Monday, September 10, 2012

The Kindness & Honesty of Strangers

On Friday-my birthday- when I checked the mail there was a mysterious package.  A big USPS envelope with something small inside.  I didn't recognize the handwriting on the front, and there was no return address.  Thinking it was a birthday present, I rushed inside to open it.  I ripped open a corner and peeked in.  There was a black case...

My camera!  I was so excited I was near tears.  Even though I posted an ad on Craigslist in the lost and found, I wasn't expecting anyone to respond.  I was pretty sure it was lost forever.  Also in the envelope were my ID, debit, and EBT cards.  Even though I cancelled my debit & EBT, I hadn't yet gone to the DMV to get another license. 

I slowly unzipped the case and removed my camera from it.  The first thing I noticed was that the lens cover was damaged.  I turned it over and noticed that the screen wasn't broken, but it bulged ominously.  Expecting the worst, I turned it on.  With the screen backlit, it was impossible to hope that the camera was salvageable.  A spiderweb network of cracks covered the entire screen.


Upset yet again, I still clung to the hope that the memory card might be intact.  Cameras can (eventually) be replaced, but pictures cannot.  The door on the bottom of the camera which housed the battery and memory card was crushed, making it hard to open.  I reminded myself that the battery was still good- the camera did turn on, after all- so there was a good chance that the memory card was ok, too.  Getting it and the battery out was a small struggle, but I did it.  I rushed over to the computer and inserted the card into the attachment I bought that can read just about any memory card on the planet.  I waited for the Windows Live Photo Viewer screen to pop up.  It did! 

There they were, all of my pictures, safe and sound!  So in the end I didn't lose nearly as many pictures as I thought I had.  There were some that were saved on the computer that I had deleted from the camera that might be buried somewhere in the hard drive but are inaccessible to me.  They weren't *that* important though.  I am disappointed that all of the pictures I took when my ThredUp order came are gone, because I was planning on using them in a blog post, but that pales in comparison to what I could have lost.

Since there was no return address, I have no way of thanking the woman who sent me back my camera.  It was definitely a woman, I could tell by the handwriting.  I was thinking of posting a public thank you on the Craigslist lost & found page.  She may never see it, but I feel like I have to express my gratitude in some way. 

For the rest of the morning I'll be working on Avon.  A new campaign is underway and there is a lot to be done.  I also have to call my first non- friend/family/co-worker customer and tell her that her order is in and schedule a delivery with her.  So I'll be busy at least for a few hours.  Hopefully I'll get done and be able to catch up with all of the blogs I miss over the weekend.  If not today, definitely tomorrow.  Hope you all had a great weekend.

7 comments:

  1. That is amazing!
    It was very kind of her and it is small things like that that keep me hoping that not all of humanity is lost.

    PS Happy belated birthday

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  2. Hooray! I'm so glad there are still good people in the world! And happy twinner birthday :)

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  3. Wow, that really makes me smile. There are still good people out there in the world. So glad you got it back!

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  4. Aw YAY!!! I love seeing kind acts of strangers...there are still do-gooders around (sometimes it doesn't feel like there are many left). Glad you have your pics, though! Do you know how your camera got damaged?

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    1. My best guess is that it got slightly run over by a car. I would have thought it'd be crushed to pieces, but it was in a pretty sturdy case.

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  5. That's just wonderful! How very kind of her!!

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