Upbeat Happening
I have an unfortunate and undesirable trait – I can be too quick to judge people and situations. Occasionally, though, something happens that is just so magnificent it floors me and almost restores my faith in people. One of those somethings happened on June 3.
I attended the pizza party for the 2024 Pioneer Century® volunteers over at Stark Street Pizza. I had ridden my bike over from Beaverton. Frankly, I need the work, and I need the miles. I am about 500 miles year to date behind where I was last year; and last year I was down about 1,000 miles from the year before. Anyway, I was on my bike, and when the party ended, I decided on a compromise – I would ride to the Moda Center and catch MAX from there. That way, I could get a few more miles, but I wouldn’t have to ride over the West Hills and I could be home at a reasonable hour. ✎
When I got down to the Moda Transit Center, I took my wallet out of the right rear pocket in my jersey, paid for the ticket, and put it back. At least I thought I had put it back
When I got home and started to change clothes, my right rear jersey pocket, I found to my distress, was quite empty. It appears that I had just missed the pocket after I bought my ticket.
The wallet was gone:
- 2 credit cards
- 1 debit card
- 1 Safeway $50 gift card with $40 left on it
- 1 Panera gift card with some value left
- 1 Starbucks card—ditto
- Driver’s license
- Library card
- Golden Age Passport
- Blood donor card
- About $30 cash
- And many incidentals…
In keeping with my tendency to rush to judgment, I immediately started canceling the credit cards and the debit card, then I started planning the next day. Lose a wallet at a downtown transit center? The chances of getting it back seemed to be less than zero. Let’s see, stops at the library and DMV to start with. Then I started wondering what I was going to do for cash until the replacement cards arrived.
Needless to say, I had some disturbing dreams that night – at least to the extent that I slept at all. Next morning, I got my passport out (at least that was not in the wallet!) so I would have ID for DMV and the two banks.
Now the good part. When I stepped out the front door, there on the doormat was my wallet. It was kind of soggy, like it had been out in the rain. But it was under the deck overhang of the apartment upstairs, and that area was dry and had been dry all night. Wherever the wallet and I had actually parted ways was not under cover, and it had been exposed to the rain. Conclusion? Some really great person had found it, checked the ID, tracked down my address and, anonymously, left it, intact, on my doorstep.
I still have the opinion that there are more horses’ asses than horses, but it is just as clear that there are some good people out there. Thank you, whoever you are!
Dave McQuery, Membership Secretary