So, you might have read about me losing my
wallet while in Chicago 2 weeks ago.
After retracing my steps from the restaurant to the hotel (about 500 feet, if that...the restaurant is just around the corner and across the street from the hotel), I asked the counter guy at the hotel if a wallet was turned in. He said no, and advised me to cancel everything right away b/c it was most likely gone...this was only 10 minutes after I noticed it missing. And he actually sounded concerned...I would assume that this has happened before.
After I canceled everything, I went downstairs to inquire about getting my car out of the parking garage. (There is no actual hotel garage...you have to use a public garage next to the building, and the hotel offers validated discount parking.) It would have cost a minimum of $19 to get it out of the car (based on the amount of time it would wind up being in there--over 10 hours), and I only had $7 to my name. I also happened to mention that I would have to drive back to St. Louis the next day.
The guy didn't even hesitate when I asked him..."Don't worry. We'll take care of you." He took $15 out of his own wallet and put it into the hotel's till, then took one of the free parking stickers out of the till and put it on my garage ticket. (I'm assuming that the $15 is what it cost the hotel to buy each of those stickers.) Then he asked if I needed gas money. When I replied that I didn't, he said, "Here, you'll need to eat some breakfast in the morning," and gave me $10, again out of his own wallet. "You can pay me the next time you're here," he said.
This guy only knew me as a hotel guest. And yet, he gave me $25 of his own money. And I didn't even get his name.
As irritating as all this was, it's nice to know that people can still be decent to one another. I meant to send an e-mail to the manager there, but forgot...I'll do so tomorrow.