So my last post reminded me of another fascinating belief in the goodness of people. The trust that people have for two of the parking guards outside campus.
The first guy, asks people to leave their handbrakes up when they park in his parking lot so that he can move their cars around to make space for other cars. People actually agree to this, and he happily moves their cars around to make optimal use of his parking lot. With the crime rate in this country, I really could not wrap my mind around the fact that people would actually allow this, until I heard of the other car guard..
People who park in his parking lot actually give him the keys to their cars so that he can move their cars around if necessary.
These car guards are not indebted to anyone. There is no contract, nothing that binds them to any obligation. If they want to, they can just drive off with about 20 to 30 cars of their choice. Technically it wouldn't even be stealing because they were given the keys.
These car guards are homeless; they don't even own bicycles of their own, let alone owning a car/ a fleet of 20 cars. Yet they still work in the best interest of the people who park their cars in their lots and don't even attempt to steal anything..
The inherent goodness of people never ceases to amaze me.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Overdue gratitude
About a month ago, corpsekicker paid tribute to the goodness of people when her phone was saved by a large, interconnected group of caring individuals. And now it's my turn, to pay tribute to another great samaritan.
On wednesday, my wallet got lost. I, being the half-minded, personal belonging chucking, individual that I am, didn't notice its absence for at least an hour and probably would not have noticed its absence at all if I didn't need to use my student card to get access to my home away from home, the computer labs. I took a frantic, backwards walk to all the places I'd just been to ( the moonwalk ala fishy is absolutely necessary in times of stress because it keeps one centered) , but still,no wallet.
Then,I decided, (after advice from corpsekicker) to check my pockets, only to realise that my phone was ringing. It was the lady from the client service centre saying that someone had brought in my wallet.
This good samaritan had found my wallet, checked my student card, handed it in to the client service centre and asked them to get my contact details and contact me.
He refused to give it in to the people at the client service centre for fear that someone would remove the money from it. And so he sat there and waited for a whole hour until I could be reached.
I felt so much gratitude that my wallet had been saved but when he returned it to me, I didn't even thank him properly. I just looked at him. In my defense, I think I had the flu, and I was feeling quite hazy in the head that day.
I just hope my apparent lack of appreciation has not discouraged this marvellous individual.
On wednesday, my wallet got lost. I, being the half-minded, personal belonging chucking, individual that I am, didn't notice its absence for at least an hour and probably would not have noticed its absence at all if I didn't need to use my student card to get access to my home away from home, the computer labs. I took a frantic, backwards walk to all the places I'd just been to ( the moonwalk ala fishy is absolutely necessary in times of stress because it keeps one centered) , but still,no wallet.
Then,I decided, (after advice from corpsekicker) to check my pockets, only to realise that my phone was ringing. It was the lady from the client service centre saying that someone had brought in my wallet.
This good samaritan had found my wallet, checked my student card, handed it in to the client service centre and asked them to get my contact details and contact me.
He refused to give it in to the people at the client service centre for fear that someone would remove the money from it. And so he sat there and waited for a whole hour until I could be reached.
I felt so much gratitude that my wallet had been saved but when he returned it to me, I didn't even thank him properly. I just looked at him. In my defense, I think I had the flu, and I was feeling quite hazy in the head that day.
I just hope my apparent lack of appreciation has not discouraged this marvellous individual.
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