A Trinket Of Kindness

(While browsing a notorious online auction site, I find a trinket I’m interested in. There are no bidders and only a few minutes left till the end of the auction. I place a bid and end up winning the trinket. Then I realize the seller only offers registered shipping, which has an acceptable cost in the lower 48s, but is prohibitive for shipping overseas. I write an email to the seller…)

Me: “Dear sir, I’ve made a mistake in placing the bid before checking the shipping costs. Please let me know the price of the item plus auction expenses, and I’ll cover that. You can put the item back for auction.”

Seller: “Are you sure? I could just cancel the auction and you wouldn’t owe me anything.”

Me: “Thank you for your offer, but you’d still have to pay the auction expenses; the mistake was on my part.”

(The seller gave me a quote, I paid the amount, and got on with other things. A few weeks later an unexpected parcel arrived. The seller had shipped the trinket anyway! Thank you, dear sir. I put it to good use and whenever I look at it, I’m reminded that most people are kind.)