Integrity

While editing a work article in a coffee shop, I overheard a conversation between a man and another patron seated a few tables away from me.  The patron - let's call him Tom - a few tables down had found a phone in the bathroom and turned it into the cashier, and the man - let's call him Henry - had come in looking for it.  Apparently, Henry had forgotten it and drove halfway across the island before realizing it was gone. He was frantic.

When Henry came into the coffee shop and retrieved his phone from the cashier, he was so relieved.  He asked the cashier if the person who found it was still in the shop, and the cashier directed him to Tom.  Henry approached Tom and expressed how thankful and grateful he was; Henry's life was on that phone and he had retraced all of his steps in the last hour trying to locate the phone.  Henry pressed Tom for a way to repay his honesty, but Tom assured him that he was just doing the right thing.  Henry was truly beside himself.  I thought he was going to bow at Tom's feet and hug him in thanks if he couldn't repay Tom.  At Henry's insistence, Tom finally gave Henry his business card and reassured him that it was really no trouble at all.  Henry left the store visibly happier.  He even took a moment to wave to Tom before pulling out of the driveway.

I couldn't help eavesdropping and smiling through this whole exchange.  Very rarely do we witness acts of kindness and good in the world.  But whenever I do, I feel like I need to share it with the world.  Don't you?