Yesterday, I found a wallet. I was the last person to disembark from the bus after gathering all my belongings and walking out, i caught a glimpse of the black wallet. I picked it up and looked around but by then everyone had sleepily gone off. So I took it home with me. No way was I gonna give it to bus operators and tell them I found it. It's not that I don't trust them, it's just I trust myself more.
Guess what? There were 2 credit cards, 800 in cash, numerous ATM cards and the usual wallet stuff.. IC, driving licence, etc. But no way of me contacting the fella. By then it was already 2am so I couldn't call up the banks either. Mum suggested the police station. I thought, I don't think so. Like I said before, I trust myself more.
Woke up today and called the first bank. They told me they'd cancel the credit card and the ATM card but they couldn't give me his contact number. Instead, they suggested handing it over to the police station. Yea.. right. Called the second bank, same thing. I was beginning to wonder, why hadn't this fella cancel all his cards yet? Maybe he has other priorities...
Frustrated, i looked thru his wallet again and found a Membership card to some spa. It's a long shot but i tried it anyway. Called them up, explained the situation. The woman on the other line who was very polite and touched at what I was trying to do managed to find me his number. She told me, "Most people today would not have even bothered to do what you're doing You're very nice." I went, "There's no other option. This is what I have to do".
I called him up and he was head over heels gushing out words of gratitude and compliments. Amazingly, he was nearby. So in half an hour he was at my doorstep with another friend of his and they took turns shaking my hand and thanking me and then wanted to offer me money as a reward. I'm like "hello?! Do i like like a freakin money whore?" Of course, I politely declined saying that he needed to be more careful with his wallet. There ain't too many beautiful people in the world today.
What bothered me most about this whole episode was the fact that he had given up hope of ever seeing his wallet again. Surely, we still need to have hope in the good of people. Seriously, I believe there are wonderfully good people out there. Not everyone is bad and couldn't be bothered. And people need to believe in the each other again. Not everyone wants to pick your pocket. Not everyone wants to take your handphones. I remember when my handphone was snatched from my hand afew years back, I just stood there on the road for a good 20 minutes hoping with tears in my eyes, that it was all a joke and the person would return to the spot and give me back my phone. Either that, or I was just mortified.
It's sad but the world is going in the direction of money. But it's nice to know that there are still people who will go to great lengths to restore humanity's faith. Let's make a difference boys and girls. Make someone's day today.