Kindness Abounds
So a couple of weeks ago I'm walking back into work after having grabbed lunch at home, and something catches my eye on the ground.
It's a set of keys on a giant blue caribeener, lying in the grass and leaves just next to the sidewalk. I pick it up and take a look. There's a car key, but not one of the clicky kinds, so not something I can use to find the car it belongs to, there are what look like some house keys, and a few keys that I can ID as belonging to UVA buildings.
Since I'm right in front of a house, I went and knocked on the door and asked the boy who answered if the keys were his or maybe his roommates. He didn't recognize them.
So once I get into work, I call up the UVA police. I've lost my keys before, so I know that we are supposed to report any missing UVA keys to them, and really, who else can I turn them in to? (I know the keys aren't for building I have keys for, so they don't belong to someone in my department. I also know how stressful it is to lose your keys, and how hopeless you feel about the chance of ever getting them back.) The police send an officer over to collect the keys and take information from me, and I figure 'well that's done now, and if that person is really lucky they'll know they're supposed to report the keys and maybe just maybe the keys will make it back to them.'
A day later I get a call from the officer I'd turned them into, and the keys had been returned to the owner! Yeah! The officer also says the owner wanted to thank me, but since the officer isn't allowed to give out my information, instead gives me the person email address so I can contact them.
I figure why not and send them an email, mostly just saying I'm glad the keys made it home to them. They write me back saying "Thank you so very much for your kindness! I just wanted to thank you in person (even via email). I learned from you that kind people do exist!" And they sent me a small Amazon gift card to my email address. Totally unnecessary and extra kind in my eyes!
Now I'm curious as to your thoughts. What would you have done in my shoes? Was I being more kind then you think is standard? I felt I was just doing the most reasonable thing. What about in her shoes? Would you have asked the officer to have the finder contact you or sent them a gift for being a good citizen?
It's a set of keys on a giant blue caribeener, lying in the grass and leaves just next to the sidewalk. I pick it up and take a look. There's a car key, but not one of the clicky kinds, so not something I can use to find the car it belongs to, there are what look like some house keys, and a few keys that I can ID as belonging to UVA buildings.
Since I'm right in front of a house, I went and knocked on the door and asked the boy who answered if the keys were his or maybe his roommates. He didn't recognize them.
So once I get into work, I call up the UVA police. I've lost my keys before, so I know that we are supposed to report any missing UVA keys to them, and really, who else can I turn them in to? (I know the keys aren't for building I have keys for, so they don't belong to someone in my department. I also know how stressful it is to lose your keys, and how hopeless you feel about the chance of ever getting them back.) The police send an officer over to collect the keys and take information from me, and I figure 'well that's done now, and if that person is really lucky they'll know they're supposed to report the keys and maybe just maybe the keys will make it back to them.'
A day later I get a call from the officer I'd turned them into, and the keys had been returned to the owner! Yeah! The officer also says the owner wanted to thank me, but since the officer isn't allowed to give out my information, instead gives me the person email address so I can contact them.
I figure why not and send them an email, mostly just saying I'm glad the keys made it home to them. They write me back saying "Thank you so very much for your kindness! I just wanted to thank you in person (even via email). I learned from you that kind people do exist!" And they sent me a small Amazon gift card to my email address. Totally unnecessary and extra kind in my eyes!
Now I'm curious as to your thoughts. What would you have done in my shoes? Was I being more kind then you think is standard? I felt I was just doing the most reasonable thing. What about in her shoes? Would you have asked the officer to have the finder contact you or sent them a gift for being a good citizen?