The $145 bargain mani-pedi

As my departure date has grown closer, the time finally arrived for me to complete a number of chores prior to heading to Ireland. Tuesday was the day for me to get a much needed pedicure, wash a final load of laundry, pack my suitcase and squeeze in a yoga class. I like to pace myself and was confident that I could accomplish each of these tasks without breaking a sweat, especially since I was on my own for the afternoon/evening.

After school, I immediately headed to a nearby nail salon only to discover that it was closed on Tuesdays. Oh, well. There are plenty of other options within a few miles, so I decided to try a new (to me) one just down the road. Guess what? They’re also closed on Tuesdays! Who knew that Tuesdays were such a tough day for getting one’s nails done? 

I decided to drive over to Slingerlands to a salon I’ve been to before, even though it was out of my way. If you had seen the state of my toenails, you would have understood my reluctance to bail on this necessary bit of grooming, trust me. Finally – they were open and able to take me almost immediately. An hour later, I was on my way home to address the other items on my to-do list, pretty toes checked off.

The laundry went into the washer, the dog got a walk and I started thinking about how happy I was to simply be at home. I was adverse to rushing to the yoga class I had scheduled myself to attend and made the decision to cancel and go to a later class instead. The laundry went into the dryer and I made myself a bite to eat. 

Sitting in my dining room felt really comfortable and, as I looked at the clock realizing I’d need to change into my yoga clothes and head to the studio, I decided that I simply did not feel like leaving home. I could take an online class.  

A few minutes later, my doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I ran down the stairs to see whom it might be.  On my porch I found a man who looked slightly familiar, holding something with which I was very familiar – my wallet. Huh? I didn’t even know it was missing. 

The guy returning my wallet had done my pedicure a couple of hours earlier. He explained that someone had found my wallet in the parking lot and had brought it into the nail salon. He had kindly taken it upon himself to determine whom it belonged to and then drove to my house to get it back to me. How incredibly thoughtful!

I would have loved to have rewarded his kindness with some cash but unfortunately, all the cash (about $100) was gone, leaving me nothing to thank him with beyond my sincere words. As the man watched, I confirmed that everything else – debit and amex cards, driver’s license, etc, remained in the wallet and thanked the man again. Wow – this could have been a lot worse, you know? Can you imagine the pain in the ass I would have had if I needed to replace my identification and cards, especially right before an international trip?

Holding my wallet, I had a weird sense of having been violated. Not only had someone stolen my money, but they had presumably gone through my belongings to take what they wanted. It definitely weirded me out.

Losing the cash certainly sucked, but there was something really heart lifting about the man taking the time and effort to return my wallet. It gave me a much needed glimmer of faith in humankind. The takeaway from the experience which I’m going to hold onto is a positive one – a good person did a good deed. As for the person who stole my money, I hope they truly needed it more than I because stealing isn’t nice.

But, my toenails are. 😊