Since I had several people ask whether the shoes from last week's mystery package got where they belonged and also what the reaction was, I thought I'd post the results of my quest to find where they belonged. All afternoon that Friday, I looked forward to returning them. I finally had my chance when I got home from work. I didn't have to go far, they lived farther up in my same building. So before doing anything else, I took them over. At first no one was home, and I had to wait about 15-20 minutes and tried again. It turns out they were for a young man who had just graduated from high school and was heading off to college soon. He wasn't home but his dad was and that is who answered the door. He was very nice and grateful.
I have also had a few people ask how I felt about his reaction, etc. Whether I thought it was more or less, if you will, than it should have been. I told him the whole story, about how I tried going to the UPS store and then my leasing office (who told me they were residents and which apartment they were in) and about how much I just wanted to get them back where they belonged. And I've thought about that over the last week, especially a week ago today, last Saturday, as I was hiking.
I suppose from one perspective, someone might think he should be, for lack of a better word, 'extra' grateful that I tried so hard. I guess some might say I could have 'given up' after my first initial effort of taking them to the UPS store. After all, I gave it my best and the UPS guy said they were technically mine. I suppose there are some people that would give up at that point and maybe even keep them (either giving them to someone they know that could wear them or sell them on Ebay) but that thought never crossed my mind; not even once.
The night before taking them back, I figured it would be quick and easy. Go to the UPS store and they could get them where they belonged. No such luck. I guess maybe the more meaningful things in life aren't meant to be so easy. But for me, the more I thought about it as I was hiking the next day and as the week went on, I think it not being so easy was the best part. After not having any luck at the UPS store, the guy suggesting going to my leasing office and them knowing who it was, that gave me the chance to return them myself. It became even more meaningful because I became that much more determined to get them back. I wasn't going to give up, even if I had to go on Facebook and see if I could find the name on the package and contact them that way (that was my backup plan anyway).
I knew I would never regret 'doing the right thing' but when it became the thing I looked forward to most that day, it made my day. And I think I knew from the beginning that wouldn't change regardless of their reaction to getting the shoes back. Don't get me wrong, he was very nice and grateful. My point is that his reaction didn't take anything away from how important getting them back was to me and how much it made my day. That was never my motivation in the first place, but sometimes I think it is easy for all of us to get caught up in what we get in return, what we think should come back to us, etc. And that includes me, but not in this case. I was given an opportunity to turn something seemingly small into a random and meaningful act of kindness. There are opportunities virtually everyday for all of us to do that. Choosing to do it is up to us. There is never, ever anything wrong with that!!!
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