Lost for three months but returned unharmed to a thankful and heart-warmed owner. Photo: Zoya Patel.
A few months ago, I did something pretty stupid – I put my wallet on the bonnet of my car while organising myself and then proceeded to drive off down Barton Highway with it still there. I didn’t realise what I had done until I got home, by which time it was dark and I knew any chance of finding it without physically walking the length of the highway was slim to none.
Having been operating on minimal sleep as a new mum to a then-four-month-old, I chalked this up to an annoying mistake, cancelled my bank cards and resigned myself to losing the NZ$350 I had in my wallet waiting to be exchanged. It sucked, but it was what it was.
I tried to find my wallet the next day and scoured the roadside every time I drove that stretch of highway for the ensuing weeks but to no avail.
So to say I was shocked when, three months later, I got a call from a Senior Constable at the Yass Police Station letting me know my wallet had been handed in would be an understatement.
Apparently, road workers who had been busy on Munday’s Lane (between Hall and Murrumbateman) had discovered it.
I made my way to Yass to pick it up, expecting the cash to be gone but happy to collect the rest of my belongings. To my utter shock, aside from the wallet itself having taken an absolute battering, everything was still inside it, including all NZ$350.
In the current economic climate, and with society today seeming less honest and community-minded than in the past, I genuinely had not expected the honesty and decency shown by strangers coming across an abandoned wallet full of cash. I had assumed if it was ever found, the money would be taken and the rest discarded – yet someone took time out of their day to hand it into the police in person, leaving everything as they found it.
As I left the station, I wished I knew who the Good Samaritan was so I could give them my thanks personally – so this is my attempt at conveying it in the hopes they come across my article.
Unfortunately, in my experience, it is far more common to have negative experiences at the hands of a stranger than positive – I’ve had my handbag and wallet stolen multiple times over the years, our house was robbed a few years back, and there are always minor grievances. A few weeks ago, I wrote about returning to a restaurant to pay the bill I’d accidentally missed and how shocked the staff were that I had actually come back. Apparently, doing the right thing definitely isn’t the default.
So to whomever it was who did me such a good turn by returning my wallet, thank you so much! Regaining the cash was nice, but to be honest, I’m most grateful that you have restored my faith in humanity.
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