My faith in humanity (partly) restored....
Discussion
That sinking feeling in your stomach when after turning your pockets, coat, and car inside out, you realise that you've lost your wallet, followed shortly afterwards with frustration that you could have been so stupid as to lose it.
You rack your brains, realising that you last had it 15 hours ago nearly 130 miles away when I'd filled up with petrol, quickly followed by the realisation that it would have long since been picked up and chances of seeing it again are slim. Cash, bank/credit cards, and a whole host of other cards that will prove a pain to replace, especially this close to Xmas.
Imagine my surprise then when I was contacted by my breakdown company of all people, telling me that my wallet had been handed into Reading Police Station. This was a relief, as atleast I figured that the majority of the cards would still be there, and with any luck the bank and credit cards.
Collecting it that evening, I was gobsmacked - not only were all the cards still there, but not a penny had been taken out of it with still £80 odd in cash present. Even when I'd heard that the wallet had been handed in, which was a surprise in itself, I had long since written the cash off and assumed that it would have been taken such is my dim view of society and its morals these days.
Transpired that it was the neighbour of the friends house that I'd been house-sitting that night who had handed the wallet in, and he'd found it laying next to where my car was parked - can only assume that I'd put the wallet in my coat pocket after filling with petrol, and it had dropped out as I climbed out of the car at my friends house.
Clearly I was very, very lucky, but it has gone some way to restoring my faith in humanity which had been slowly ebbing away for years.
A massive thankyou to Thames Valley Police, who'd taken the time to go through the wallet to find some way of contacting me, to Britannia Rescue, who'd been contacted by the police and in turn took the time to contact me to let me know that my wallet had been handed in, and of course, to Dan, who not only was a shining example of honesty but also went out of his way to drop the wallet into the police.
Proves that there are still some good people out there, even if at times it feels as if they're vastly outnumbered by scum.
You rack your brains, realising that you last had it 15 hours ago nearly 130 miles away when I'd filled up with petrol, quickly followed by the realisation that it would have long since been picked up and chances of seeing it again are slim. Cash, bank/credit cards, and a whole host of other cards that will prove a pain to replace, especially this close to Xmas.
Imagine my surprise then when I was contacted by my breakdown company of all people, telling me that my wallet had been handed into Reading Police Station. This was a relief, as atleast I figured that the majority of the cards would still be there, and with any luck the bank and credit cards.
Collecting it that evening, I was gobsmacked - not only were all the cards still there, but not a penny had been taken out of it with still £80 odd in cash present. Even when I'd heard that the wallet had been handed in, which was a surprise in itself, I had long since written the cash off and assumed that it would have been taken such is my dim view of society and its morals these days.
Transpired that it was the neighbour of the friends house that I'd been house-sitting that night who had handed the wallet in, and he'd found it laying next to where my car was parked - can only assume that I'd put the wallet in my coat pocket after filling with petrol, and it had dropped out as I climbed out of the car at my friends house.
Clearly I was very, very lucky, but it has gone some way to restoring my faith in humanity which had been slowly ebbing away for years.
A massive thankyou to Thames Valley Police, who'd taken the time to go through the wallet to find some way of contacting me, to Britannia Rescue, who'd been contacted by the police and in turn took the time to contact me to let me know that my wallet had been handed in, and of course, to Dan, who not only was a shining example of honesty but also went out of his way to drop the wallet into the police.
Proves that there are still some good people out there, even if at times it feels as if they're vastly outnumbered by scum.
It does happen and once in a while you get a good soul who'll do a good turn, but it's rare. I'm pretty absent-minded and leave things all over the place. So far I've lost (i.e. left somewhere then gone to pick up only to find it's been stolen) three pairs of sunglasses worth £450, four rings worth £1700 (first one, then three, none were left more than 10 minutes), two jackets worth £300, a bank card, two wallets, half a dozen hats (£500-worth maybe), an ID card, a sports bag and probably other things I've forgotten about. None were handed in. All were stolen.
Mind you, I did have a pound coin returned to me a while ago so it's not all evil little scrotes out there.
Mind you, I did have a pound coin returned to me a while ago so it's not all evil little scrotes out there.
I once found a wallet on a train and took it straight to the lost property office at the train station i arrived at. Some old codger behind the counter looked quite surprised as a 20 year old lad handed him a wallet. He asked if there was anything in it, i hadn't bothered checking as it was none of my business, so he opened up the wallet, saw there was no cash in it and made a snide comment implying i'd emptied it. 
Still, at least i could hold my head up high knowing i'd done the right thing, however it did anger me that i was tarnished with the "typical theiving chav scum" brush.
I guess as the OP says, thats just the impression reading/watching/listening to the news gives you of everyone in society.
Still, at least i could hold my head up high knowing i'd done the right thing, however it did anger me that i was tarnished with the "typical theiving chav scum" brush.
I guess as the OP says, thats just the impression reading/watching/listening to the news gives you of everyone in society.
Yup, there are definitely some good people out there. Last year I stopped to help a guy who was staggering around on the side of the road. Turned out he had taken an overdose. While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, I had put my coat over him, complete with sat nav in the pocket.
I then went off up the road a bit to warn oncoming cars of the situation, as it was just round a blind bend. After a while, I had a phone call from my missus. The other people caring for the OD guy had realised I had gone off without my coat, and worried I didn't want to lose it and my sat nav, had fired up the satnav, figured out my home address, and called directory enquiries to get my home number so they could tell my wife that they still had my coat and would I like to go back for it.
And the OD guy seemed to make a decent recovery, although TBH he didn't seem particulalry grateful we had saved him. Still, can't please everyone
I then went off up the road a bit to warn oncoming cars of the situation, as it was just round a blind bend. After a while, I had a phone call from my missus. The other people caring for the OD guy had realised I had gone off without my coat, and worried I didn't want to lose it and my sat nav, had fired up the satnav, figured out my home address, and called directory enquiries to get my home number so they could tell my wife that they still had my coat and would I like to go back for it.
And the OD guy seemed to make a decent recovery, although TBH he didn't seem particulalry grateful we had saved him. Still, can't please everyone
powerandtorque said:
That sinking feeling in your stomach when after turning your pockets, coat, and car inside out, you realise that you've lost your wallet, followed shortly afterwards with frustration that you could have been so stupid as to lose it.
You rack your brains, realising that you last had it 15 hours ago nearly 130 miles away when I'd filled up with petrol, quickly followed by the realisation that it would have long since been picked up and chances of seeing it again are slim. Cash, bank/credit cards, and a whole host of other cards that will prove a pain to replace, especially this close to Xmas.
Imagine my surprise then when I was contacted by my breakdown company of all people, telling me that my wallet had been handed into Reading Police Station. This was a relief, as atleast I figured that the majority of the cards would still be there, and with any luck the bank and credit cards.
Collecting it that evening, I was gobsmacked - not only were all the cards still there, but not a penny had been taken out of it with still £80 odd in cash present. Even when I'd heard that the wallet had been handed in, which was a surprise in itself, I had long since written the cash off and assumed that it would have been taken such is my dim view of society and its morals these days.
Transpired that it was the neighbour of the friends house that I'd been house-sitting that night who had handed the wallet in, and he'd found it laying next to where my car was parked - can only assume that I'd put the wallet in my coat pocket after filling with petrol, and it had dropped out as I climbed out of the car at my friends house.
Clearly I was very, very lucky, but it has gone some way to restoring my faith in humanity which had been slowly ebbing away for years.
A massive thankyou to Thames Valley Police, who'd taken the time to go through the wallet to find some way of contacting me, to Britannia Rescue, who'd been contacted by the police and in turn took the time to contact me to let me know that my wallet had been handed in, and of course, to Dan, who not only was a shining example of honesty but also went out of his way to drop the wallet into the police.
Proves that there are still some good people out there, even if at times it feels as if they're vastly outnumbered by scum.
I think you should send a nice XMAS card and perhaps a small gift to the finderYou rack your brains, realising that you last had it 15 hours ago nearly 130 miles away when I'd filled up with petrol, quickly followed by the realisation that it would have long since been picked up and chances of seeing it again are slim. Cash, bank/credit cards, and a whole host of other cards that will prove a pain to replace, especially this close to Xmas.
Imagine my surprise then when I was contacted by my breakdown company of all people, telling me that my wallet had been handed into Reading Police Station. This was a relief, as atleast I figured that the majority of the cards would still be there, and with any luck the bank and credit cards.
Collecting it that evening, I was gobsmacked - not only were all the cards still there, but not a penny had been taken out of it with still £80 odd in cash present. Even when I'd heard that the wallet had been handed in, which was a surprise in itself, I had long since written the cash off and assumed that it would have been taken such is my dim view of society and its morals these days.
Transpired that it was the neighbour of the friends house that I'd been house-sitting that night who had handed the wallet in, and he'd found it laying next to where my car was parked - can only assume that I'd put the wallet in my coat pocket after filling with petrol, and it had dropped out as I climbed out of the car at my friends house.
Clearly I was very, very lucky, but it has gone some way to restoring my faith in humanity which had been slowly ebbing away for years.
A massive thankyou to Thames Valley Police, who'd taken the time to go through the wallet to find some way of contacting me, to Britannia Rescue, who'd been contacted by the police and in turn took the time to contact me to let me know that my wallet had been handed in, and of course, to Dan, who not only was a shining example of honesty but also went out of his way to drop the wallet into the police.
Proves that there are still some good people out there, even if at times it feels as if they're vastly outnumbered by scum.
I left a pair of Bose QuietComfort headphones and my iPOD touch on a flight a few weeks back (maybe £500 worth). Got to the airport car park and though 'oh s
t I've left them in the seat pocket'. Went back to the airline customer service desk and no luck, they hadn't been handed in. Later that evening I get a call from a guy telling me that he has them and he is going to sent the items to me at my business address (I had a business card inside the Bose case for this reason) 
. He didn't hand them into the airline as he though someone may have had an early Christmas. Dropped a nice bottle of Scotlands finest over to the guy as a note of thanks. I catch a flight most weeks so getting the items back was fantastic. There are some good honest people out there, pity there weren't more.
t I've left them in the seat pocket'. Went back to the airline customer service desk and no luck, they hadn't been handed in. Later that evening I get a call from a guy telling me that he has them and he is going to sent the items to me at my business address (I had a business card inside the Bose case for this reason) . He didn't hand them into the airline as he though someone may have had an early Christmas. Dropped a nice bottle of Scotlands finest over to the guy as a note of thanks. I catch a flight most weeks so getting the items back was fantastic. There are some good honest people out there, pity there weren't more.Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff