My sister called my cell phone while we were at lunch today wondering where Stepan was. Apparently someone had called her from his cell phone after finding the cell phone in the middle of the street. Turns out the clip on the cell phone carrier broke recently so it wasn't attached to Step's belt as it normally is. When Step was putting Magda into her car seat, he set his phone on top of the car and left it there. From what I gather, it was just in the middle of Bittern Hollow right outside our house.
Anyway, I immediately hung up with her and called Step's cell phone. We spoke briefly about where we lived and the guy said he would leave the phone on our porch then asked if there was a reward. That's what pissed me off - the asking for compensation for a good deed. What about knowing you've done a good thing for a neighbor? Shouldn't that be reward enough? We didn't even know the phone was missing and we were being asked for money to ensure it's safe return. Now, in truth, he didn't actually demand a ransome, but that's kind of what it felt like.
What really blows is that we would probably have offered the guy a reward without his asking. Now, instead of feeling expansive, generous, and lucky to live in a neighborhood with such great people, I mainly feel extorted.
Posted by jfer at November 5, 2005 10:19 PMI had a feeling about that guy. I specifically didn't give him your address in case there was something amiss. I wonder if I had given his address if he would have just dropped it in the mailbox or waited until you were home to ask for the reward. How much did you give him?
Maybe he was really poor?
Posted by: mermu on November 5, 2005 11:42 PMHe actually waited until we were home before bringing the phone by the house. I'm fairly sure to ensure he got whatever reward we might have to give him. I believe Stepan gave him $20.
When I told him what street we lived on, he easily rattled off our address. Turns out he delivered pizza to us on Thursday from Papa John's.
Maybe I'm being too hard on the guy. He lives in a nice house and has a nice minivan in his garage. Maybe he's a younger guy who lives with his parents? - though Step thinks he was older than college age.
Posted by: I on November 6, 2005 2:19 PM