Every once in a while, something happens that restores my faith in humanity a bit. At times like these I kind of kick myself for being so cynical in the first place. So yeah, there’s a lesson here somewhere. And it includes believing a little in serendipity, too.
To start at the beginning, I had my best friend, John, and his kids over for dinner on Saturday night. (Salmon on the barbecue with rice, corn, brussels, and a lovely lemon and dill sauce, if you’re wondering.) After dinner, John was chatting on his cell phone to his other son. Then the three of them left.
About half an hour later, John called me from his son’s phone to say he’d lost his mobile and would I look for it. I searched the house, I went outside to look in the snow bank, nothing. He couldn’t find it at his place either. We tried calling it but the automated voice came on to say the “customer you’re calling is unavailable.” John came over with a flashlight to see if I’d missed it. It was nowhere to be found.
He tried again the next morning, thinking maybe he’d find it in the daylight. The only thing he could think of was that he’d dropped it on the sidewalk and someone had come along and picked it up. He was about to leave to go home and get himself some breakfast, but I invited him to stay. I usually work during breakfast, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to eat together since he was already there.
We were just cleaning off the table after our toast when there was a knock at the door. This is where the serendipity comes in, because I never answer my door on a Sunday morning. It’s usually Jehovah’s witnesses, and I don’t like standing with the front door open chatting about religion in my pajamas, especially when the air outside is sub-zero. But John, being far braver than I, opened the door.
To find two ladies who had been walking up the street, knocking on doors, to find the owner of the phone they’d found in the middle of the street the night before. Where it could easily have been run over.
The first thing he did after turning the SIM card back on was put the message on his lock screen: “If found, please call …” and my home number.
Because you never know. Someone kind and considerate might find it again next time. At least I’ve got to believe they will.
February 14, 2019 at 10:43 pm
Kindness. How rare. That is a nice story indeed.
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February 13, 2019 at 11:45 am
A similar thing happened to my wife. She put the phone on the top of her car and drove to work. It apparently fell off in a median crossing on a semi-busy street. She received a call at work to ask if she’d lost her phone. He asked one of our neighbors who happens to go to church with us if she knew the people on the screen-saver when he turned on the phone. Of course, she did and while he didn’t hand her the phone he did call the office. She got her phone back and it didn’t break when it slid off and hit the pavement. Crazy!
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February 13, 2019 at 10:26 am
Great story. There are still good people out there.
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February 13, 2019 at 9:34 am
My phone displays a picture of me and my phone number, but you need to know the password to get there.
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February 13, 2019 at 8:28 am
What a great story! Here’s one back: Not long after we moved here, a car pulled up and two women got out, one carrying a box of groceries. One of them said, “So-and-so sent us.” So-and-so was a woman I had worked with before I got married and moved, so I greeted them with tears in my eyes, because we were hard up. Not THAT hard up, but it was so kind! I invited them in, and further talk revealed that their So-and-so was not my So-and-so, and they had come to the wrong house. The people they were going to see had three daughters younger than ours (my stepdaughters). The people they were going to see needed coats and the ladies were apologetic not to have any available. And we had just been going through our things, getting rid of coats that didn’t fit anymore….
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February 13, 2019 at 4:04 am
Nice.
I found a credit card in the road with half a packet of cigarettes. I left them on the bench, but took the card into a branch of the issuing bank. It was a new card (issued Jan 2019) , contactless so no PIN or signature required for purchases under a certain amount, and hadn’t been signed anyway.
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February 13, 2019 at 1:36 am
Definitely restores faith in humanity 🤗
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February 13, 2019 at 12:50 am
That is a lovely story 💜
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February 13, 2019 at 12:12 am
What a heart warming happenstance. 😊
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February 12, 2019 at 11:00 pm
I love stories like this although that is highly unlikely to happen in South Africa. You would never see the phone again.
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February 12, 2019 at 11:38 pm
This is true in many places, sadly. Glad you enjoyed my post, Roberta. 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 10:10 pm
Thank God there are still some good Samaritans out there. He was so lucky that kind, honest ladies found it and tried to find the owner. It could’ve just as easily have been found by someone who’d pawn it right off.
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February 12, 2019 at 10:35 pm
Exactly. That’s what I expected had happened. Lovely that it didn’t. 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 9:59 pm
Every now and then a random act of kindness restores our faith in humanity! That was really nice of them!
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February 12, 2019 at 10:34 pm
It really was. 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 9:04 pm
you never know, wow how lucky and no chatty ladies.
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February 12, 2019 at 9:05 pm
Yep, very lucky. 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 8:53 pm
Oh that’s awesome! We all need a little more serendipity in our lives. 😉
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February 12, 2019 at 9:05 pm
Don’t we though? 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 8:34 pm
That does make you feel good. Thanks for sharing that one!
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February 12, 2019 at 8:36 pm
Glad you enjoyed it, Dan. 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 8:32 pm
There really are a lot of good and nice people in the world. Loved your story!
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February 12, 2019 at 8:33 pm
There are! Thank you. 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 8:32 pm
Indeed these things do restore our faith in the goodness of humanity.
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February 12, 2019 at 8:33 pm
Right? 🙂
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February 12, 2019 at 11:36 pm
Yes!
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