The Big Apple, The Search and The Restored Faith in Humanity

I finally had the chance to see Big Apple. It was not one of my biggest dreams, but still one of my most awaited part of this recent work-leisure trip. It was nice to be there, to experience it firsthand and realize why it's gained much popularity than cities of different other states.








I can write another blog about the place and the whole day tour. It was nice, but having been to Boston just few days before that, my office friends and I kinda agreed that Boston is a nicer place.


I put it this way: Aside from being more orderly and quiet (at least, from what we think), Boston looks good with the diversity of architectures. I'm a big fan. How it manages to go modern while preserving history is really impressive.

But I thought, New York has its own beauty, too. It may not be the kind of place for my personality (who loves a simpler and more laidback living) but I can spend an entire day just people-watching. I say this because I think that you can find almost all kind of people in this city. I finally got the idea of what inspires Humans of New York.


The teen fashionistas in their skimpy shorts; the guy who puked big time right at my back; the ladies who were staring at me indifferently in the museum's restroom; the retired science teacher (hmm...yes,  I eavesdrop, too.) who fell into the train's floor;  the loud guy who lost his train ticket; the lady with a smart, talkative kid. They all tell different stories, but one story is true: Diversity.


They say you wouldn't want to leave New York without trying their best-tasting pizza and eat it the New Yorkers' way. They were right! We went to a small busy pizza place. Not exaggerating, I think it was the best that I've tasted in my life. As much as it was a good experience, this is where the unfortunate event happened. But I didn't realize it right away.


I lost my wallet. It has all my money for the entire next week (my own and company-provided), my AmEx credit card, my local ATM cards. 

The company provided us a little bit more than the total budget, so we are expected to return the excess amount, all documented. Losing my wallet meant that I'd have to pay the company and it would have to mess up my year's plans. It's equivalent to paying more than my air fare back and forth, which is actually free. It's N times my monthly salary.  I'd also have to rely to another person's budget for food  for the rest of the stay (no matter how I didn't want to be a pest). I'd also feel bad of not having the chance to buy pasalubong (goodies to take home).


We did our best to do the first steps of finding it, but luck was not with us. We headed back to Rhode Island. Quiet. Worried.

I felt bad about myself for being less careful, more than I was worried about not getting it back. I felt bad about not being able to see the Top of The Rock and other attractions because of the incident. I felt bad for dragging my friends into this misfortune. Knowing how it could possibly land to the worst hands, I had to accept the idea that it was lost. But I was still hoping and praying.


We reached the hotel. It was such a long day -- longer than we've expected. I was tired and exhausted that I was able to sleep for few hours. I woke up with the same worry that I had. I was even hoping that it was just a dream.


Right after breakfast, we were computing how much I'd have to pay the company. Then, I noticed my messenger. It was a series of messages from a friend in college.


"Lou, Nasa New York ka ba? (Are you in New York?)
PM mo ako pag nasa New York ka po. (PM me if you are in New York)
Are you there? 
May nag-pm kasi sa akin eh. May nawawala ka daw na gamit. Just to verify lang. (Somebody pm'ed me saying that you lost something. I'd just like to verify.) "


Oh my God, to say that I was relieved was understatement!  It was a bad situation turned upside down. I didn't cry when I realized that I lost the stuff; but that exact moment,  I was teary-eyed.


I was able to talk to him and confirmed that somebody named John Price and his wife (Jamie) have my wallet with them. God made the situation even sweeter. We didn't have to take hours of train ride back to New York. They were also in Rhode Island! We met them at McDonald's Fall River that same day.


They were very careful to make sure that the stuff would get to the owner.

"Did you buy anything from CVS yesterday?"  Jamie said.
"Hmmm...Not yesterday. The other day,  I think," I said.
"What did you buy?" (and there I sensed that it was like a 'password' question)
"A tweezer."   (Funny! But that was the magic word.)
"Take your wallet. Everything's still there."

And from there,  they told us the story.

It happened in the pizza house.  Jamie cluelessly kicked something on the floor.  She saw that it was a wallet. And when she opened it, she saw the amount inside.  She said to her husband, "We have to return this to the owner."  And they realized by looking at my cards that I am not a US resident. "How can we call the Philippines?" the first thing that they thought.

For the record,  they even sent an email to my bank saying that I lost my wallet and they have my card. For some safety reasons, they did not want to leave the wallet to the pizza shop owner or crew. They didn't want to hand it to NYPD,  thinking that the police would only care if someone asks for it.  But hey, they made their way to me.


They searched my profile in Facebook.  Now I feel the benefit of having my complete real name in Facebook (yes,  with middle initial included). I am pretty sure that I am the only Lou Natalie N. Pugay in the world (or at least the only one in www).  But my profile, however searchable, has privacy settings.  People won't see all my posts.  Messages sent by people outside my network doesn't go directly to my regular inbox. One has to be a friend of any of my friends so I can get his requests. How could any message from a random person be noticed so instantly?


 But they were so eager to return my stuff to me.  They were able to see my last public post from some years ago. They checked the profiles of the people who 'liked' the post and started sending them messages and friend request.  That's when my college friend got the message and relayed to me.
And I was actually able to prove that they really reached out to my friends,  because few days after I got the stuff,   another friend sent me a message:

I couldn't thank them enough. I wanted to treat them for lunch,  as sign of thanks for the very nice thing they did to me.  They nicely declined. Real kindness.

I tend to be clumsy and absent-minded at times. I lose a lot of small things from time to time, but not the most important ones. I never lost a phone in my entire life (not hoping that I would). I never lost a wallet; and now, for some reasons, I almost just did -- with an amount more than what I can afford to lose in an instant. I was clueless why it happened to me, in the most uncomfortable place and timing. Maybe it is not that I have to dwell into the consequences of my imperfections. Maybe it is for me to tell a good story -- a story to remind that there's still goodness in humanity. I haven't done this in a while.

Thus, this blog post.

_______________________
P.S .

I'd like to end this blog by saying thank you...

To John and Jamie -  for having such good hearts.  You don't have a clue how I thankful I am. It's not too much about the amount of money that I lost and found,  but more of  the amazement on how you proved that Honesty and Concern are not dead.

To Jury and Jeremey - It was a nice trip with you, guys!  Things came up that kept us from enjoying it as planned.  You were worried as I was, and you were with me all the way.

To Jeus -  It could have been a different story  if you didn't relay me the important message.  I appreciate that.

To God,  I know this is just one of the many moments that You prove to me that You listen, always.