It must be my time to find other people’s stuff that they have lost; my previous post on the iPod Touch I found in an aircraft seatback while flying from Washington DC to Florida is the most recent example before this one.

So I am headed to get some coffee at 10am and I see this in the middle of my street; I mean like right in the middle:

Looks like a wallet, though hey, it could be just empty.  Let’s see:

Whoops!  I’ll bet someone wants this one back!

So this was much easier than the last time: quick jump onto Facebook, find out that we have FIVE “friends” in common (when talking about friends on Facebook, the word “friends” screams out to me for air quotes, and sometimes actual quotes), send a quick message with my cell number, get a phone call back in no time, then the person came and picked it up at my house.  It’s amazing that the person got it back as they had dropped it while bicycle bar-hopping around downtown at 10pm the previous evening, and we have a lot of people who walk the streets in the early morning.  It sat there for 12 hours just waiting for someone to do the right thing.

And of course, just like last time, when asked what I wanted in exchange, I asked that this person just do something to help a stranger at their next opportunity.  Just pay it forward, to which the person wholeheartedly agreed.

I don’t offer this story to make people think I am some great person; big deal, I gave back a wallet.  I think returning a wallet to an owner is something every person I know would do as well, so I am just using this to make a point about doing for others, because sometimes your small efforts on your part can have big results for other people.  And not for the reasons you might think.

Our country seems to have become so divided and argumentative that we seem to seldom realize we are still all just human beings trying to get by in the world.  So what can a good deed do?  Aside from the deed itself, it can remind us that most people DO care about other people, even those with whom they might disagree.

We get to see that people care all the time with any BIG crisis, like a hurricane, or earthquake, or any other devastation that affects lots of people.  People volunteer their time, food, money and whatever they can to help when lots of people are in trouble.

But what about when ONE person is in trouble?  We don’t know when that might be because it often not obvious; there is seldom news footage of just one person having a really hard time in life, especially one who happens to cross our path.

So it seems simple: when given the chance to do good, take it.  When given the chance to do bad, steer away.  But pay attention, because the smallest efforts might end up being the most important.

Lecture over, and thanks for listening.