing but not the point I'm trying to make.

We were on our way to the airport to catch our flight home when my wife realized that her wallet was not in her bag. Immediately I thought that she had been robbed and we began to retrace our steps thinking of when it could have possibly happened. It was at that moment that she remembered taking out her wallet in the casino and most likely leaving it where we were last; she had been looking for a parking receipt.

At first we thought her wallet contained a drivers license, credit cards, some cash, debit card and the like. There was no parking stub because that was now in my front pocket. We had two hours before our flight so we had the cab turn around and head directly back to the hotel we were last at. We quickly unloaded our luggage and headed straight to the location in the casino we had left maybe 25 minutes prior, all the while I was saying this was a waste of time, it would be a miracle if we found it, but we had to try. We weren't even sure how we were going to get home without her identification. Our minds were reeling.

We made a bee line straight to where she was sitting and asked the woman who was now occupying her seat if she had seen a wallet. Of course, not to my surprise she had seen nothing. In a split second a man tapped my wife on the shoulder and as we turned around there he stood holding her wallet in his hands. Unbelievable!!!

Granted, we later discovered that the lost wallet did not in fact hold anything but some cash and a debit card. Earlier that day, before we had checked out of our room, she had moved most identification, credit cards and her drivers license to a different location in her bag - she's not even sure why, however the cash, debit card, one of my business cards, a picture of the pope, some other photos and a small wallet sized flash light were all there.

Now - I can go on to say that we were lucky, I can say that if there were more cash in the wallet, more valuables, if her Louis Vuitton wallet was not the suspected knockoff I believe it to be, if the person that picked it up was perhaps a bit more needy, that maybe, just maybe, we never would have found it - BUT - I choose to believe that this man had all intentions of returning that wallet by mail, and I choose to believe that there are a lot more honest people in this world than are given credit. Thank you sir, whoever you are.

2 comments:

MedStudentWife said...

I've learned to trust 2 instincts.....

There is a reason why we do some things out of the ordinary and it confuses us all until point 2

Belief in retracting a lost item will usually bring it back... if you just don't cloud your mind... and in many times it just confirms why he first reason was done,

... the item was going to be lost.... ( but my experience is that it will be found and then you can have total peace)

This is sorta sounding religious, but my experience has been metaphysical...

If ya want proof.... I'll tell you about an earring ...

And guess what..provided my hurricane and/or other airline issues dont get in the way, I get to go thru one of my most favorite airports in the world, next weekend, (and I think you know what one that is :) ), that in my zillion years on this earth, I consider my fav :)

The Tin Woman said...

I once found a wallet on one of our many family road trips in a rest-stop , restroom. I left my number and name with the people at the counter there and took the wallet with us to SC and mailed it back to the person.

Somehow I just didn't trust the person at the counter. I never knew what actually happened to that person's wallet, never received a thank you or anything.... but I feel good knowing I did what I thought was best :o )