It’s time for another story from my life. This one happened a few months ago. As some of you might know, I live in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. The river Sava flows through it. Here’s a Google Maps screenshot to paint you a picture:
Many people like to take walks, ride their bikes and do other activities near it. Me and my friend Chloe (not her real name) are some of those people. We walked near the river and talked about random things when we found a lost wallet on the ground. Chloe wanted to take it to a police station, but I wanted to just leave it and let the owner pick it up himself. Despite Sava being a popular place for hanging out, most people stay on the embankment. The two of us were right next to the river. It was unlikely that the wallet was going to be found by someone it doesn’t belong to.
That being said, I have to admit that my motivation for leaving it was selfish. I wanted to hang out with my friend, I didn’t want to go on an errand. Chloe did manage to convince me to return the wallet. I knew where the nearest police station was. I had to go there before to update my ID. It took some time to get there, but it was within walking distance. We explained to the receptionist why we were there and they let us in. We had to sit and wait for a police officer to arrive. Chloe found the owner’s internet account. He knew that he lost his wallet and asked if anyone saw it. My friend explained what we did with it.
When the officer showed up, Chloe filled up some paperwork and handed him the wallet. We left the police station and went to a nearby fast food restaurant. We didn’t have the energy to go back to Sava. The owner probably got his wallet back eventually. Chloe didn’t get any kind of reply, not even a thank you. She was upset about it, but she was still happy that she helped someone. I gave her props for motivating me to do the right thing, so she got at least some kind of recognition. This is why the two of us have been friends since high school.