I faced an interesting situation yesterday which lead me to discuss the topic of why it’s important to always keep your phone number or business card in your wallet. Losing your wallet is usually a terrible experience. You may lose any money that you have, but more importantly, you could lose your ID, credit cards, insurance cards and more. We all know what a pain it is to replace those!
There are some nasty people out there who would keep a wallet and its contents if they found it, (Karma will come for them) but there are also a lot of good people who will go to the trouble of finding the owner to return everything. However this task is extremely difficult if there is no contact information in the wallet.
Yesterday after shopping at Target, I found a wallet on the floor by my car. Its contents included cash, a credit card, an ID, and an insurance card. No contact information in site. I went into Target to ask if they could call the name over the loud speaker, however they said that wasn’t their policy so they wouldn’t do it. I didn’t want to leave the wallet there because who knows if the person would have checked the store, and if they didn’t the wallet would just sit there.
I looked this person up on Facebook only to find no one matching the picture on the ID, and then I realized that there was a school ID. I was able to bring the wallet to the school who contacted the student to let him know they had it, so it worked out, but all I could think of was that it would be so much easier if he had a phone number in his wallet. This my friends is why it’s important to always keep your phone number or business card in your wallet. If this person had his phone number in his wallet, I would have been able to call him, tell him I had it, and meet up to give it to him. This would have eliminated all the stress, eliminated the middle man, (target and/or the school) and would have been immensely quicker and easier.
It all worked out in the end, but this person got lucky that he had a school ID on him. If it weren’t for that ID, I’m not sure how I would have given the wallet back. In the future, I hope that he realizes why it’s important to always keep your phone number or business card in your wallet.
So wherever you are reading this post, grab a business card or write your name and phone number on a piece of paper. Stick it in a spare pocket or compartment in your wallet for safe keeping. You never know when you may find yourself without your wallet, and while this doesn’t guarantee that someone will return it, it does give the kind citizens who will an easier way to do so.