Friday, March 25, 2011

EARTHLY ANGELS ... FLORIDA EDITION.

Welcome everyone to a special Florida edition of Earthly Angels. Something happened to me the other day that I must share with all of you. So next week I will post your comments over the past few weeks.


The beach townhouse that I am privileged to reside at is owned by a very special friend. My parents and Sabrina's parents were best friends. 


I was one-year-old toddling around when my mom answered the door. Sabrina's mom had just moved in and knew another toddler was romping about (very THIN ceilings). Since she had a three-year-old (Sabrina at the time) and pregnant, she decided to introduce herself. They were the best of friends from that moment on. So Sabrina and I are like first cousins.


On Wednesday she had asked me to do her a favor and take her to the bank. She didn't feel like riding her motorcycle. Surprising, she doesn't fit the biker-babe at all. She's refined, cultured, and beautiful. Anyway we stopped off at my favorite fast food place. I LOVE burgers and I craved a BK. Of course, Sabrina just had an iced tea and rolled her eyes.


I relished my burger, fries, and shake, (BAD MICHAEL! My last hurrah... It's grilled chicken and salad now.)


We jumped into my car and had a leisurely ride to the bank about twenty-five minutes. In the parking lot of the credit union, Sabrina shrieks and I nearly jump out of my skin.


"What the —"


"Where's my purse." She frantically looks for it under the her seat and then the back seat. No purse. 


She left it at the BK.  I had to hand it to her, after the initial shock, she remained relatively calm for a woman int this position. Not only did she have thousand of dollars in checks to deposit she had over three hundred in cash. Not to mention credit cards, etc.


Her silence unnerved me. I remembered an EA story I had posted a few months ago, so I tell her about a person from Wyoming found a wallet loaded with cash and credit cards. This person sent the wallet back intact to AUSTRALIA.


She glared at me. "This is Florida, not Wyoming."


Breaking all speed limits we made it back to the BK. I barely stopped and Sabrina jumped out of the car.


A minute later, Sabrina exits the BK. With glazed, she looked stared into space as she walked toward me ... with purse in hand.


She opened the door. "The manager found it. Everything is here and she wouldn't accept a reward."


I turned to her. "Go back inside. Get her name and write a letter to BK's corporate office."


She smiled, patted my leg, and stepped back inside.


At least an hour had gone and an honest person found it.




SO, as I always say, there are EA'S around us all. If you have an EA story, please leave it in the comments section or email it to me directly. It pleases me so to post these stories. In the harsh times we live in, it is comforting to know that kind people are still among us.


Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

19 comments:

Margo Benson said...

That's a real heart in mouth moment! How wonderful that the manager was an EA and Sabrina was reunited with her purse.

Tony Benson said...

It's truly heartwarming when something like this happens. I remember leaving (not deliberatly) a rather nice digital camera on a bench at San Diego Wild Animal Park once. It must have been an hour later that I went, trembling, to lost property to see if, by a miracle, they had it. Some kind person had taken it there from the other side of the park and I got it back, complete with loads of photos.

On another occasion I left a car door wide open while I had lunch. Somebody, a stranger, waited by the car for nearly an hour to make sure nobody interfered with it. They wouldn't accept any reward either. Such kindness cannot be measured.

Happy thoughts! Have a great weekend.

Southpaw said...

What a great story. Tony's too. This is a great post. It reminds us that there are good people in this world. They are not rare, it's just we don't see them unless something like this happens.

Summer Ross said...

This was a terrific post! I'm glad she got the name and will write to the office- I have worked at BK and that kind of thing gives the worker many kudos- possibly a raise.

My oldest- Jasmyne- was riding bikes with one of her friends. Well the friend went to stop and went head first over her bike. Jas Called me immediately because her friends was scared. She asked me to come down. When I got there Jas was talking calmly to her friends telling her not to worry her mom would fix it. Then when I helped the girl up and walked her home- Jas carried both bikes all the way back to her friends house and then home.
She's only nine, and she's just learning the ways of the world- But I think her calmness and immediate response to a situation makes her an angel to her friends.

Joanna St. James said...

that is so heartwarming. When I forgot my camera in Applebees and returned to get it in 30 mins it was gone. Never mind that it was late and night and was almost empty.
The staff were very unhelpful and am sure they took it cos there was no one else in my section.

Donea Lee said...

Oh, one of my fears!!! I'm a little obnoxious about keeping my purse right by my side at all times, so I can just imagine how she felt! So happy she had an EA looking out for her ~ :)

Great story, Michael. Thanks for sharing!

Heather said...

What an excellent reminder that sometimes they are where we least expect to find them!

Roland D. Yeomans said...

What a great story, Michael. It is a reminder to be an Earth Angel ourselves when weariness and irritation at a bad day would urge us not to be.

I love your comment counter -- two days ago I was at 96, yesterday I was at 94. Now, I'm at 92. Wow. It was made in Bizarro World where more is less! LOL.

Have a great weekend, Roland

Hart Johnson said...

Oh, so good! Such a good save! I'm glad there was an honest person first on scene! And I just saw your Fizzing Whizbee note--you are so generous! Thank you!!!

Margo Berendsen said...

Oh, this is awesome! I had something similar happen to me. I left my purse at an Arby's on a cross country trip, full of cash. I called them 4 hours later and they found the purse and mailed it to me. I told them to take out at least $20 for their effort but they didn't. Every bill and penny was intact - they didn't even charge for shipping. AMAZING!!!!

ali cross said...

I love, love, love this! Thank you for posting this Michael! And so happy for Sabrina!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

What a great story. I have one of my own. My friend Justin (medical school student here in Utah) went with me to the local gay bar on Gay Pride weekend (place was packed). On our way in this guy stumbles right by us and drops a huge wad of cash (probably $500.00). My friend Justin calmly scooped it up and chased the guy down and counted it all back into his hand. This guy was already at his car completely oblivous he'd dropped all that cash. It would have been easy to pocket but Justin is honest to the core.

Nas said...

Such an amazing person, that manager. A beautiful story, thanks for posting it.

erica and christy said...

When I was a teenager, my family took a vacation to Yellowstone. We had a rented car and drove around the west for a week. On our very first day, my mom realized she didn't have her purse and we had to backtrack over an hour to a gas station we had stopped at. The clerk found my mom's purse - with all of our vacation money - in the bathroom and kept it behind the counter until we returned. Everything was there and she wouldn't accept a reward, either.
erica

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

It's so heartening to read stories like that. It's nice to know there are still EAs around :)

Unknown said...

Oh man, I would totally freak out! I'm glad she got it back. Great story.

Jo Schaffer said...

I love that story. This sort of thing ought to be the rule and not the exception. I have been on the recieveing end of surprising honesty and good will several times. Hope for humanity. (=

Denise Covey said...

This is a heart-warming story Michael. So relieved for Sabrina.
Reminds me of two similar stories:

I was shopping recently and decided to try on something and left my bag with everything important in it hanging on a hook in the shop. I shopped some more then got to the checkout with my arms laden with everything except the means to pay. Geech! I rushed back to where I'd left my bag and it was gone. I only mildly panicked as this is Oz which has a pretty low crime rate, but there could have been an American tourist visiting y'know. And I had bad memories of being robbed of my laptop and jewellery in Italy. Anyway, I aaw the store manager loping by. He trotted off and brought me my bag which some lovey EA had handed in. Phew!

Two nights ago I went to dinner with my family to celebrate my husbands's birthday. We'd been placed in this nice little nook which ended up being a bit small so we were moved. My darling daughter left her bag in that section and only realised it at the end of the night. So after hours of revelry she walks back to the section and there it was, still hanging on the chair where she'd left it. Phew again! Such honest people had just left it there waiting for the owner to come back.

Ain't life sweet!

Denise<3

Karen Martin Sampson said...

After seeing some very disconcerting and discouraging DVD documentaries about awful stuff going on around the planet and signing a whole lot of petitions to stop abuses of many kinds I was gratified to read your post and start loving the human race again! I too have been the recipient of the "kindness of strangers". I think most of us are pretty darn wonderful...it's only a few who make the headlines that make it seem worse than it is.