Basic goodness in people

[MU82]

My son got married Saturday. It was an amazing wedding and part of an incredible weekend. Here's a pretty cool story ...

My wife and I took a cab from our hotel (Chicago JW Marriott) to the venue (City Winery, which was really cool BTW). It was a short ride, so we paid cash.

About 2 hours after we got to the venue, my wife realized that she couldn't find the bag we had packed that included her comfy shoes for dancing, a few other things (gum, cosmetics, etc) and ... our gifts for the newlyweds. One of the gifts was something my wife had spent hours personalizing. The other was a large check. Panic had set in.

We called the hotel to have somebody check our room to see if they could find the bag. They couldn't. We realized we must have left it in the cab. There wasn't much we could do about it immediately, and we realized we could cancel the check, so we settled in to have a good time at our son's wedding. Which we did.

When we got back to our hotel at about 1 a.m., I called the cab company. Nothing had been turned in. They suggested I call back in the morning. I did, at about 8 a.m. Still nothing. Because we had no receipt, there was no way to identify the cab that we had taken, so there wasn't much hope.

At about 11 a.m., we had a message in our room from Jerome - the cab driver. My wife called him back. He found our bag when he was cleaning up his cab a little earlier. He looked through the bag and found the card we prepared for the kids. He opened the envelope to see if there were any clues as to who left it. He saw our name on the check. He said he many fares throughout the night but remembered that he had taken a few couples from the JW to City Winery for a wedding. So he called the JW and asked for our room. And bingo ... he scored!

He's a student at Northeastern Illinois and we arranged to meet him outside the school library on Sun afternoon. We got there, he gave us the bag - everything was in it - and my wife gave him a big hug. We also gave him the biggest tip he's probably ever received.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Reminded me a little of the time when I was an MU student and I lost my wallet at the MECCA. One of the cleaning crew found it later that night, turned it in and it was back in my possession the next day. Everything was in it, including the $30 or so I had.

There are some decent people out there.

[jsglow]

Great story.  One that will be told for decades.  My best to the bride and groom.

[WayOfTheWarrior]

Wow! Way to go Jerome. Thanks for sharing 82. Very encouraging read on a slow Monday. All the best to your son and his bride

[JWags85]

Ive largely given up cabs, not just because services like Uber, Lyft, and Juno are more cost efficient, but also because many unpleasant interactions, poor service, and shady business practices.  However, 2 years ago this upcoming St Patricks Day, I took a cab in downtown Chicago with some friends due to a combination of inebriation, impatience, and Uber surcharges.  Sometime during the trip, my wallet fell out of my pocket and I didn't realize it until we were ordering food.  Being as it was later in the night, I somehow retraced my steps to 2 previous bars, but got nowhere and ended going home and to sleep fitfully.

This was compounded because I was leaving THE VERY NEXT NIGHT for a business trip to Europe for a week.  Fortunately I had learned in my early 20s to keep a back up CC and still had my passport.  I called the cab company (thankfully we had kept a receipt) and tried to file a lost and found claim with dispatch, but I figured I was screwed.  I kept an eye on my CC accounts to see if any charges popped up, which none did, until midweek when I got a call in the early evening in London from a Chase branch.  The driver had found my wallet, noticed I was a Chase customer (CCs/debit card) and went into a branch with my ID to attempt to contact me.  Left his number with a teller who contacted me and then forwarded his number.  I gave him a call and met him the morning after I got back and he returned the wallet completely intact.  I was stunned and beyond relieved.  He steadfastly refused any tip, but eventually relented and reluctantly took what cash I had (which was a decent amount).  From that point forward, I would call him whenever I was heading to or from the airport to see if he was available.  Just a fantastic human being.

[rocket surgeon]

Congrats on your wedding👍👊.

      Yes there are still some decent people out there-my son was down here visiting us in Az.  Brought his golf clubs of course and we hit a few of the mountain courses, just to make sure he wants to come back.  Anyway, he either dropped his range finder($300-400) or left it in the cart or whatever.  We are back down here and he calls us to ask if we've come upon his bushnell.  I told him to call the last corse we were on, coyote lakes just on a whim to see if they still had it.  Remember this is a month later...they had it and further reinforced my belief that golfers and golfers in Az. are the most honest, upstanding people you'll meet

yo 82!  What church didja celebrate the exchange of vows hey😉

[Dr. Blackheart]

My son got married Saturday. It was an amazing wedding and part of an incredible weekend. Here's a pretty cool story ...

He's a student at Northeastern Illinois and we arranged to meet him outside the school library on Sun afternoon. We got there, he gave us the bag - everything was in it - and my wife gave him a big hug. We also gave him the biggest tip he's probably ever received.

Let me get this right:  "An entitled Millennial" returned your bag?  Shazam

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Congrats on your wedding👍👊.

      Yes there are still some decent people out there-my son was down here visiting us in Az.  Brought his golf clubs of course and we hit a few of the mountain courses, just to make sure he wants to come back.  Anyway, he either dropped his range finder($300-400) or left it in the cart or whatever.  We are back down here and he calls us to ask if we've come upon his bushnell.  I told him to call the last corse we were on, coyote lakes just on a whim to see if they still had it.  Remember this is a month later...they had it and further reinforced my belief that golfers and golfers in Az. are the most honest, upstanding people you'll meet

yo 82!  What church didja celebrate the exchange of vows hey😉

the first national church of no ornaments.

[Lennys Tap]

Mike,

Glad the wedding was a success - my best to the bride and groom!

We are inundated by man's inhumanity to man on a daily basis but for every atrocity thousands of act of kindness/goodness occur. I'm routinely blown away by how good people are. Glad you were reminded of that on such a special occasion.