A Wallet and A Community 4.20.24

Distraught, I am about to walk into the DMV office in Mineral, Virginia to find out what I need to do to replace my drivers license.  But before I get out of my car, my cell phone rings. “FIRE EMER ONLY” appears as the caller I.D. I hesitate before touching the screen to answer. “John Franklin speaking.” The caller identifies himself as a Sherriff’s Deputy with the Louisa County Sherriff’s Department. And he says, “I think I have something of yours.” “You have my wallet?” And he says “Yes, it was found on Oakland Road.” And I exclaim “Thank God!”

How did this happen? I knew the day was going to be busy.  I had to drive 45 minutes to the western end of the county to our farm and then back to the lake for a lunch meeting, before driving to Washington D.C. to attend a conference and meet some former business colleagues and friends for dinner. And I would be constantly checking and responding to emails on my phone all day. Yes, it was going to be a busy day.

I leave the farm and head to my lunch meeting 30 minutes away.  I stop to get some gas.  Afterwards, I head to my lunch spot and arrive 10 minutes early.  When I get there, I check for my wallet.  I search everywhere in the car and cannot find it. And then I realize I must have left it at the gas station on top of the gas pump or on top of the car. What to do?

I am so angry with myself. Do I call and cancel lunch and drive the 30 minutes back to the gas station?  Instead, I find the number to the gas station and call.  A friendly voice answers the phone.  I explain my situation. “Has anyone turned in a brown wallet” She says, “No.” And without asking her to, she volunteers to walk out and check to see if the wallet is on the pump or on the pavement. She returns and says, “I do not see anything out there.”  I thank her profusely and hang up. Her kindness on the phone and willingness to help made me feel much better.  

That exchange was community connection number 1.

I am too embarrassed to tell my lunch partner that I have lost my wallet. So, I tell him that I left my wallet at home and would he mind paying for lunch.  I am not quite sure why I made up that lie.  I blame it on being stressed out. And because I get notifications on my phone when one of my credit cards are being used, I get such a notification at the beginning of lunch.  I immediately think someone is already using the lost credit cards. I apologize to my lunch partner, call my wife and ask her if she just used one of our credit cards. Thankfully, she responds with “yes”. My lunch partner looks at me quizzically and asks if everything is ok.?  This time I respond with “And oh yes, I have lost one of our credit cards. I was checking to see if the charge was made by my wife.” This is not a lie because I have indeed lost a credit card. I just don’t happen to mention that I have actually lost four credit cards, a debit card, a driver’s license, and my insurance card.

After lunch I drive back to the gas station and begin looking for my wallet. After checking the immediate premises, I surmise that if the wallet was on top of the car it would have fallen off onto the road when I pulled out making the left turn due to the centrifugal force that would have forced it to slide off into the ditch.  So, I look there.  No luck.

I then spend about 20 minutes walking 200 yards along the road while vehicles wiz past me. A guy sitting in his truck at the gas station sees me looking and hollers at me, “Are you looking for a phone?” I yell back, “No, a wallet.” He says “Oh man, you’re in trouble. I feel bad for you.” He decides to come over and searches with me. He tries to reassure me.  

That exchange was community connection number 2.

With the wallet not found and dejected, I walk back to my car and realize I now need to reconstruct my identity, my credit and my health information. The first step is to drive to the DMV office and check to see what I need to do to get a new driver’s license.  I think to myself that having a passport is not going to hurt. And that is when I get the “phone call.”  I am so relieved. The officer offers to meet me some place at my convenience to deliver the wallet. Really?

We agree to meet at the Sherriff’s Office in the town of Louisa, 10 minutes away. But before we hang up, I ask him where on Oakland Road was the wallet found? You see, Oakland Road is not even the road that the gas station is located on.  And when he tells me the approximate location, I am in disbelief.  The wallet remained on the top of the car for two miles! And I was travelling approximately 55 miles an hour during much of that distance. 

I am still kind of numb when I get to the Sherriff’s office. I tell the dispatcher when I arrive that I am the guy who lost his wallet.  He says the deputy who has it is in transit and will arrive momentarily.  When he arrives, he hands the wallet to me with a big smile on his face.  The wallet is beaten up but still looks ok. I ask him if he has the name and number of the person who found it.  I want to thank him or her.  The dispatcher walks out from behind his glass window and walks through the door and hands me his card with the person’s name and number on the back.  These two officers were so friendly and kind.

That exchange was community connection number 3.

But the story does not end here…

I open my wallet.  And I realize that three of my credit cards, my debit card and the insurance card are missing.  They must have fallen out. So, I call the number on the card and Matt answers.  First, I thank him.  I tell him the situation and then ask for the exact location of the found wallet. I am having trouble finding the spot. So, he offers to put his baby in the car and to meet me there.  Really?  I refuse to let him do that and I find the exact spot. I ask him to send me his address to that I can send him a thank you note.  He agrees to do so. 

That exchange was community connection number 4. 

I start walking along the road and start looking for the cards in the ditch. I find three of the cards pretty quickly. Unfortunately, the titanium American Express Card is totally destroyed.  I had asked Matt how he found it.  He said that he was following another car and saw it run over what he thought was a leaf.  However, when the car ran over the “leaf”, it popped open to reveal cash.  He then realized it was a wallet and stopped to pick it up.  No wonder the American Express Card was destroyed, and cards got dispersed all over the place. I still cannot find two cards. I finally decide to check the other side of the road. And sure enough, the other two cards are within three feet of each other.  So, miraculously, I find all of the missing cards!

After Matt found my wallet, he called the Sherriff’s Office. The Deputy who I had met drove to Matt’s house to pick up the wallet. And because I had business cards in the wallet, he was able to reach me very quickly, offering to drive wherever he needed to return my wallet. Folks, that series of events would not happen everywhere.  It is one of the advantages of living in a rural community.

I did send Matt a thank you card with a check as a thank you.  He then sent me the following text, “We just got your card and check in the mail. We want to say thank you! We are going to put this toward our farm and continue to provide for the community.” Yes, Matt thank you for providing for our community. It is a good one.