Good, decent folk can still be found

Pointe Claire native and Juno-award winner singer/songwriter Sam Roberts once asked, "Where have all the good people gone?"

The news is often filled with despicable characters and acts, from Canadian pedophiles involved in international investigations, to Montreal teens beating up a girl from a rival school, to, well, George W. Bush. One has to wonder just where all the good people have gone.

This past weekend, a woman, who works at The Chronicle, discovered after leaving Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre that she was missing her wallet, which held a significant amount of cash plus all the important cards people usually carry with them, from driver's licence to credit cards. When she showed up at a restaurant and noticed she didn't have her wallet, she became alarmed and went back to the mall to trace her steps, but to no avail. After all but giving up hope, a minor miracle occurred. Someone found her wallet and then took the time to quietly place it in her mailbox at home (her address was on the driver's license). None of the cash was taken, nor did anyone leave a note or stick around to receive a reward or even a thank you. Whoever the Good Samaritan is, they have set an example for the rest of us to follow. OK, if you find a $20 bill flying around a mall parking lot, no one will expect you to search for the rightful owner. But a wallet, even if someone else has pilfered the cash, can be returned to the owner. Its contents of personal information and financial cards, if lost, could be a headache to replace, let alone raise the fear of identity theft so prevalent these days.

So the world is full of creeps and crooks, but these small acts of decency give us all hope. Where have all the good people gone? Well, Mr. Roberts, there are still a few of them left in your old neighbourhood.