An Open Thank You Letter

To My Mystery Mac's Employee,

This past Saturday, my guy and I had a day in town. One of the very first places I visited was one of our town's two bead stores, on a hunt for a new sort of necklace wire. I found some things, made a nice little purchase, and we were on our way. (As you may guess, the bead store isn't Seguin's favourite place to be on a sunny Saturday morning.)

We spent most of the day puttering about, just enjoying one another's company. As such, I didn't really think about my purchase again until the very, very end of the day, as I was settling into bed. I often take a few moments, as I'm lying there, to think about tomorrow's plans. "Sunday breakfast, work on that bracelet, maybe try out some pendants on those new wires.......uh oh."

I knew instantly I had lost the bag. Lugging around books and peaches and homemade jam, I hadn't realized it was gone and I had no idea where I had left it. Nearly midnight, there was nothing to be done for it but to lie there and make new plans for the following day. "Call the grocery store, call the library, call the ice cream shop...."

Sunday morning, I called every place I had been the day before. I reached the end of my list with no luck, just a new list of two places to call again the next day, as they weren't open Sunday. I spent the afternoon trying not to think about it, and I did pretty well for a worrier such as myself.

But in the back of my mind, I was bothered. I'd bought a nice pile of stuff on Saturday, and spent an amount I didn't care to spend again so quickly, especially on all the same stuff. Plus, I was really excited about some of the things in that bag! Pretty new colours of beads, supplies to make new necklaces and new earrings, plus special new wires I was really excited to try out, as I had a feeling they would make my creative endeavours that much easier.

In my head, I debated the chances I had of getting my purchases back. It wasn't as if I'd lost a wallet or a cell phone. As the value of what was there wouldn't be obvious to the average person, there would be less temptation for somebody to keep such a find for themselves. On the other hand, if someone who found it was a beader or a crafter themselves, what a score! Who would find my bag?

I also thought about the many lost and found bins I've seen myself, over the years. So many things that people never come back for, important things too! Car keys, prescription glasses, really pretty mittens! What if my stuff ended up where I wouldn't know or think to look for it?

This morning, I called the last two places on my list, to no avail. I was bummed. I was out a chunk of change, and I wouldn't be able to get to the bead store again until the following weekend. A whole week's preparation time for an upcoming show lost! I told the story to my friend and co-worker Niki, who suggested I call the bead store in case I'd left my package behind. As we both knew from our retail experience, that sort of thing happens all the time. So I thought I'd give it a shot.

This is where you come in, Mystery Mac's person. On the third ring, my lady at the bead store picked up and said abrubtly, "We have your stuff." I was stunned for a second, then after establishing she had caller ID (and that she remembered where I worked) and expressing my relief over the news, I found out what happened. I didn't leave my package at the bead store, I left it at Mac's convenience, the very first place I had called!! And you, you wonderful person, you didn't just stick it in a lost and found bin, or put it somewhere it could have been taken from or forgotten about. You saw the receipt and brought it back to store whence it came, where it would be safe and sound until I tracked it down again.

So for that, I thank you. Thanks for noticing my purchase had been left behind and thanks for doing something that would ensure I would get my parcel back. Thanks for being honest, thanks for doing that little something extra, thanks for being awesome.

Cheers.
Eleanor/Miranda