Yesterday (known for the next few days or so as “on Sunday”) I was walking through the hot and sunny neighborhood enjoying the whole thing and I strolled up to the park hoping to run into some friends. When I found them I got excited and I jumped around a bit and did some old fashion tackling-type activity. At some point during this play my iPod fell out of my pocket and into the grass.
That’s a bummer, I thought later, finding an empty pocket, since it’s kind of new and I use it a lot. But maybe I’ll just have to find more creative ways to do things. I was even about to finally give in and buy a cellular phone.
But then, when I got home, I found an e-mail from a stranger who said that she had found my iPod and I should send her my number so I could come pick it up! And I did and I did! I stopped by the home of some dude who was maybe her partner or friend or who cares, but he was so nice and when I handed him some cookies as a thank you he almost didn’t take them. “Well, anyone would have done it,” he said.
But I’m not sure that’s true. Would you?
(illustrativeĀ photo by the awesome Potential Past)
P.S. When I was in college I was pick pocketed on the subway at Times Square and got the wallet in the mail a week or two later with my ID still in it. So, maybe I’m too lucky for my own good or maybe people are generally pretty considerate.
 I was walking through the hot and sunny neighborhood enjoying the whole thing and I strolled up to the park hoping to run into some friends. When I found them I got excited and I jumped around a bit and did some old […]</p>
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How did they know how to contact you?
I guess they clicked on the Mail and saw what the e-mail address was.
I would have! Just Friday I found a passport on the street. (Mission and 1st, in particular.) I looked up the owner, found his ex-wife, and left a message. Got in touch with him by the end of the day and returned what turned out to be his only ID. Total cost to me: 10 minutes. Bragging rights: forever.
Yay, neighbors!
You know whats even crazier, The dude that took your wallet years ago is the same guy that returned your iPod!
He’s like Jacob in LOST. Which makes you Hurley I guess.
This comment made my day.
I once lost my wallet in the Lower Haight – it fell out of pocket while I was walking to work. The person who found it found me on Facebook before I even knew it was gone; they even came to my house to drop it off! And people say big cities are cold, impersonal places. Pfft, I say.
I found some girl’s iPod Classic on a park bench last December. Taped a note to the bench with my number and put a post on CL. She found the post, oddly enough. Apparently she’s one of those ditzes that stores their music only on the iPod including some original work. I’m glad I got it back to her. She gave me this Peet’s coffee gift card that the wife was shocked to find $45 on. Total overkill, but deeply appreciated.
Don’t get a cell phone.
I had my phone returned to me after a new years eve on mushrooms when I happen to have left in on top of a random car (in front of a friends house), smart I know. This was in Seattle, they called my most dialed number who was my boyfriend and we got it back the next day. People are generally nice, even though the media would like us to believe differently. Cheers to Nice people!
Just in the last calendar year the following has happened to me:
1. 2 weeks after acquiring my first iPhone, I dropped it in the Presidio near Julius Kahn playground around 6pm on a Sunday. An older gentleman got in touch with me via my recent calls and an email, etc. I walked to his office around 10am the next morning (conveniently he worked a few blocks from me) and he handed me my phone in a ziploc baggie, saying he wasn’t sure how it worked.
2. I dropped the same iPhone in a parking garage in February. Someone gave it to the frontdesk at a local business that I just so happened to be a client of, they emailed my best friend, who emailed me before I’d even made it home. Total turn-around time before I got my phone back? About 1 hour!
3. About a month ago, I was tooling around Golden Gate Park on my bike.I had my older iPod nano with me, even though I had my iPhone — I guess for back-up in case the apocalypse came and I needed extra music? I dunno. But I forgot I even had it with me. It fell out of my bag somehow. By the time I got home, I checked my email and someone had emailed me to tell me they found it! Honestly it might have taken a few days for me to even notice it was gone. When I’d ordered it, I’d thought to have my email address engraved on it. The nice folks put it under their doormat at their house in the Sunset and I picked it up the next day.
This town is awesome. And I’m a lucky girl.
someone stole my purse on my birthday one year. you may remember. money, credit card, a bunch of cash cuz i was waitressing in a shitty tourist diner. anyway i didn’t get any of it back but that meant i also didn’t have a phone for a while. point of the story? it was awesome! don’t get a phone.
Awesome story, Ariel, so glad you got your iPod back and your faith in humanity restored. Or reinforced, as the case may be.
But… you and Brian were in Dolores Park on Sunday, and you didn’t bother to look for the Caliber group? We were there from about 4 to 6, something like that. Would’ve been nice to see you two and say hi.
Oh well. Next time!
Erik, I don’t actually know if Brian was there, I just stole his pic from his Flickr. And I actually ran into you guys for a minute, saw Troy and Justin, on your way to The Kilowatt, but I had a few things to do then and didn’t realize you were at the park later.
Yeah, next time.
I couldn’t make it at noon and didn’t know how to find you guys. Should have just gone up to dolores!
Yeah, no big deal. Some of us figured that since you two are in the neighborhood every day, you probably weren’t interested in doing the photowalk. It was pretty unwieldy from the beginning, anyway — I’d estimate 50-60 people. By the time we got to Kilowatt and then to the park, it was down to a more manageable 15-20.
Last week there was this jogger near the Marinia when his cell phone dropped out of his pocket. It happened to fall right out in front of this vagrant. Anyway, the vagrant decided to chase him down but the jogger had his headphones on and couldn’t hear.
Eventually the vagrant caught up to the jogger and tapped him on the shoulder. Funniest reaction ever, the jogger thought he was being mugged and got scared shitless. Vagrant gave him his phone back and got nothing in return. Normally I dont give to bums but I figured this guy deserved some good karma so I gave him some spare change.
Seriously. Chasing someone down to give them something is above and beyond effort. I wonder if maybe the jogger didn’t have any cash on him…
Pay it forward.
When my briefcase (with wallet, phone & keys) fell off my bike and was found & returned by a good citizen (an attorney no less!), I donated to Second Harvest Food bank in his name.
That’s awesome! I would have. I’ve found small electronics on the bus before and turned it into the driver. I do, however, wonder if the driver turned it into lost and found. But that is on his or her kharma.
I guess now there’s a new alternative, you can give it back, you can keep it, or you can sell it to Gizmodo for thousands of dollars.
I think the return factor is upped once the finder processes, “if this ever happened to me…” scenario.
I routinely found lost phones in New York City, and the best thank you gift was a bag of socks from the lady who worked in a sock factory. Who can say no to socks?
Alternately, my friend had her wallet stolen at a New Year’s Eve party in Brooklyn. It showed up two days later on a hooker in Harlem. At least, that’s what the cops said.
My roommate went out drinking heavily friday night, with his entire camera bag full (Canon 5D MKII – what I used to shoot “Dia de los Muertos set to girls”)and left it at a bar in the mission. Went back 30 minutes later and it was gone. The next day he went to all the bars from the night before, and finally when he asked “did you guys find a messenger bag” they replied “what kind?” he replied “Timbuk2!” they replied “what was in it?”
So on and so forth. $3,000 Bullet dodged. Livelihood of two film makers saved. The bag must have gone through at least 3 sets of hands that could have decided they just found them selves a new pro video/photo set up.
I lost my wallet at JazzFest one year and got it mailed back to me from Atlanta. Between my wife and I, we’ve returned two wallets and a cellphone.