Let me ask you a question. If you got into the back of a cab and saw a wallet sitting next to you with a few bucks in it – would you keep it? Yelena didn’t – she did just that, she got into the back of a cab, found a wallet with about fifty bucks in it – and returned it to it’s rightful owner – me.

I had no idea I even lost my wallet until the next morning when I headed out to breakfast. I grabbed my badge and beeper and when I went to grab my wallet – I couldn’t find it. I looked everywhere, but it was nowhere to be found. I was concerned but figured it was somewhere in the house because the house was an absolute mess after the previous night’s Cinco De Mayo party. So I figured I would find it later and went to breakfast.

When I returned home, I got a call from a woman who I did not know, but she apparently knew me. It was when she asked me if I had lost something recently that made me realize that my wallet was indeed lost – and she found it.

She told me that she got into a cab from Town Car Service – which is the car service I took home from my mom’s house the previous day and the wallet was on the seat next to her. She went through it for my number and called me to see when I could come to pick it up. So I went to Borough Park to meet this angel in disguise and pick up my lost and now found wallet.

When I met her, I thanked her profusely and even offered her $20 – because it was worth twenty bucks to save the aggravation of having to cancel everything in my wallet and then have everything re-issued – but she would not take the money. Instead – she told me to be a little more careful in the future. She’s right.

I have to admit that I didn’t think there were people like Yelena left in this world anymore. Most people who found a wallet would take whatever cash is inside and discard the remaining contents. I once lost my wallet as a teenager and had it returned to me via mail – minus the money inside. This time – the wallet and the cash were returned to me – and so was my belief in good Samaritans.

I will always remember Yelena and her generosity in realizing that the anxiety of losing one’s wallet and the frustration of replacing it’s contents far outweighs the money inside – and that being a good Samaritan is more important then fifty bucks.

Thank you Yelena.