I recently read about someone who lost their camera bag in Africa and it reminded me of something that happened to us a couple of years ago.
I was on a trip to Europe with my son and my father-in-law. On the second day of our trip we took a taxi to the train station in Paris for a day trip to Normandy. When we entered the station my father-in-law said that he had lost his camera. We thought it must have been left in the cab, or it must have been stolen! I assured my father-in-law that we could call the cab company when we got back that evening.
The next morning I checked my email and had a message from my wife. She said that a lady in Paris had found the camera, called her sister in Brampton, who called my mother-in-law in Niagara Falls, who called my wife in Ottawa, who emailed me in Paris! She had left her phone number for us in Paris.
I immediately called her and she described how she found the camera on the ground near the train station. She gave us directions how to get to her house to retrieve the camera. Take the metro to the end of the line, take a bus to the end of a line, find a phone and she would come down and meet us!
We followed the instructions and soon enough we were at the location calling her to meet us. She came out holding the camera in the air and greeted us. My father-in-law was so happy to be reunited with his camera and was ready to offer a big reward. The lady refused all attempts to reward her and spoke about how important pictures are to the picture taker.
We had been warned that Paris was notorious for pickpockets, so it was great to experience the opposite. I hope that we can all be as kind and considerate when we find something of value!
