Wallet on Nantucket Bike Path
Today's Nantucket

Lost and Found on Nantucket

•  by C. Oscar Olson  •

I love my morning commute.  The 3 mile bike ride from the South Shore to downtown Nantucket on a beautiful summer morning is truly a pleasure.  The benefits are numerous: No traffic, easy parking, exercise, and it’s good for the planet (not to mention my car).  My ride home the other night, however, was less than pleasurable.

Once home, I stepped inside and emptied my pockets as I always do; phone, keys, and wallet generally  jingle and thump as I drop them atop my desk.  Something was missing, though.  After much pacing and mad pocket searching, I realized my wallet didn’t complete the journey home.  I pedaled the 6-mile round trip back to town twice that night, eyes locked on the bike paths and road shoulders hoping to see a sight for sore eyes.  Assuming the worst, I sat down and cancelled bank cards, credit cards, ordered a duplicate driver’s license and wondered about what else I had lost.

The next morning, I called the Nantucket Police Department with hopes that someone had turned it in.  I checked in with them again and again throughout the next two days, to no avail.  At the end of the 2nd day, as I was closing up my store and hopes of finding it had just about evaporated, I decided to try calling one more time. What did I have to lose?  Certainly not my wallet.  The dispatcher, always pleasant and happy to help, put me on hold again.  She returned to to the phone with good news: someone had turned in my wallet.

It would take another day and a few more phone calls to get it back into my hands, but relief was in sight.  When I finally did have it back, I peeked inside to find not even $1 was missing.  Faith in humanity: restored.

Summer on Nantucket isn’t all sunshine and beach days.  There are stresses and hardships that we all face from time to time, so remember to take a breath, help your neighbor, and recognize how lucky we are to be in this paradise.  And to whoever returned my wallet intact: THANK YOU!

 

 

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