Far away from NYC I am, but find these stories so uplifting — especially as the news cycle is devoted to the most awful things that occur.
1
My parents NYC born and lifelong, except for a suburban "exile" so the children could have "fresh air." My father was one of the world's good people, always an optimist ( occasionally utopian). He loved seeing his letters to the editor, or entries here published. I recall 3 times over his long life he lost his wallet, always returned! Too much to read now, so I only check here occasionally. He would have loved that it continues. Few things made him angry. Nixon was one. I am grateful my parents did not live to see what that man is doing to our country! I think it would have destroyed dad's belief in humankind!
12
Ok, this is NOT a lost wallet story -- however, it is loosely related...
Many years ago (over 25, I lost count), I stayed at the Pilgrim House Inn in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a quaint inn, the kind that keeps diaries in each room for visitors to share sightseeing tips and stories. I recall at the time reading an entry about a man who lost his dentures somewhere.
Some years later (roughly 10), I went back to the Pilgrim House Inn and happened to stay in the same room, since I liked it the first time around. There were many diary books at this point, and I went back to look at my old entry -- found it.
Curious about the denture story, I went looking ahead to learn the outcome. Found that, too. Some months after the reported loss, there was a reported find, and through the information provided in the diary entry the finders were able to return said dentures to the gentleman who lost it.
The finders reported that although the dentures were, um, green and such, the gentleman who lost his dentures was extremely happy to get them back again. Made his day (and mine, too!!).
Smile!
5
I have lived all over the States, including a three year stint in New York City. I have many wonderful memories about living there, but one of my favorites is a Gene Kelly double feature I attended at an old, gilded theater turned movie house somewhere in the lower West Side (sorry locals – I have forgotten the name and it was many years ago!). The first movie was Singin’ in the Rain, after which there was a 20 minute intermission before An American In Paris. I was standing up to get refreshments when a guy jumped onto the old stage and began to sing AND dance the entire Singin’ in the Rain song sequence from the movie. He transfixed all of us as he had every nuance, every lilt in Gene Kelly’s voice, and every bit of choreography was spot on. We clapped and cheered when he finished. He bowed and ran to get a soda before the lights dimmed again. It was one of those “only in New York” moments, where you never know if the stranger sitting next to you has the most wonderful of talents. And it makes me smile to this day.
14
What delightful posts. I've been dreaming about house-sitting in New York, and this convinced me to do it. When I do, I'll spend at least part of every day watching and listening to those around me on the streets and in the coffee shops and other places.
I must also add that good people are around us everywhere we go. I was climbing Mt. Marcy in the Adirondacks many years ago, and put my camera on a rock upon which I rested before moving up the trail. Discovering that I'd left it behind, I practically ran down the mountain to get it back.
Two young women who were climbing up with their dog met me about halfway to that rock, and presented my camera with a smile. It lit up my day.
5
In 1980-something, I was at the old FAO Schwarz at 745 Fifth. It was Christmas and all I could afford were tags for presents. I looked down while paying for them, and found a wallet bursting with cash, probably thousands. Not even a question in my mind, I handed it to the cashier and told her some man had dropped it. He ran in a minute later and grabbed it, not even a thank you. But my conscience is still clear, to this day.
11
I am an optimist at heart. However, I often find myself vacillating between believing that humans are inherently good or not. This column always reminds me why I'm an optimist and have faith in humanity's future .
Thank you.
10
My husband and I were living in London in the late 80s and took our car on the ferry from Dover and Calais to tour around Normandy. At lunch at a sweet cafe one day we decided to head south for warmer, and hopefully less rainy, weather. We got in the car and headed south toward Bordeaux.
Several hours into the trip the clouds disappeared, the sun came out and we were knew we made the right decision. We stopped at a rest stop and it was then that I realized that I left my purse, with passport, on the back of the chair in the cafe. We tried to call the local police, but our French was minimal at best and ended up telling them “we found a purse!”
We had no other option but to turn around. 5 hours after we left the cafe we returned to find that my purse was exactly were I left it. We enjoyed the rest of our trip in Normandy.
55
I'm a New Yorker that has now lived in California for 44 years. Last year I went on a 35 mile bike ride in Marin and San Francisco. I was tired hungry and about four miles from home when I suddenly realized I wasn't wearing my little backpack. It contained my license, two credit cards, and about $600, among other things. What upset me the most was the money and having to go through the torture of the DMV. I turned around and retraced my last 14 miles, looking for it at every place I had stopped on the ride. No luck. I headed home from my 63 mile ride. It was hanging from my door-knob when I got home. Maybe the person that returned it will read this. To you I say thank you.
42
@timothy schuyler once in a blue moon these things happen. Just as a test, you should leave such a bag the second time. And if it is returned again, this would really be worth writing about .
1
@KomaGawa Actually Koma, I hate to admit it but a couple of years prior, I had done the same thing. I even remembered where I had lost it, but when I got there it was gone. Now I'll never lose another one, because when I take it off I hang it on my handlebar. When I was in Japan I saw money tacked to a tree beside the sidewalk. I also saw other nice things that were obviously lost that were still there the next day. I love Japan.
3
I loved reading these . . .thank you
12
OK This is about some denizens of Seattle, but as there are so many lost and found wallet stories, I thought I would add mine. I was hiking on a summer day on Mt Rainier and spent the night in a tent perched on a campsite called Eagle's Roost. The next day when I arrived back at my car I realized that my wallet was missing. I had gone off trail a few times, and thought it was futile to go search for it. After being back in Seattle for a few days I replaced the credit cards, driver's license etc. Well about 7 months later, I get a call from someone in Seattle saying they found my wallet. They were concerned because I have a card in my wallet disclosing that I am diabetic and they were worried that I was OK. So they gave me the wallet back and even the money was still in it although wet. Mt Rainier is one of the snowiest place on earth and the wallet was under 50 feet of snow all winter and became visible again after the snow melted. I was happy to tell them I did not share the fate of my wallet, and indeed was also pleased that there are people out there that are concerned for the welfare of those they do not know.
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@Sweet Just to add, this was 1986. It is noteworthy that a kind gesture can have such a long lasting impact on how one views the world.
12
@Sweet This is another one in a million. I hope you both rewarded him and exchanged addresses. Now contact him again to find out if he ever lost anything and had someone return it; your experience was so unique that you are still commenting on the event.
1
@KomaGawa Nice ideas! It did seem to be one in a million and I certainly did not expect to see the wallet again. However, I was in college at the time and so there was not much money in the wallet. If it had been a child returning the wallet or someone who was destitute, I would have given them the cash. But as someone who was older than me, it would not really seem appropriate to hand him a "reward". I am sure that he would have turned down any cash I would have handed to him and in a way it would have ruined his moment. It is an interesting question as when you should hand someone cash for their magnanimous actions. No, we did not exchange addresses either. It would be great though to think that he read this letter in the NYT over breakfast and exclaimed to his wife, "hey, look at this..." Maybe I should post in the Seattle TImes.
1
Many years ago, my husband found a Wallet in the parking lot of a grocery store.
There was a lot of cash in the wallet. And it was a Friday. Likely that person’s weekly earnings.
He looked at the address and drove there. The lady hadn’t even missed her wallet yet. And was delighted to have it back.
Unharmed.
......
As a child our dad was leaving us off to go to the Sat afternoon movies (this was in the 50’s). I saw a wallet in the road. And gave it to my dad who, I believe, left it with the police. Afterward, the owner gave me a $10 reward. (Which I gave to the Missions - I was in parochial school at the time and that was always preached to us. To help orphans. I believe I later got a card from the Missions with the name of the child that money had helped.)
24
I'm a third-generation New Yorker, and this is how I saw the situation when I found a wallet in a taxi showing that the owner was from somewhere very far away--South Africa I think, or Anzac: maybe the next passenger would just steal it, maybe the driver wouldn't see it till the end of his shift,they were probably freaking out, maybe I could just Miss Marple it. No ID but a bank card. no internet back then. So I got a pleasant rush tracking down this person's identity by making international calls to his bank's customer service, who then found him. He called and came to my apt building. I met him and handed over the wallet and he tried to pay me. He told me that he was flying out that day. I have to say that was a good deed that felt pretty good.
My father used to ride the subway from one end to the other. As a courtesy, at that time, the working men and woment would read the paper and then leave it folded neatly on a seat. once the car emptied out and it was clearly left intentionally, the next person would pick it up and not have to pay for a paper.
that's my New York
43
I'm a native New Yorker, now in my 70's. I lived in a variety of places in between growing up, moving away, and then returning to the city. Often I heard people make negative comments about this city which they'd never even visited. I always explained that, overall, I've found New Yorkers to be friendlier and more open than any other place I've lived, be it the midwest or a small Nevada town. No, we are not perfect... far from it. But at the same time we are a city defined by its diversity. I certainly hope that the great inequality taking over this land does not totally eradicate that...
53
When my father was in his mid-eighties he went to Grand Central’s Oyster Bar for a bowl of Oyster Stew. A former New Yorker, he did that every time he visited. As he walked down East 42nd Street, a pickpocket grabbed the money clip from my father’s pocket. Thinking quickly, my father raised his arm and cane and the money clip flew up into the air, and bills started raining down. The pickpocket fled. People came from every direction, grabbing money off the sidewalk and street and handing it to my father. When my father got back to our apartment, he counted his money. He was $16 short. “That was a pretty good pickpocketing,” he commented. “As far as pickpocketings go.”
58
I look forward to this column each week, even more so now that my son lives in NYC...but I have to say, the comments are just as good!!
48
This comment will probably sound very strange to most readers but as a whole I find most of these tales sad .
Why?
Because they essentially portray and celebrate New Yorkers acting in a natural decent way
and it seems sad citizens of such an important city might even act otherwise.
For example of course the man in the subway accompanied the writer to make sure she was getting off the right exit. I mean why would you think otherwise? I mean do you automatically assume that he is a rapist?
It leaves me bewildered.
Just like people can support Trump after he openly mimicked and mocked the disabled reporter.
Sigh.
24
@stuart shapiro - Stuart. Ask your women friends, your mother, your wife or your girlfriend. Tell them the basic story, up until the woman gets off the train and the man gets off with her. Ask them what they would feel. I think many women in a new city would have at least a moment of uneasiness.
New York is a fabulous place. People who live here or visit have wonderful encounters - some very funny, some sweet, some quirky and strange. This column records those encounters. Many people who have never been here think New Yorkers are rude or unkind. Metropolitan Diary corrects that stereotype. That’s all.
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I visited NYC as a kid often (subway fare was $0.20 LOL) and my memories are that it had a exotic quality to it from the rich and expensive architecture to the oddness of some behaviors publicly expressed. (A businessman type relentlessly screaming and cursing a Hare Krishna ) but in my mind at least nothing negative
12
I wholeheartedly thank @ Clio, @ J Fogarty, @ S Parker and @ Sonder regarding the use of affect and effect. The conversation is not only interesting but healthy. Such conversation is always welcome and very useful.
I also wholeheartedly thank @ Railbird for indirectly initiating the discussion by giving the first reply to my comment in this regard.
I thank each and everyone of you once again.
15
I love these!
I wrote a poem once regarding my experience in Manhattan;
Once a young gal left her Blackberry
in the back of an NYC taxi.
She despaired, this poor female,
'til she got home to an email,
From the Man who found it- he's in Gramercy!
I indeed met him on the corner of the park, and got it back!
48
I always eagerly await and then read this column. I grew up in the Bronx and then moved to the Midwest where I have lived for the last 50 years. I’ve always known that New Yorkers are as nice, or nicer, than people anywhere, including the “nice” Midwest. This column proves me right every time.
63
When I was a 13 year old ballet student I would commute to classes and rehearsals. Once, about 1969 after a Nutcracker performance, the NYCB icon Violette Verdy, who had just danced Sugar Plum fairy, was leaving the theater and saw me at the bus stop. She insisted on waiting with me until bus came to ensure I was safe. At the time, I was embarrassed that she thought I needed help, but years later I understood her concern. A grand lady!
97
People being nice; my favorite thing. Especially now.
115
@MWG Couldn't agree more!
28
@MWG. Wish people would report more recent kindnesses. I know they happen.
23
A couple of years ago I was crossing the street on the upper east side when a woman behind me asked if I had lost a wallet, I turned around and said no. She was holding a wallet and said she had just found it and was going to call a police officer. I thought that was extreme and suggested she open it to look for ID to contact the person. She replied she did not want anyone to think she had stolen it. I finally convinced her to open it briefly we spotted a bank card and we both walked to branch of the bank explained the situation and asked them to contact the customer. She had told me twice she did not want anyone to think she stole the wallet. She was a middle aged African American lady and it made me sad that she was so concerned of being called a thief while trying to do a good deed.
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@Jessica : Your comment has moved me immensely. Her concern is very much correct being an African American lady as they are at the receiving end sometimes on account of their fault and most of the time on account of unreasonable suspicion. Even otherwise she has a very valid point. Opening the wallet in front of someone is entirely different from opening it all by herself. Onlookers might call 911 in no time. Handing over the wallet to the Police would have certainly nullified her fear if you were not present of course.
33
(1) Cornelia! (2) Language evolves: take it from I.
33
@Viseguy I'm not so sure about that "I": his point seems to be an implied verb "do" at the end of that sentence; however, I believe a stronger argument may be made that the trailing noun is a predicate nomnitive, thus the objective case correct.
2
I am simply addicted to this column, and get all happy when I see that there are new stories.
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@Pat
It's what's called a positive addiction!
6
@Pat You read my mind!
1
I dropped my wallet on the street in Morningside Heights once, in the rain, while using a pay phone in the early 2000s. I was shocked when I got a phone call a couple of hours later from someone who had picked it up and wanted to return it. Until that moment, it had never occurred to me that a good samaritan might return it. It added a new dimension to my life as a New Yorker. Now, after 20+ years living here, it doesn't surprise me so much.
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@JM
You can lose your wallet or leave it behind in any city. In a big city like NYC you're always shocked, but in the modern age, just getting your wallet back is a surprise ANYWHERE.
I left mine in Starbucks recently. A worker found it and put it aside for me. It was safe and sound when I went back for it the next day.
We forget that most people are good. The world seems like such a bad place these days.
29
It had begun to rain at an outdoor concert at the Prospect Park Band Shell. Everyone ran under the tent next to the stage. I noticed a credit card floating on a "small stream" near my feet.I picked it up, read it, and shouted the name at a women standing near me. It was a short stream.
She said, "Yes. How do you know my name?"
I said, "I found your credit card."
She shot me a look like, "I don't get it."
Eventually, she took her credit card, and I resumed sipping my beer.
A few minutes later, guess what I saw floating by my feet?
31
@Patriot . Well, are you going to tell us?
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@DMV address The same women's credit card! I think she was drunk.
11
@Patriot So....don't drink and carry credit cards ?
3
1997, my first trip to New York. Wandering around the city, I sat down on a bench in some tiny park whose name I’ll never know, and spotted a wallet on the ground behind me. Inside, I remember a student ID from the New School and a driver’s license from somewhere upstate. No google, no internet to speak of, long distance expensive. I was staying at a friend’s place in Washington Heights. What to do? Using a calling card, I called Information for the town listed on the driver’s license, got hold of the student’s father, he called her, she called me, I got on another train (using my laminated Streetwise map), we met, I handed off the wallet, I fell in love with New York.
128
This is such a beautiful, elegant, romantic column, and it makes me dream of New York again.
93
I just love these stories! Their straightforward simplicity and humanity fill me with warmth and hope. These tales are making our country great again!
63
One day my husband and I took the train into the city, a great adventure for us. We were living in Milwaukee at the time and were visiting my sister who was a student at the CIA. When we caught the train back upstate, unbeknownst to us, my husband's wallet fell out of his pocket. We reached our hotel and realized it was missing, never expecting to see it again. One call to Grand Central and we learned that not only had the wallet been turned in, but all the cash and credit cards were still in it. They ended up FedExing us the wallet once we got back home. We are still amazed!
145
wait - she wouldn't be able to find her?? she had her driver's license???? in her hand????
14
@Joelle It was 1967, no Google... Also, it sounds like she meant literally "find her," as opposed to eventually get the DL back to her.
26
@Gabrielle Pallas I'm with Joelle. It's a beautiful story though, and maybe that's what she said rather than "oh good, I was out of stamps" or "with mail at five cents an ounce, I never would have returned it!"
8
I or me? A lovely description by Stephen Pinker clears it up beautifully: "Ten grammar rules it is okay to break...sometimes..."
"predicative nominative
When you come home after a day at the office, do you call out, "Hi, honey, it's I"? If you do, you are the victim of a schoolteacher rule that insists that a pronoun serving as the complement of "be" must be in nominative case (I, he, she, we, they) rather than accusative case (me, him, her, us, them). According to this rule, Psalms (120:5), Isaiah (6:5), Jeremiah (4:31), and Ophelia should have cried out, "Woe is I," and the cartoon possum Pogo should have reworded his famous declaration as "We have met the enemy, and he is we."
The rule is a product of the usual three confusions: English with Latin, informal style with incorrect grammar and syntax with semantics. Accusative predicates have been used for centuries by many respected writers (including Samuel Pepys, Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf), and the choice between "It is he" and "It is him" is strictly one of formal versus informal style."
104
@Nnaiden,
After reading Brian Moore's 'The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne' many years ago, one sentence never used by me, is 'It's Only Me'. Anyways :)
14
@Miss Ley
Dear Miss Ley,
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne--such a wonderful novel, so powerful and compressed. I, too, remember reading it many, many years ago and still recall the haunting sense of human loneliness that resonates through its pages.
Ireland, more than most places in the Western world, has experienced so many, many life-altering and liberating changes in the half-century from when this book was written. People are far less lonely now, I imagine.
Thank you for reviving the memory. And, of course, the correct grammatical answer, certainly for formal, written English is "I," even though colloquially we all usually say "It's me" when announcing ourselves. But as the wonderful professor and scholar of English language history Jess Bessinger wrote, "language is both descriptive and prescriptive." Gradually over time (usually centuries), with an abundance of use, what is now considered an error may become standard usage in any language. The most dramatic reverse example of this is "ain't," which was standard usage of the British upper classes in 18th and first half of 19th centuries but is now considered nonstandard dialect.
Best wishes,
Elissa
22
@els
Dear Elissa,
When my father born in New Haven came to New York, he reflected on how long does it take for an Irish-American to become an American, and visiting Ireland in the late 50s for ten days, he stayed for ten years writing how the Irish were self-destructive and indestructible.
Brian Moore left Northern Ireland because of Irish Catholicism, and his 'Lonely Passion' carries autobiographical notes. I remember as a child in the early 60s, meeting some Judith Hearnes, where little hope is to be found, and I fear there will always be lonely people but perhaps these are not aware of living on the edge of reality and coming to terms with solitude.
For myself, I wish to thank The Metropolitan Diary and you, for all of us for making a contribution to New York City daily living, and let us remember what Oscar Wilde had to declare to the customs officers on his first visit to America, 'Only My Genius!'.
You might enjoy Moore's later novel, which takes place in Manhattan in the 60s, 'I Am Mary Dunne'.
With appreciation and all good wishes for an enjoyable remainder of this week,
Miss Ley
14
Around 1975, I was having coffee at an outdoor cafe near Washington Square, and noticed what looked like a diary propped up against the cafe bulletin board. Curious, I picked the diary up.
It was the memories of a couple who had backpacked extensively through the U.S. and it ended abruptly a couple of weeks earlier. Fortunately, there was a name and address inside. They had visited from England.
I wrote to the owner and he was incredibly grateful to have it back. Their hotel room had been broken into and his backpack and camera were taken. This was the only record of the entire trip. He wrote, "You'll be a friend for life.'
That was our last communication. I wonder how their life turned out, and where the diary is now?
142
Paul Klenk’s story about the couple’s son who was “embracing” his shaved head made me think of two other men I’ve known.
The first one is a friend from here in Connecticut who shaves his head every other day. He told me, “I’d rather be bald than balding.”
The other man was a history professor I knew in the early 1970s. His head was completely hairless except for a little fringe around the edges. He proudly wore a button that said: “BALD POWER!”
29
@Dean - in the 1970s, Telly Savalas as "Kojak" became an unlikely sex symbol and his being bald was seen as key to that. Mad magazine in its "Kojak" spoof had a funny fake-quote describing the pros and cons, that while it's good that there's less hair to comb, there was also more face to wash.
39
@Dean My son also shaves his head after losing enough of his hair to give him a reason to lose all of it. He looks fine and is lucky to have a nicely shaped head.
22
@Dean I have fine wisps of hair still persisting on the top of my head, and maybe I'd look better if I shaved that part bald. However, my mother's father had my same hair. He's gone since I was a young boy, but I often think "OK Grandpa, this little bit of you is still here these many years later, and I'm gonna let your wispy flag fly." I want him remembered as long as possible.
68
Back home in Philadelphia after having driven the NJ Turnpike from New York, I discovered that my wallet was missing. Perhaps I had merely misplaced it, and it would turn up somehow? Nope.
This was in the mid-70's, and I, having just recently finished grad school, had little money. When, days later, I was ready to call it a complete loss, I opened my mailbox to a mysterious package from Canada. The sender had found my wallet at a Turnpike rest stop, and gotten my address from my driver's license. Astoundingly, all my cash was still in my wallet. So I wrote a thank-you note and enclosed money for the sender's postage.
174
Ha, ha, Paul Klenk - I'm sitting here in Denmark enjoying Met Diary with an afternoon cup of tea and a piece of Scandinavian knækbrød with cheese -while you New Yorkers are getting on with your mornings. I was not aware that you say "knekkebrod" in the US ! :-)
As always, thanks for the great stories!
86
In 1966, walking down Amsterdam Avenue to 125th Street at 9pm, I was pushed to the sidewalk, and my handbag was stolen. Finally arriving home in the Bronx near midnight, I was talking to my parents, when the phone rang. A man said he had found my discarded wallet with my City College ID and Macy’s credit card, which he mailed to me. He would not give his name because he was on parole and not supposed to be out late. I hope his life got better. His good deed meant a lot to me.
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@Carol Herrnstadt Shulman
Dear Carol,
Your story was very uplifting!!
I, too, hope the young parolee's life took an upturn following his good deed of returning your wallet with ID and credit card. It would be so gratifying to know that he went on to graduate from CCNY, then from Columbia Law School, and became a beacon of hope who was able to give a lift up to other young people who strayed from the right path, perhaps because of overwhelming problems.
It may be naive to believe that those who do good will be rewarded in this world, but it certainly is a good way to live and view life.
Best wishes,
Elissa
76
@Carol Herrnstadt Shulman
On the other hand, maybe your kind-hearted mugger just wanted the money, and returned your wallet and cards after lifting the bills.
14
@els : I don't mean to rain on your parade but most violent crimes (at least here in DC) are committed by criminals who have been released from prison prematurely for one reason or another, including parole.
Re: "Is your name Cornelia" I was at work one Monday when I realized that I did not have my wallet with me.
I figured that I would have to call my credit card companies when I arrived home, to cancel my cards.
After arriving home on Monday evening, I received a call from a man who lived about one block from my house. His mother had been sweeping the sidewalk and found my wallet in the bushes. She could not speak English, so she gave my wallet to her son when he returned home. He looked up my name in the telephone book, after finding my name on my drivers license in my wallet.
We guessed that my wallet had dropped out of our car or out of my purse the day before, while we were unloading the car. The thief removed my $12 in cash, ignoring my drivers license and credit cards, and dropped my wallet into the bushes one block away. Thanks to the dear lady who decided to sweep the sidewalk that day!
125
Regarding the last letter: I was taught that "My parents live on the same block as me," is correct. If you add a verb, then it would be "I", as in "My parents live on the same block as I do." Would anyone with confident grammar chops care to opine?
19
@chirper Interesting interpretation, but no, "the same as me" is not correct English. It's frequently used, but that doesn't make it correct. Adding a verb may make the statement easier to understand. but it doesn't change the part of speech.
27
@Norman Berns I think chirper was mentioning this as the easiest way to tell if you should use "me" or "I". I know that in recent years I've been amazed at how often I find even well-known authors using "me" in this manner. Not I!
26
@chirper As Norman Berns points out, grammar rules are pretty immutable. The verb is always there whether you give voice to it or not, so "as I" is correct.
38
I sympathize with the grammar corrector...sort of. I am an inveterate eavesdropper, too, and I care about language. But I correct those grammar fails in my head. Silently. Calling out such things in public is rude and diminishing.
215
@Passion for Peaches Agreed. I bite my tongue.
30
@Passion for Peaches thank you for the new word. I’ll add it to my collection.
13
@Passion for Peaches
Last week I was in hospital and failed to hold my tongue as a visiting mother was handing her son, the patient, a packet of sweetener, she thought, from the lunch tray. “That’s not sweetener”, I said from behind the separating curtain, “that little green packet that says MacCormack? Don’t use it. I ruined my coffee this morning.” Though she gratefully thanked me, it wasn’t enough to expunge my sense of shameful guilt. What to do, what to do?
11
The story shared by Eric Hutchinson sounded familiar to me. Eric, was the gym Ludlow Fitness? If so, I know the guy you're talking about!
41
@Tobi Elkin
Why didn’t you greet the man? I make a point of thanking the people, usually immigrant women, who clean public bathrooms. I always thank them for providing me with a clean bathroom to use. I don’t want a pat on the back, but I am thankful for the people who provide this service and grateful I do not have to clean up the most personal of messes of others. I also know/ hope that in a generation or two their descendants will be in my position.
4
Helping people by going out of the way is the in thing for some people and I am one of them but sometimes the good intentions create some kind of a panic on the other person, which is natural. “ Leaving the Convent “ story beautifully reflects it since some wolves are looking for those opportunities too. I thank Marge Volpe for writing the story.
“ Sharing “ story has brought huge smile on my face. Our son does it all the time since he has very few hairs left on his head. By the way our son has come from Bangalore ( presently Bengaluru ) to spend two days with us, which he normally does every two, three months. It’s always a huge bonus whenever our children spend some valuable time with us.
I sincerely thank Paul Klenk for writing this story.
51
Wonderful stories, as usual.
But one thing caught my attention:
In Cornelia's story of her lost license, the young woman license-finder closes the tale by saying "“I had no idea how I would ever find you.”
It sounded reasonable, for a second, but then I realized that driver's licenses generally all come not only with names (like Cornelia), but addresses as well.
So, I would think, she could have easily reached Cornelia by mail.
But the personal delivery of the item upon the fortuitous seating was of course a much better outcome for all concerned, including all of us readers.
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@William W. Billy Also, you can out the driver's license or state ID in a USPS mailbox, and it will be returned to the owner.
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@William W. Billy . You would think that the address on the drivers license would be accurate; however, I know someone who uses her parents' address (where she lived as a child) on her drivers license, without correcting her address at the DMV.
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@William W. Billy One time I dropped a small wallet and a year later, got a note from the post office. I paid $1.15 to receive my old license, which of course I had already renewed.
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I disagree with the grammatical correction. If you say, "My parents live on the same block as I do," "as" is functioning as a conjunction, with the following subject and auxiliary (helping) verb. But if you say, "My parents live on the same block as me," "as" is functioning as a preposition, with the correct pronoun as the object of the prep.
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@gramphil
This is exactly what I was hoping someone would say. I am going to save this explanation and keep using it. Thank you, gramphil!
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@gramphil, IMO it is still a conjunction, because the “do” is implied. The word “as” does not become a preposition just by virtue of the “do” being absent. It is still used to denote a comparison. I think that “I” is the correct grammar choice.
However, there is correct grammar and there is common usage. Common usage would lean toward the use of “me,” in that conversation. And that is just fine.
Where I get jumpy is when people use “I” incorrectly in an attempt to sound fancy. It’s sort of endearing, really, but it also irks me far more than it should.
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@gramphil With due respect, Passion for Peaches is correct on both counts. "I" is correct but "me" is often used in common speech.
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I was the passenger in a car driving down 9th Avenue when I saw a young woman, crossing the avenue drop her wallet out of her overflowing bag into the street. I hopped out of the car to retrieve the wallet and then scanned the crowd to see where she went. (B&H across the street?) I stood on the corner in the teeming rain (left my umbrella in the car) for a good 15 minutes while my husband drove around the block. I didn’t know what to do. Finally I saw her hurrying across the street looking worried. “Miss! Miss!” I called out waving her wallet. She was so grateful she gave me her yellow umbrella which I still have.
Well, I did a mitzvah that day at least.
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Dear Zejee,
And a beautiful mitzvah it was! I hope your kindness and generosity of spirit are matched in ways large and small.
Stay well.
Allen
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@Zejee, I’ve returned my share of dropped (cash-filled) wallets, jewelry, loose cash and other stuff, as well as a few lost pets. Sometimes people are grateful, but often they are not. And that always puzzles me. How can you not extend a kindness to someone who has gone out of their way to be kind to you? It’s weird.
I was sitting in a small brew pub one afternoon when a man sitting near me — he was eating lunch alone at a counter — got up to use the restroom, leaving his laptop and other possessions on the counter with his lunch (this was in a small city in California, where people feel safe doing that kind of thing). As he passed by my chair, at a good clip, I saw a large wad of loose cash fall from his pocket. I picked it up and tucked it halfway under his laptop, and kept an eye on his place until he returned. When he came back, he saw the cash and pocketed it. He didn’t turn around to see who had placed it there, just commenced eating his lunch. Although I had not counted the cash, of course, I had noted that it was a thick pile of $20 bills. So it was perhaps a few hundred dollars. Enough to care about, surely.
People can be strange. That’s all I can say.
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@Zejee - that's so beautiful!
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Love the themes that seem to arrive collectively almost every week ... and thank you editors for choosing such delightful chance encounters for this week. Each of the stories had almost a small surprising nugget of care. Loved them all.
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Re: "Leaving the Convent":
During the semester break during my study abroad in Europe (1970s), I was travelling a bit by myself, on the train. I was not quite 21 years old, and I looked young for my age. While waiting in the early morning hours for my train, a German soldier struck up a conversation with me. I felt that he was watching over me until either my train, or his, arrived. Danke schön!
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“ Is your name Cornelia “ is a lovely story to read. The young lady would have certainly returned the driving license of Cornelia in some way or the other being the person she is. However by chance she came face to face with Cornelia in the same subway sparing Cornelia from incurring unnecessary tension at a later stage. As such this story is best in this week’s diary.
This story has made me to recollect the lost and found case of my wallet in my childhood thanks to the address mentioned by me in Telugu written in the form of a poem. The Good Samaritan was kind enough to return my wallet by turning up at my house unexpectedly since I was not aware of losing it just like Cornelia. The only precious item I had in the wallet was my Carrom striker. Incidentally Carrom is a very popular indoor game in India and some other countries, which I resumed playing after 3 decades. It’s a mini version of Billiards and within the reach of the common man.
After reading “ On the Bus “ story I thought of mentioning certain things here. I have seen plenty of English speaking people getting confused with the following words most of the time.
1) Affect and Effect.
2) It’s and its.
3) Then and than.
Overhearing is quite common since many people speak loudly anyway. Sheldon Burke rather concluded the story abruptly. It’s not known how the other person has felt when some unknown person tried to correct grammar. If that person were to take it in good spirit, then everything falls in its place.
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@Sivaram Pochiraju
Your list of pairs of almost identical words that often confound English speakers brought back a memory of a pleasant interaction with somebody I never saw or spoke to.
I was in Saratoga Springs, NY for a long weekend at the races a couple of summers ago, staying four nights in a hotel that is part of a massive chain. As I headed out the first morning of my stay, I wrote “Thank you” on a piece of notepad paper and left it on the desk with a five-dollar bill. Having read about some of the horrors that hotel housekeepers encounter on their rounds, I try to remember this small gesture of appreciation.
Over the years, I often found responses, sometimes illustrated with a smiley face, sometimes signed by the housekeeper, and invariably reading, “Your welcome!” The mistake always caused me a fleeting moment of sadness.
After a couple of days in Saratoga, I returned to the hotel with a good meal in my belly, and a modest profit from my day at the races. On the tidy desk, next to the previous day’s racing program, the maid had left a note with a smiley face and her name. And she’d written, “You’re Welcome. Good luck at the races!”
On my final morning in Saratoga, I jotted “Thanks for wishing me luck!” on the notepad, slipped a twenty-dollar bill beneath it, and headed for home.
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@Railbird : Thanks for adding a beautiful corollary to my comment. These words almost look identical as you have rightly said but wrong usage entirely changes the meaning.
It’s very common in American media to write side affects of a medicine as side effects, which is wrong. Affect clearly suggests negative impact on the human body whereas effect is all about positive impact. As you are very much aware there is a huge difference between then and than and so are words it’s and its.
Many years ago I used to write middle class as middleclass when I was in America. An Indian lady based in America admonished not only me but also all convent educated English medium students. I didn’t get offended but corrected myself. However I didn’t forget to thank her.
Long back one kind reader of the New York Times appreciated one of my comments but suggested that I should give at least one space after comma and full stop so that my comments can be made more presentable. I thanked that reader and thereafter implemented those valuable suggestions.
Many people think it’s not polite to point out certain mistakes or make some suggestions but I feel helping others to improve in some way is only the way of learning for the other person sometimes.
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I’m sorry but the correct term is “side effects.” From dictionary.com: “The noun effect means “result, consequence”: the serious effects of the oil spill. The noun affect pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, is a technical term in psychology and psychiatry.”
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Another great collection of vignettes, but Cornelia wins the prize!
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@Allison - yes.a wonderful story of Cornelia Channing finding out that yet another New Yorker has such a good heart!
The came Cornelia always reminds me of the Cornelia Street Cafe which was around about 40 years, and almost everyone who's ever give there seems to think they saw Suzanne Vega therefore before she was a star. (And now Ms. Vega is still thriving, involved with an off-Broadway show, the musical of "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.") Sometimes, it turns out they really saw Suzanne Vega live onstage later, after her record had hit the charts, but it's like the Sondheim show "Anyone Can Whistle" where Stephen Sondheim or Arthur Laurents is said to have joked that if everyone who claims to have seen "Anyone Can Whistle" starring Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury on Broadway had actually seen it, the investors wouldn't have lost all their money.
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