Only joshing :^owith ya Suzie, I once found a wallet with an ATM card (with PIN code also written on it) in my yard and returned it to the greatfull owner without incident. Also found an expensive cell((T)) on the beach and mailed to owner without reprisal. Best wishes [-o< for your karma!!!

Susie:
I sure wish you had been the person to find our Canon S30 digital that we lost on the American Airlines flight we took to Chicago this past April. You could almost hear the chuckling when I reported it to OHare Lost & Found Dept., as if it would never be turned in.
Afraid we'll never see it again!

I wish the owners of this truly expensive camera had put an address label somewhere on their property or at a minimum registered it with the manufacturer.

I thinks it's pretty lousy when people don't even make an attempt to find the real owners of anything other than cash. Is that childhood chant "Finders Keepers" really the attitude of most?

Gotta tell you that I would be reluctant to turn over the found item to the airline or rental car co when I don't really believe they will try to find the owners. They passively wait for someone to report a lost item. When no one claims the item they dispose of it in a way that suits them.

Suzie

You are so right. We lost our camera, it did have an address and a phone number - never got it back. I dont' care about that camera - but I would give a lot to have those pictures - of my graduation, some pics of my parents visit to New York ;their first ever visit to this country.

Am sure you will have plenty of good karma :)

A few years ago my friend, P, and I were traveling in Venice, Italy. We'd taken a boat, headed for Torcello. This boat makes stops at islands far across the lagoon, with a good amount of time between stops. When we first got on, we found bench seats facing one another by the window. Others sat next to us. P and I watched the view out the window. After a few stops, the people sitting by us hurried off. We continued to enjoy the view. At our stop, ten minutes later, P says, "What's that?" On the seat next to me was a medium camera bag. Our seatmates had left it behind, hurrying to get off at the correct stop.

P lived in Italy for years. Her first comment to me: "If we turn it in to the boat guys, the owner will never see it." We got off at our stop, taking the bag with us. We paused to examine the contents. My heart sank--this fellow's vacation was just ruined. Inside we found a 35mm camera with flash, cellphone, wallet with ID, Visa card, and ATM card. The owner had a Madrid address. There were travel documents from an Italian tour agency, but they were incomplete (just showed places to eat and shop, as if a friend had shared these with a new traveler).

We telephoned the travel agency (Rome). It was a Sunday and took a while for someone to call back. We followed through with them a few times--had to wait till Monday for their office to be open to check lists of people on ALL tours. No luck.

The Madird ID had no phone number and the cellphone was password protected.

Our hotel recommended we turn in the bag to the proper authorities--the carabinieri. Again, P is skeptical. However, we trotted off to their offices Monday morning with the bag. The carabinieri opened the bag and documented the contents in our presence, giving us an itemized receipt.

When I got home a few days later, I sent a letter explaining what had happened to the address on the Madrid ID.

Never heard a word.

That's really disappointing Ellenem. No response means you don't know if they ever received their property or if they are just ungrateful for the trouble you went to in getting their property back to them. It seems fair that you should have been acknowledged in some way by them. I suppose we have to be content in knowing that we did the right thing even if we would have made a bit of a fuss if the shoe were on the other foot.

I sent the letter to two Madrid addresses--one from a driver's license, one on a student ID for the same name. I included a photocopy of the carabinieri receipt, so a claim would be easier for the owner.

Nope. No response whatsoever. My letters were in English, but I would think the receipt made the point of them obvious.

Anyway, we felt we had done the right thing, making good attempts to find the owner. Every person iin Italy--two travel agents, one hotel clerk, two carbinieri--seemed incredibly surprised and impressed that we went to such effort. (Perhaps American tourists will get a better reputation?) We both hoped that someone would make the same effort for us.

Ellenem, there's pretty much no excuse for them to ignore you. Too bad people everywhere behave boorishly.

Conversly, the owners for the digital camera are thrilled to be getting their pictures back. I knew it would be the pics that would be most desired when I viewed them. The pictures are what propelled me to keep trying. Also, Enterprise was great about doing their part.

Suzie,

I had not thought about this lost bag in Venice since it happened three years ago. Then I saw your thread last week and shared my story.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived home yesterday to a message on my answering machine from a fellow named Carlos. He spoke carefully in accented English, telling me that he was the cousin of Jorge, "the man whose bag you found in Venice three year ago." Apparently, Jorge is visiting Carlos in my hometown (NYC) and he wants to meet me and thank me personally for taking such time and care with his lost bag. It seems that Jorge even came to my building, but I was away for the weekend. Carlos kept stressing how Jorge really wants to thank me personally for such extreme care about his bag.

I stood and stared in shock at my machine as this message played.

So far I've been unable to reach them at the phone number Carlos supplied, and I've e-mailed the address he gave.

This story just keeps on going...

Unfortunately, Carlos didn't mention in his message whether Jorge actually got back his belongings--it's driving me mad!

I'll let you know how it all turns out.

It is wonderful to hear the camera is getting back to the owner.

If anyone lost a cellphone Saturday at the Denver airport, I put it on the gate agent desk. I think the flight before mine was going to Albuquerque (or maybe Anchorage).

Wow ellenem that is amazing. Who would have thought after all this time you would get word about your good deed. The camera has been mailed and should be arriving shortly. Don't know if we'll hear anything but I'll let you know.

Wow has this hit a cord with me! A year ago upon returning to Nashville International Airport from a trip to the Caymans, we found a very expensive digital camera in one of the airport elevators. I turned it in to the airport lost and found---what a mistake. I was told that I could claim the camera after 30 days if it wasn't claimed. Although I had no need for a 3rd digital camera, I followed up after 30 days. The lost and found people at Nashville looked at me like I was nuts. They couldn't tell me anything about the camera, except that it had been returned to its owner--this they knew without looking anything up! I didn't believe it for a minute and expressed my displeasure to administration at Nashville International. I can't help but think that someone in lost and found at BNA got a great digital camera for free, courtesy of its rightful owner. I went home and immediately put ID on my cameras--it may not help but I know I've done what I can to protect myself!

RandyK,

We suspected similar treatment if we turned in the camera bag to the authorities on the boat where we found it. We were even suspicious of turning it in to the carabinieri, a branch of the police. That's why we were pleased and suprised when the contents was itemized in our presence--We know the receipt listed exactly what was in the bag when Jorge left it behind. I'll be interested to hear if he got it back and if the entire contents was present.

ellenem, I, for one, am waiting to hear the end to your story. Please let us know!

The Final Chapter (Maybe)

Yesterday, Jorge and his wife Asun stopped by my office. Their English is sightly better than my Spanish, so my story has a few holes--it was an amusing conversation.

Jorge and Asun recounted losing the camera bag. They didn't notice it was missing until they had been wandering around Burano for some time. And so, they looked all over Burano for it, never suspecting that they had left it on the vaporetto. Finally, they gave up the search, assuming the bag was gone forever "because of the Mafia in Italy."

The letter I'd sent shared my side of the story, how we had contacted the travel agent. Asun told me that it WAS their agency, but all their reservations were in HER name--a different last name.

They were surprised to receive my letter, which was sent when I returned home, about two weeks after the loss. Within the month, they had their bag back, with all items intact, including their fancy SLR camera and cellphone.

Jorge laughed and said, "but now--" and pulled a disposable camera out of their backpack. Asun also showed me a cheap "designer" purse she'd just bought on Canal Street (just as all those Fodors threads suggest).

We visited for about 45 minutes--they do similar work to mine and we compared notes on some computer technology. We exchanged addresses, so now I have new friends in Madrid.

This really was kismet--they arrived in NYC the day I left for a long weekend. They leave today for Madrid. Yesterday would have been our only chance to meet.

A friend of mine tells me my rule number 1 is "Make friends with foreigners." This may or may not be true, but it is a good one to follow.

Now I'm thinking. . . I haven't been to Spain in a while. . .

It's a happy ending, and a new beginning. Not to mention a really great story!