So I was waiting at a BART (San Francisco Bay Area's subway system) platform earlier today when I heard an announcement on the P.A. about a lost pair of designer sunglasses. I thought to myself, "Yeah, good luck getting them back." Two minutes later my train came, I boarded it, sat down, and low and behold, what do I see in the seat across the isle? You got it - the lost sunglasses.
Like the good guy I am I then walked through five cars to get to the train operator in the number one car where I promptly turned them in. Two stops later I exited the train, and then the station, all the while feeling really good about what I had done. I felt so good I decided to call a friend to chat about it. Crap, where's my cell phone? Apparently, I had lost my cell phone on my walk to the train operator.
Ten minutes later I called my cell phone from a payphone and some young woman answered. She immediately asked me how much would I pay her to get my phone back. I only had a few bucks on me but she demanded $20 or I'd never see my phone again. I agreed to the $20 and was instructed to go to another station and wait out front. The station was not too far from where four OPD officers were murdered in one day last year.
Twenty minutes later two girls, who were maybe in their late teens, walked by and showed me the phone, shook my hand, and then swapped the phone for the money. They promptly left and then I attempted to re-enter the BART station. Apparently, BART doesn't think much about holding lost and found property hostage so they had contacted the police while I was making the drop. Everyone wanted a description of the women from me. I told them that I had promised the women that I would not call the police and that if I go back on my word I might run into them or their friends again later on; so having them arrested would not be in my best interest. Finally, I convinced the attendants and the nice officer that it would be in my long-term best interest to just let it go.
A few minutes ago I got home and discovered that the women had placed a few local phone calls on my cell. I promptly ran one of the numbers through google and came up with a myspace web page with, you guessed it, her picture plastered on it, along with some other pictures of several gentlemen who were taking several chiropractor-bound poses while flashing some kind of sign language with their hands. I didn't bother to run the other numbers. What would be the point?
What a day. At least the women kept up their end of the bargain, and were polite. In any event, no good deed goes unpunished.
Like the good guy I am I then walked through five cars to get to the train operator in the number one car where I promptly turned them in. Two stops later I exited the train, and then the station, all the while feeling really good about what I had done. I felt so good I decided to call a friend to chat about it. Crap, where's my cell phone? Apparently, I had lost my cell phone on my walk to the train operator.
Ten minutes later I called my cell phone from a payphone and some young woman answered. She immediately asked me how much would I pay her to get my phone back. I only had a few bucks on me but she demanded $20 or I'd never see my phone again. I agreed to the $20 and was instructed to go to another station and wait out front. The station was not too far from where four OPD officers were murdered in one day last year.
Twenty minutes later two girls, who were maybe in their late teens, walked by and showed me the phone, shook my hand, and then swapped the phone for the money. They promptly left and then I attempted to re-enter the BART station. Apparently, BART doesn't think much about holding lost and found property hostage so they had contacted the police while I was making the drop. Everyone wanted a description of the women from me. I told them that I had promised the women that I would not call the police and that if I go back on my word I might run into them or their friends again later on; so having them arrested would not be in my best interest. Finally, I convinced the attendants and the nice officer that it would be in my long-term best interest to just let it go.
A few minutes ago I got home and discovered that the women had placed a few local phone calls on my cell. I promptly ran one of the numbers through google and came up with a myspace web page with, you guessed it, her picture plastered on it, along with some other pictures of several gentlemen who were taking several chiropractor-bound poses while flashing some kind of sign language with their hands. I didn't bother to run the other numbers. What would be the point?
What a day. At least the women kept up their end of the bargain, and were polite. In any event, no good deed goes unpunished.
