Lost And Found Is Safe And Sound

(I am in a copy shop. Sometimes, customers forget things at their workstation — their drive, their print card, etc. Anyone can print with any card, and a full one — good for 2000 pages of copying or print-outs — is worth $70. I find that someone has left their card in the slot I was going to use. I take it and go to a clerk.)

Me: “I found this card; the person using the computer before me must have forgotten it.”

Clerk: *warily* “And?”

Me: “I want to return it. Do you have a lost and found here?”

Clerk: “Yes, but…”

Me: “But what?”

Clerk: “Others don’t usually give them back.”

(I must have looked very perplexed at that, but the clerk smiled and took the card, saying she’d keep it safe until the owner came back. From that day on, all clerks recognized and smiled at me when I went into the shop, especially when I went to the main desk with found flash drives and cards while declaring that I wanted to give them back.)