My husband’s job was busy pulling cables for computer systems that were being installed throughout his office. Because rings were very dangerous to have on fingers when pulling cables, H took his ring off and unknown to him lost it. Months or years later, a coworker found it in the gravel of the parking lot where they worked and gave it back to him (it had engraving in it which helped them figure out whom it belonged to).
About a month ago, I lost a favorite vest in SF. I called the 3 restaurants where I thought I may have left it but they all said nope, not there. Recently, one of the restaurants called back and said they found the vest and my oximeter (medical equipment, which was in the zippered pocket). They’re mailed it to my BIL, who has received it.
My mom once lost her purse with 3 US passports on a bus in Mexico—they were able to find the bus and purse, complete with intact passports, much to their & everyone’s surprise.
My handbag was stolen on the Tube in London. Showed up at the US Embassy to replace my passport later that day (thanks to the cab driver who drove me there and wouldn’t take my last “emergency” funds which weren’t in the bag but were in a pocket). The security guard at the embassy said “You don’t need to go inside, we have your bag” and handed it to me. All the cash was gone, my passport was there as was a small bag of jewelry which I had planned to wear to a wedding the next day and didn’t want to leave in my hotel.
I asked the guard if the good Samaritan had left any identification, ways of contacting him, reward, thank you, etc. and the guard said “just a bloke who found the bag in a trash bin in a Tube station and took the Tube here to hand it in once he saw a US passport”.
Oh DH wedding rings. He lost his original $100 wedding ring. Had no idea where it was. DD found it in our plantings…apparently he had been weeding or something and it came off.
Ah but then he lost that same ring again. We searched and searched for it for a long time, and finally gave up. That year for our anniversary, I actually got him a nicer gold band from a jewelry store.
Well…wouldn’t you know it…we had a cleaning person at the time, and she was vacuuming in our bedroom and heard a clinking sound. Immediately turned off the vacuum, and DHs first wedding band dropped on the floor.
Neither of these were ‘valuable’ items, but the circumstances definitely added to my faith in humanity:
I left a library book on a bus – in Houston TX, where I was living at the time. I had tucked a $20 in the book (I don’t remember why). A day or so later, I received a call from the police department saying they had my book – and money. I had not reported anything. The call was a complete surprise. It was turned in by a tourist (from the UK I believe), on their way to the airport!
Lots of ring stories reminded me of my lost wedding ring. I take it off each night and place it on my nightstand. One day it was gone and I had to file a police report and an insurance claim. Unfortunately, the insurance check didn’t come close to buying something similar, so I wore nothing for several months, and never cashed the insurance check. One day someone complained that the VCR rewinder wasn’t working (a small stand-alone box). After close examination, I saw my ring stuck inside it, but was able to get it out. I had a toddler at the time, which is my only explanation. I returned the check to USAA and got a nice letter back from them.
Yes, thanks but it was easier having them send it to my BIL in SF. You’ve got a lot going on with your H’s broken arm and now his iphone being returned!
A wonderful good to be true is the online friendship that has @jym626 offering to pick up @HImom vest while she is on the west coast and mailing it to Hawaii.
I’m hoping for a “too good to be true” ending – my H lost his wedding ring TWICE. We found it the first time but not the second. Sure would be nice if someone turned it in…
I took off my engagement ring and wedding ring at a spa and out them in my robe pocket. When I was done, I put the robe in a bin and left. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I didn’t my rings. I called the spa to ask them to look through the robes. They called me back to let me know they have found my rings. They said I was lucky because the laundry service was just about to pick up the robes.
My S22 had an almost too good to be true experience on the last day of his senior spring break at Miami airport! He and his friends flew basic economy on American to Miami for a music festival. They booked 8pm flights back to school that Sunday, thinking they could do late checkout at the hotel. The day before they left they found out that late check out wasn’t available and they had to be out by 11am.
My son was exhausted by the week and was dreading a 9 hour wait in the airport. He was also unaware that his basic economy ticket came with tight restrictions- you can only change your ticket by going on standby lists. So he placed himself on standby for an afternoon flight and was the first person on the standby list.
He was at the airport for about an hour when he got a notification that the 8pm flight was now delayed an hour. He was dreading the flight wait even more and decided to talk to a gate agent to see if there was anyway he could get a seat on an earlier flight. Gate agent saw that his flight was now delayed, AND he was first on the standby list for the afternoon flight, so he could get a verified ticket now for that flight. Not only did he get a seat on the early afternoon flight- it was a first class seat!! He had a basic economy ticket and they gave him a first class seat since he was the first person on the standby list, his flight was delayed, he had no checked bags, and the first class seat was the only open seat on the flight. Lucky kid!!
When I was in college, and home for summer break, I went to the college town to visit my boyfriend. Picture pay phone booth. Excited, stupid girl leaves her wallet in the booth.
Do you know a lady found it and drove 60 miles to bring it to me back at home! I was absolutely stunned. I gave her all I had in the wallet which was only $20 (probably 1972-ish) and she was very grateful. I’ll certainly never forget it.
In the early 90’s, I was on the back of my ex’s motorcycle and saw a wallet in the middle of the road that encircles Regent’s Park in London. I handed it in at the local police station. They said if it wasn’t claimed in six months, I would receive the money inside. I can’t recall how much cash was in it, maybe 50 GBP, but there was no ID. People in the UK don’t typically carry ID and at that time, a driver’s license was a big piece of paper, which you were not required to carry. (And a lot of people still don’t drive or have cars anyway.)
About a month later, out of the blue, I received a lovely thank you note from the owner and 200 GBP worth of Marks & Spencer (a department store that also has groceries) gift vouchers. That was a LOT of money back then. I spent that entire summer and fall having loads of picnics and friends for over dinner, eating like a king. M&S still has great food.
That was one instance when I was too good to be true
I have found wallets, car keys, and jewelry. I always turn it into the nearest police department unless it’s obvious where it belongs.
The last time I found a wallet it was for someone out of town but they had their hotel key so I took it to the front desk of that hotel and they confirmed that person was staying there and returned it.
In the late 1970s, my late brother and I had just had dinner at a restaurant in Soho (NYC not London). As we were leaving, I saw a $100 bill on the sidewalk. As I picked it up, I noticed more big bills–$350 total. We stopped talking about walking together to the subway–taxi!
Last year my daughter and I ran the Brooklyn half marathon together. The morning of the race I woke up at my daughter’s apartment in Brooklyn only to realize my running shoes were in Manhattan at my son’s apartment.
I was screwed. The race was about to start and there were no shoe stores open. Nobody at my son’s apartment was answering their phones.
My wife and I had split up for the night. She was in Manhattan with my son and I was in Brooklyn for the race.
She’s a sound sleeper and her phone was off. Miraculously, she was awakened by my text message, called me, and within a few minutes my shoes were in an Uber headed to Brooklyn.
My daughter and I waited on her front steps for my shoes to arrive, we hopped in the Uber, and made it to the race just in the nick of time.
Don’t know if it fits, and I think maybe I’ve told this story before on CC. But here it goes again if I did! Sorry.
First of all I’m agnostic. This relates to the story.
I had just lost my father to cancer and got a call from an organization that I was volunteering with occasionally - Operation Smile. They wanted to know if I could go on an upcoming mission in China. I was still very sad but decided to go. Sometime before the trip, I was making scrambled eggs for my daughter and she was helping. She handed me an egg and I told her to get me another, bc that one was strangely mottled. When she put it back, I saw that the mottled area had a distinct happy face within it. My father was always drawing smiley faces on things for the grandkids. I took it to mean that he was OK and it was OK for me to go. I blew out the contents and saved the egg even though the face disappeared when the shell dried out.
In China, the mission consisted of folks from several countries and many local people. I happened to meet a young Chinese woman and we bonded over having daughters the same age. We couldn’t speak each other’s language but we still developed a friendship. I gave her a gift for her daughter. A day or so later, she had a gift for me. She handed it to me quickly and scurried off to work. When I opened it in front of a few young Chinese folks who spoke English well, I burst out crying. The gift was a cloisonné egg holder made in her home province. People around me were confused and startled until I told them the story, of Dad’s death, the happy face egg, and now, a place to keep it. Before I knew it, everyone around me was crying too, even the young men. My friend came back to see us all sobbing and me holding her gift. She became concerned and upset. So the youngsters translated the story to her and she cried happy tears too.
It’s hard for me to accept that it was all one big coincidence, and I was comforted by the fact that he possibly can see us and, this case, influence matter and people’s decisions from beyond. I’ve had so many moments that I wish I could have shared with him. I hope he saw them too.
I have found cash, but it wasn’t a great story.
I was at a ski resort with my kids and my mom. There was a kid being obviously mean to other kids in the hallway. I saw $ fall out of his pocket. When I got to where it was, it was $100! I caught up with the kid, and let him know he lost it. I told him I would give it back to him if he apologized to the other kids and promised not to keep being evil to them.
