Human Nature

Once, a year ago, I got out of my truck, set my wallet on the roof so I could grab some stuff from the cab, and walked away, completely forgetting about my wallet. Maggie and I went inside and had a fun time leisurely window shopping through Target as we filled our cart with the things we'd actually come for (lol).

Forty-five minutes later - forty five minutes later!!! - I got to the register and discovered that my wallet was missing. I instantly remembered where I'd left it. In a panic, I ran out the door and across the parking lot to my truck.

There was a man leaning against my truck. I was kind of nervous as I approached, but he immediately asked me if I owned the truck, and when I said yes, he handed me my wallet.

Get this:

This man had pulled up just after me, seen Maggie and I gathering our things and walking away, and as he got out, he noticed my wallet sitting atop my truck. He grabbed it and ran through the parking lot after us, but we were too far ahead and didn't notice him, and he was afraid that if he went inside and searched for us, I would realize I was missing my wallet, run back, and miss him. He'd just lost his wallet a few months before, and knew how stressful it was.

So, rather than turn it in to the Target lost and found - or, you know, just walking away with it!!! - he stood there and waited for 45 minutes for me to realize that I'd lost my wallet, and retrace my steps.

I was blown away, and incredibly, incredibly grateful. I happened to have some cash in my wallet - rare for me, lol - and I tried to give him some money, seeing as he had just lost 45 minutes of his time waiting for me. He wouldn't take it. I thanked him profusely and we parted ways.

I can also remember another time once when my dad and I were running errands and we had two large bags of Kinex (that we had just picked up from Freecycle) in the back of the truck. We realized we had to go in, and my dad considered taking a moment to untie the bags and throw them in the cab. I laughed and said I thought they'd be just fine sitting where they were. We went inside, came back out, and there was a note stuck under my windshield from a lady who had seen the bags and wanted to know, if we were going to take them to the dump (they were in garbage bags), if she could have them instead? She left her phone number. We got a good laugh out of it, and I called her to let her know that we were definitely not throwing them away, and to thank her for not just taking them.

I guess I used up my "good samaritan" points, because today turned out a little differently.

I dropped Abby off at school and immediately headed to the bank so I could cash my check. I drove straight to the gas station right across the street, filled up my tank, and drove to Old Navy. Thirty minutes later, as I'm checking out, I realize that my debit card (that I just used to get gas) is missing. I drove back to Wawa, thinking that maybe I'd left it behind. I couldn't find it at the pump, so I went inside and asked if anyone had seen it. No one had. I wondered if maybe I had stopped someplace else and just forgotten, so I signed on to my bank account using my phone. Lo and behold, my checking account is overdrawn and none of the transactions are mine. :(

Since I was right across the street from my bank, I immediately went in and got their help. They canceled the card, gave me all the information they could for the police report, and helped me file fraud claims against the transactions.

Luckily, I'm not liable for the fraudulent transactions - whew! especially seeing as they totaled more than $300 :( - but it's a big inconvenience since I'm now without a debit card, which I usually use 90% of the time, and I have to go through the hassle of filing a police report, monitoring the fraud claims, etc.

Anywho...

My girlie is back! :) I loved listening to her chatter all morning as she told me all about her vacation. I missed her, and I'm glad "real life" has resumed. :)