Today my son found this iPhone at a basketball court in the park we drove 15 min from our home to hang out at.
He was so excited.
He acted like it was his for about 5 minutes and then became very concerned as to who the owner was. He waited with it by his side for 2 hours to ring and… nothing.
We left the park and he decided better he, an honest boy, hang onto it and answer it to be able to return it if someone called, then leave it where he found it on the ground.
Finally this evening it rang!
He answered and we found out the owner had searched his entire house and finally gave up and decided to call it. He told us where he’d been at the park and we knew it was his.
He asked how he could get it back – and we said we’d drive it out to him instead of him coming to us.
We got back in the car and during the 15 min drive there, my son was very excited to return the phone to its rightful and grateful owner and imagined how excited the owner would be to see us.
As we pulled up to the house the owner was waiting outside in the dark and sounded both annoyed, put out, and ungrateful for our efforts. Mostly upset we had his phone and didn’t just leave it in the park on the ground where we found it. We wished him the best and he stormed back in his house without saying even thank you.
As my son and I drove home on our 30 minute round trip of helpfulness, he asked me in complete confusion, “Why would he be so rude? I thought we were doing something nice for him by finding and safely returning his phone.”
We speculated that he probably had a rough day searching for it, maybe he had a ton of important photos on it and doesn’t have it backed up to the cloud, or perhaps he’s not feeling well and now we have a virus. 🤣😷🤣
We never know why people aren’t thankful for a good deed that serves them, but it’s important to just do our best to be the kind of people that find a phone and return it, even to the visibly ungrateful.
The Promise is to treat others like we want to be treated.
That’s a Golden Rule we’ve heard somewhere 😉.
I know I’m grateful for this honest and kindhearted son of mine.
~ jason
Leadership Expert * Author * Speaker Hall of Fame
The Promise
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2 Responses
Unfortunately our public and private lives are almost entirely dependent on having our phones in our constant possession. You and your son totally did the right thing by not leaving it for someone else who might or could confiscate private information, or unlock or even resell this phone, etc. And your parenting skills of asking your son why someone else might not be or seem appreciative of this kindness was a great idea, because we all need to be given that type of grace. We never know why such an attitude exists in another person, or whether their behavior isn’t what we think is appropriate for the situation. But knowing we all aren’t 100% at our best or at the top of our game at all times allows us to gain greater understanding and compassion for others. Once again. Great dad. Great kid. Great lesson. Great story.
Thank you my friend! Great hearing from you.