The Kindness of Strangers ...

It turns out yesterday was not the end to our Stolen Phone Story.

At about 10am on Thursday, the owner of the $3 Car Wash (Which isn't $3, PS. No idea why?) phoned to tell me he had re-reviewed the security footage from night Dave's phone was stolen and had more information for us.

For those of you following this wacky story, this would be our 4th day of interaction with the employees, managers, and owner of the car wash. Every day they have tried a little harder to help us get Dave's phone back AND find the person who took it.

To be honest, as I read the number on this inbound call I thought to myself, "How could there be more? We already know the footage doesn't show the license number of the car/car owner that took the phone?"

But it turns out the car wash owner wasn't satisfied with just letting this go. He wanted to do all he could to help us--and give his business a positive reputation.

So, my point!

The car wash owner was able to identify the vehicle/person who took Dave's phone!

It turns out it was a former employee, one that was recently terminated.

Apparently this former employee (AKA phone-taker) went into the same car wash lane where Dave left the phone, attempted to purchase a wash (but was denied), grabbed the phone, and backed out of the lane quickly.

So the owner of $3 Car Wash called the employee and told him he had the security footage--and that the former employee had X-number of hours to turn the phone to Verizon or the South Jordan Police. (He also notified the SoJo Police. Funny, this car wash provides the SoJo Police cars with car washes, so they are on a first-name basis with most officers.)

As I listened to this call, I couldn't believe this man was willing to go to such trouble to help us. How uncomfortable would it be to phone a former employee with this kind of information?

So ... as hard as it is to believe, the person who took it (AKA phone-taker), returned the phone to the car wash yesterday afternoon via another car wash employee! (No, he didn't follow directions to return to Verizon or SoJo Police. That didn't surprise us, "Hi, I stole this $700 phone. Can you return it for me?" But he did return it.)

Unfortunately, the phone was damaged/broken (and the SIM card removed).

BUT it is super nice to know our story had a somewhat happy ending: because we were able to see how one person's commitment and kindness impacts others. (Meaning the car wash owner's commitment and kindness here.)

And as we talked to our kids about it last night, we tried to remind them/ourselves of how important it is to know that we are part of a community. (Many communities actually.) Literally everything we do to help one another--whether great or small--makes an impact for good in an extremely powerful way.

So even though we didn't get Dave's phone back in "usable condition," we did learn a ton. (Yes, we measure learning in weight.)

And I know as a result of seeing this one man's commitment and kindness to us, I'm going to try my best to be super mindful of other people's needs. And help more when I am able.

And that, my friends, is a wrap!

It's like the ending to our own person 2014 edition Nancy Drew book: "The Car Wash and The Missing iPhone."

Have a great weekend.