Thursday 2 March 2006

Property lost, found and returned to owner.

One of those feelgood moments yesterday. I was in the last leg of the shift, just half an hour to go when an other driver came on the radio asking if any one had found a wallet on a 12/12A. So I had a little moan to myself. There are 25 buses out there with either 12 or 12A on the front so when this kind of request gets broadcast 25 drivers pull over to the side of the road and check their buses, upstairs and down stairs for said wallet.
Give us a bit of help, like where did the looser of the wallet get off the bus, how long ago and which direction the bus was going in would eliminate 97.5% of the buses and narrow the search down to just 2 of us. Also is the lost object upstairs or down, at the front or the back.
Anyway I pulled over and had a look. And there it was, under the first seat. So on the radio to let the owner know that his wallet had turned up. Some people, the owner off this wallet included use wallets like filing cabinets, so loosing it wouldn't just be losing some cash but photos, driving licenses credit cards, old letters and accumulated junk that a woman would need a large handbag to carry round.
I explained to the other driver that after I got to Newton I went dead(1) back to the depot and so would be there in 40 mins. When I got there 39 mins later the gentleman was there, waiting. He was very grateful and offered me a small reward which I refused saying it was only part of my job. He then asked me for my name so he could write to the boss and tell him how wonderful I and the other driver who had helped him were. Now it is not company policy to give drivers names out but the chance of the boss getting a letter from a member of the public telling him I was the best bus driver on the planet was too good to miss.
I am looking forward now to the boss giving me a well deserved pat on the back some time in the next few days.

(1) Out of Service.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hurrah! Having just had my wallet returned (and yes mine is a mobile filing cabinet too) I can tell you what a relief it is to get it back. Hope you got your letter. You have reminded me to send one about the people who returned mine ...

Anonymous said...

We're always getting mobile phones left on the bus and found that the quickest way to return it is to go into it's phone book/contact list and invariably there is an entry for 'home', give it a ring, tell them we have the phone and when/where it can be picked up.

For added spice when they turn up to collect it we tell them that the speaking clock in Melbourne says it's such and such a time.

SaneScientist said...

The problem, is that many people, myself included, lock their phones to stop it being abused if it is found - which makes getting into the address book rather tricky. I really must get around to writing my address on the back of the phone...