the passport

Saturday 29th of August around 3pm. I am at the counter of the Brunswick IGA supermarket, moving slightly to practice responsible social distancing. 

I stand on something

I look down and it is a passport. A British passport. Now in the history of stranger things that I have found in a supermarket, this has to be it. Not to say I won't find strange things in the future and my history of finding things is not extensive, but this has to be the best so far. A few days earlier I was at ALDI and a wallet dropped before me. I motioned to the old man in front of me and he took it and walked away. What was odd about this situation was that he said nothing. The cashier looked stunned to which I replied, "a thank you would have been nice".

But I digress. The immediate response in relation to the passport, after looking at the identity of the person who lost it, was to hand it to the cashier behind the counter. I mentioned that I had just found this on the floor, and the girl mentioned that very act of finding it was quite bizarre. I replied that , indeed, it really was one of the stranger things to find in a local supermarket.

Later that evening, curiosity got the better than me. What if the person concerned was unaware he had actually lost it, let alone where he lost it? I felt a wave of responsibility flow over me. 

Then a truly bizarre series of events fall into place. I ring the supermarket.  A woman with a thick accent answers the phone, I explain what happened earlier, that I had handed the passport to a girl behind the counter. She puts me on hold for what feels like a short time and comes back saying not only don't we have it but no such passport was handed in. I was the person who handed it in. I looked at the time and it was getting close to closing time so she lied, probably to concentrate on the procedure of closing the store I asked if she could put me through to the front counter. I explained what had happened earlier and back to being on hold once again, this time slightly longer than a few minutes ago.  He tells me everything. Full name, date of birth and where in England he comes from.

The Process

So I begin thinking about the method of finding this person.  The first thing that comes to mind is social media. Facebook

So let's call him Ahmet and I get a hit - the first on the list.

Lives in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

From Karachi, Pakistan

Studied at the University of Manchester

Seems to fit in with all the information I have obtained so far. Now I think about three types of message to set the process of contact in motion

1. the individual. 

hello

I was at Brunswick IGA today and I found your passport. Can you let me know if you got it? If not, they are going to drop it off at the police station. I just want to know if you got it.

2. generic statement on the home page

(I changed the first name and removed the surname as a polite gesture)

does anyone know Ahmet (.....)? As far as I can tell, he went to University of Manchester but lives in Melbourne. I found his British passport at the local Brunswick IGA on Sydney Road and I want to get it back to him. It is at the lost and found at the supermarket but will be handed to the police a few doors down.  I just want to get his passport back to him.

3. generic statement to friends

you are listed as a friend of Ahmet (.....) . As far as I can tell, he went to University of Manchester but lives in Melbourne, Australia. I found his British passport at the local Brunswick IGA on Sydney Road and I want to get it back to him. It is at the lost and found at the supermarket but will be handed to the police a few doors down.  I just want to get his passport back to him.

Now here is where the work begins. Friends. Over 400 of them. Not just work but a strange feeling in that I have no association with this person or his friends I am aware of my intent but I feel awkward, like I am imposing or exposing this event. I cannot think of a specific scenario but what could possibly happen as a result of my actions?

So I message the first friend on the list. I get about twenty friends in and a response. Probably the opposite of what I was expecting - definitive and abrupt

"I don't know him" 

The reply was not only disheartening but I was thinking about so many things. I wasn't a Facebook friend so I couldn't see the last entry on his home page. What if he had abandoned his page and hasn't bothered with it for years? Now living in Australia, were these friends from his past and he had made a life for himself here? Next to the names, I couldn't see any local or regional place names

Then - a light after sending my generic note to around friend thirty

"thanks for messaging me will get in contact with Ahmet and let him know"

I reply

"YES!!!!"

So my first success and the first response

"Haha thank you so much!"

So now I was driven. I am not going to send a message to every friend on the list but maybe I will keep going. A pocket of this persons existence had reached out to me and was not only polite but had the intent of being pro active. And maybe, the very Idea; a message from the very owner of the passport himself

So things are looking up as the next message arrives

"Hello mate, thanks for the heads up will forward this onto him now".

I started this process around seven in the evening and now it is getting close to nine and the wheels are set in motion. Then another affirming message

"Nice one, I’ll try to get this passed onto him"

Not definitive but hopeful. But via this medium and reflected in a number of messages, what if doesn't check his messages all that often or in his daily life it isn't a topic of concern? There are other things that are of greater priority in everday life

"I've sent your message on to him but haven't seen him in years so don't have any other ways of getting in touch! Thanks for letting me know hopefully he sees the message I sent!"

"I’ll send him a message but I don’t know how often he checks fb. Thanks tho this is very kind of u xx"

Now I am invested in this beyond words. I feel the need to convey what I am thinking to what are - total strangers

"scares the shit out of me that someone is in another country without a passport"

Now one of the friends is not only using their initiative but being pro-active above and beyond my initial brain wave

"Messaged him on all mediums so fingers crossed he will see it ! Will let you know when he replies"

and then....

The Contact

So it is about nine thirty - contact.

Probably the first part of the message confirms something that was nagging me all along and was the impetus for doing something beyond merely handing the passport in.

"thanks for getting in touch- I hadn't realized that I didn't have it anymore until I just saw this message!"

"I'll make sure to head down there first thing tomorrow. I really appreciate you taking the time to find me!"

then as a result of my actions I had a horrible thought

"sorry, but you may get a shit load of messages soon"

and the reply - 

"Haha they've begun to trickle in already, but it's all good!"

The Next Day

"so did you get it? the suspense is killing me!"

that statement is a reflection not only of what I had invested in, but exactly how I had invested in it. All from a random act of chance.

 

"I just went by after work and picked it up, so you can relax! Thanks again for your help"

My response was a small way to project a reflection

"Especially now, some good news for a change! maybe you should do a shout out to some of your friends who messaged me - and you. take care. I feel like I gave someone his country back. what a pain in the ass it would have been to replace it. All the best"

"I've made sure to thank everyone who did reach out to me! All the best to you too"

Especially now, some good news for a change. The date. Saturday 29th of August around 3pm, but specifically the year - this year 2020.

There is a saying that has stuck with me.

The world is a good place - and worth fighting for.

Sometimes I break that saying into two elements because the first part denotes the positive and the second part denotes not only the struggle but the combative. The degree to which we have to fight and struggle to achieve good. Then something random and crazy comes along like this small event. But it is reflective of the common good that has the potential to be inherent in many.

Maybe there is a question I could ask a person who might read this. 

In this situation, what would you do?