I was struck by an article in The Guardian last week about lost wallets.
The article reported on a recent study in which a company dropped 20 wallets containing £10 in cash, a photograph, tickets, receipts, stamps and several business cards in shopping centers, on public transport, in museums, cafes and on the street in five British cities: London, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow. Only two in ten of the wallets were returned to their owners and only around half of those (55 percent) contained the original sum of money.
The study caught my eye because I was recently one of those lucky 20 percent. I didn't exactly lose my wallet, but I did lose an envelope containing 15 pounds (roughly $23). And here's the kicker: the envelope didn't have my name and address on it.
All it had was a hand scribbled note that I'd written to a woman -- we'll call her Kelly -- from whom I was buying a (British) Dustbuster before she moved back to America the next day. The note read something along the lines of "To Kelly from Delia. Thanks and Good luck!," with the cash stuffed inside.
While walking to her house to pick up the Dustbuster, I'd apparently dropped the envelope on the ground along a busy London street. Because I couldn't find the envelope when I got to her house, I assumed that I'd lost it for good and went to a bank machine to get some cash. But the next day, a stranger contacted me (and Kelly) by email to say that she'd found the envelope and because she knew that Kelly was moving (and vaguely knew that Kelly knew someone called Delia) she figured that it was us.
Can you believe it? I mean, what are the chances that this woman would a. See the envelope on that particular street, which is quite commercial and heavily trafficked b. Bother to read my chicken-scratch and c. Return it on a hunch? Bear in mind that I'd never met her before and barely knew Kelly either.
She is obviously a very nice person, to whom I am most grateful. (If you're into this sort of thing you must listen to the This American Life episode entitled The Kindness of Strangers.)
I love this story because it illustrates the humanity in all of us. (OK, in two out of five of us.) But it's also a great small world story. Sometimes I really do believe the whole Six Degrees of Separation thing (even if I'm not connected to Kevin Bacon. Sniff.) A friend of mine just posted on Facebook that her son is about to go off to college and it turns out he'll be living right down the hall from his best friend in Kindergarten (whom he hasn't seen in 13 years.) Again, what are the odds?
OK, so now it's your turn to dish. What's your best kindness of strangers and/or small world story?
C'mon folks. It's a light news week. Let er' rip...