Bluish Barn

I love it when you have those moments where you find a piece of the puzzle you didn’t even realize you were missing.  Some summer before this one, I attended a barbeque/party near Kerrytown Concert House with a few friends, only to wake up the next day all hazy and realize my beloved yellow wallet had fallen through a tattered pocket, presumably when I was beering and dancing around in the backyard.   I called my good friend Steve, who had escorted me to the party, he made some calls, and I rode my bike in the rain to the party site to pick up the wallet.  I knocked on the door, and the host helped me retreive the dirty wallet from a pile of old leaves in the backyard (the host left it there in case someone came back for it during the night) – no cash, but was relieved to find my ids and cards still tucked inside.

Fast forward to this morning, sitting in my cube, Steve sends me a text:  “Check your email, we’re in the Washington Post.”  He emailed me the following story, with the disclaimer “I apologize for my involvement (or lack of involvement), but hopefully you see the humor in the situation and how I tried to make it right, in a way…”

I followed Steve’s link to find a Post article about “The Golden Rule, Tarnished.” Says the article: “Sometimes a Good Samaritan Expects a Handout in Return.”
My old roommate Davy Rothbart contributed:

“Really good Samaritans, if they find a wallet, they return it intact,” [Rothbart] says. “Some people find a wallet, take the money, but return the important stuff. That’s not evil.”

And now, the party:

For support of this dubious statement, ask Andrew Cohn.  The Los Angeles writer was cleaning up his back yard after a party the night before when he spotted a wallet on the ground. It contained $40. “I’d just spent $500 on the party,” says Cohn. “I figured the money was this girl’s contribution.” He removed the money but left the wallet on the ground.

OK, so this was the first time I’d heard that he took my money.  In fact, I am so neighborly (or just plain oblivious?) that I didn’t even suspect it.  The article continues:

A recent study by the National Institutes of Health suggests that altruism is hard-wired into the brain, that acts of generosity stimulate the parts that usually respond to food and sex. Clearly, this was not a study that Andrew Cohn had read. Consider the profound ending of his wallet scheme.
A few hours after Cohn replaced the cash-emptied wallet on the grass, its owner knocked on his door. It was a girl. A really, really hot girl.* She was sad to find that her cash was gone but pleased to have her credit cards and driver’s license back. So pleased, in fact, that Cohn thought she might agree to go out with him.
Only one problem. He didn’t have her number. And the mutual friend who did have it wouldn’t pass it on. The friend’s reason? “He said, ‘You can’t ask out a girl if you just took her money.’ “

I can’t be mad at Steve.  I feel good that he at least tried to make things right, and it’s good to now know what black hole that $40 was sucked into…..but Andy, if you read this, you ought to send me a check. 

And I still won’t go out with you.
The full article is here.
 

*Tim suggested I clear up some confusion w.r.t. the use of “really really hot.”  In case you were confused, that was supposed to refer to me.  Its gross, and I deny the accusation, and I urge you to consider the source (where two legs+lungs = hot?)

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 1:03 pm and is filed under neighborhood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.