Thursday, April 28, 2011

People are GOOD

I went to sleep last night full of milkshake goodness and warm fuzzy thoughts.

I spent this morning in a panic upon discovering that I was no longer in possession of my wallet.

I guess somehow during the course of my magical little spring stroll and all of my daydreaming I managed to lose my wallet. The pretty pink one I was so excited about here. Not good.


This morning I wasn't sure what had happened, so I spent an hour tearing my place apart and then putting it back together. I retraced my steps and decided it was gone forever, and then set about trying to put my financial life back in order. Can I say...what a huge pain in the a$$ that is??? A million questions, a million calls to make...and no one is in any rush to send you a replacement card. I had to have a way-too-long conversation with someone about why 5-7 days is too long to wait for an ATM card when you have lost your entire wallet and only have three dollars!!

I then had to go to my bank in person to try to get a temporary ATM card, and that was a fail as well (didn't have the right documentation). And I *might* have had a little meltdown at that point. But here was a small bright spot: I was crying on the corner of Montague Street (a main drag here in Brooklyn Heights), and a nice woman walking by offered me a hug. I declined, but I appreciated the offer! New Yorkers are NICE -- don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I had been hoping I could get into the office after my bank trip, but since that was a bust I had to head back home. I decided it would be work from home day, and even though I had no real interest in doing any work (I  just wanted to cry and feel sorry for myself), I called in to check my voice mail. And there was a message. A wonderful, wonderful message.

"I found your wallet -- can you meet me at the big bull?"

I chose to photograph this front half of the big guy-- I was in the minority
I never thought anyone would try to give it back, and I also didn't think anyone would even be able to find me  (my driver's license has an old address, I'm unlisted, etc.). But my business cards were in there, and this lovely young man took it upon himself to help reunite me with my lost wallet.

And an hour later, there I was on Broadway looking for a man carrying a hot pink wallet (he was easy to find, and surprisingly secure about carrying such a flashy accessory). We met at the Wall Street Bull, a symbol of financial prosperity and the power of the stock market in NYC; ironic since we were talking about a wallet containing $13, lots of store reward cards, and a Metrocard with 3 days left on it. He was incredibly sweet and wouldn't even take my offer of a reward. He was just a genuinely nice person.

Which leads me to my conclusion: people are GOOD. The world is full of generous, kind-hearted people, and I am truly grateful!

I have been particularly scatterbrained this week, managing to lose both my cell phone and my wallet. And miraculously, both have come back to me because complete strangers were very kind. I have made a big withdrawal from the bank of good karma this week, so I will work even harder than usual to make sure I give plenty of positive energy back to the universe.

And I hope both of my kind strangers win the lottery.

6 comments:

  1. How wonderful! Love when something like this happens. Yay for all the good people in the world!
    :)

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  2. wow, that's amazing!! I honestly LOVE New Yorkers. I've only once met an ass, and that was only a few weeks ago when we asked for directions. Every other time, we've met the sweetest people. So glad you got your wallet back!

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  3. Today was a crazy roller coaster day -- and I don't like roller coasters! (I'm much more a Tower of Terror girl...)

    I think that might be New York's best kept secret -- surprise, people are nice! But I know that I have definitely been lucky this week. And I am ready to return the favor. People, lose things near me -- I promise I will return them to you. Even if it is a diamond encrusted iPhone!

    Sorry you ran into a jerk, Jenn -- maybe he didn't really know how to direct you and was trying to cover? Some people have a hard time with the words "I don't know" ;)

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  4. I'm so glad you were able to get your wallet back! How wonderful of that man to give it back to you, and what a sweet woman to offer you a hug! I love people!

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  5. People ARE good. But some are not. When my wallet was stolen in Madrid I titles that post 'Bastards' :) I like your story better! I heart NY!

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  6. Oh no! For every good wallet finding story there are a dozen bad ones. I dropped my wallet on a busy street of all places and I had absolutely no business getting it back, yet somehow...

    Well I'm done withdrawing from the good karma bank for now, so next time it is totally your turn :)

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