University of Iowa Physician Reminds Us That There Is Still Good In The World

 The world a lot of times can be a depressing, cruel and unforgiving place. There's a lot of dishonesty, among selfish and heinous behavior. The darkness is never difficult find. My girlfriend Ashley and I are all too well aware of that. Over the years of my life I have become more and more of a recluse and a misanthrope. I have my small circle of family and friends that I cherish, and I don't associate with many outside of it, beyond an acquaintance level. I've just been burned one too many times. I've been conned a few times in my life. In fact two & a half years ago Ashley and I were scammed by a guy that cost us everything. Our house, all of our money, the life of our beloved cat & so much more. We're still feeling the effects of what he did to us & in a way probably always will. I've had other people do some awful things to me as well.  It's gotten me to a point to where I know deep down inside that there are good people and that there is light in this world, but it can often be difficult to believe that. 

Matter of fact, about a week ago we were reminded how dark this world can be. Ashley had misplaced her phone at work. We believe that it may have fallen out of her pocket when she was getting into the car.  At the time she lost it, it was at 77%.  We called it once looking for it, trying to see if we could hear it to find it. When we went to call it again it went straight to voicemail. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that someone had found it & that someone had turned it off.  They saw it was a pretty nice phone and figured they could use it for themselves or probably sell it at a nice price. They may have even tried to see if they could get important information off of it, like credit card numbers. It just makes you sick to your stomach that not only are there people like this in the world, but even worse, they're not as small of a percentage of the population as you'd like them to be. Sociopaths that have no consideration for how their actions might hurt others. No concern for the right and wrong of a situation. Ashley needed that phone. It's how she communicates with the rest of the world. It's how work gets a hold of her and how she gets a hold of work. It's how she communicates with me. It's how she communicates with her family. For someone to be so insensitive to that, makes the world seem so unkind.  We were due for a random act of kindness. For a moment to be reminded with the apathy that often surrounds us that empathy still exists. That good is here and within all that is wrong with the world, there are still somethings that are right. 

We were out paying bills and Christmas shopping the other day.  Lots of bills to pay and gifts to buy.  It became apparent to me that I didn't have my debit card.  I went into a panic. Now wasn't the time to have lost or misplaced my debit card. Especially around Christmas. I worried that I had left it somewhere and someone had found it.  That they had taken it, went online and went on a shopping spree. I didn't know what to do, other than to sit and make myself sick about it. It was late Sunday & I wouldn't be able to inform the bank until 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning. 

That's when I got a message from a stranger on facebook.  At first I thought it might be one of those scammers who is always trying to con you out of your money.  Yet when I looked into it, I noticed that it was a Ontology and Hematology physician from the University of Iowa.  I thought to myself, "Why would a doctor from the University of Iowa be messaging me?"  I responded to the message. Turns out that my debit card was found by someone and he he was the someone. 

Upon finding my card, he took it and put it in a safe place. He then went to work trying to find me.  This man found my card, kept it safe for me and returned it to me. I was very grateful to him, not only for what he did, but for also reminding me, showing me that there is still good in this world. That there are other people in this life worth getting to know. That not all strangers are bad people.  

Losing my debit card on Sunday night could have turned out disastrous. There are so many horrible things that could have resulted. Had my card gotten into the wrong hands, it could have meant an inability to pay bills and get gifts for the people in my life I really care about. It could have very well ruined our Christmas.  But it didn't end up in the wrong hands. It ended up in the right hands. It ended up in the hands of a man who ended up keeping it safe and returning it to me.  

I needed reminded of the good in the world. Of the light.  A University of Iowa Hematologist reminded me of that.