New Yorkers - Nicest People on Earth!

New Yorkers have an awful reputation of being arrogant, unfriendly, and most of all unhelpful. Visitors to many major Metropolises complain about their inhabitants in the same way. Paris certainly doesn't escape criticism and nor does London. New York City is certainly near the top of any list describing how awful the locals are. In my view this couldn't be further from the truth.

I heard an amazing New York City story this weekend that made me not only smile but made me feel extremely proud of the people who live here. I was not a witness to what transpired as I was out of town for the duration of the weekend but I was told of the events first hand by someone who was there and was instrumental in the happy outcome.

A woman from Texas was visiting New York City this past weekend and meeting up with a whole bunch of friends at a classy New York restaurant on Saturday night. It was a reunion of sorts but I am unaware of what the event was. A feast was eaten by this woman and her friends and drinks were flowing. The dinner party disbanded at around 10.45pm and the participants went along their way with many of the visitors returning to their hotel rooms so as to rest before the long journey home the following morning.

A New York City native left a trendy midtown restaurant at around 11.pm, Saturday night . She had been out with a fellow New Yorker for dinner. Her husband was away and she didn't want to stay home with the kids. She hailed a cab on departing the restaurant and headed home. She climbed into the taxi and gave her destination to the driver. She suddenly felt a lump in her rear end. She had sat on something bulky and metallic. It was a camera, that had clearly been left behind by a previous passenger. The question was now what to do with this piece of lost property? The natural thing to have done would have beeen to inform the driver of the lost camera and let him hand it in to the taxi authorities. I have always been a follower of the policy of wash your hands of any potential problem. Not so this woman.

She reached her apartment building and got out of the cab and went inside with the camera and made it her mission to find out to whom it belonged. They was no address or name on the object and so at first glance no easy way of finding out any information relevant to returning the camera to its rightful owner. This lady would not give up. It was a digital camera . There were numerous photos of a large party gathering at a restaurant that were the last photos stored. It was impossible to tell from the photos who the camera belonged to and even if every photo was of the same person what good would that have done? The scrolling continued in a desperate attempt to find something. It was then that she stumbled across a photo of a restaurant check. She used the zoom function so as to first notice how large the check was for; over $3,000 dollars. She then focused on the name of the restaurant which was also on the check and that it was that evening's date on the check, which it was.

She put down the camera and called the restaurant. She asked the employee at the other end of the phone line if anyone had reported a camera missing. The question was answered in the affirmative and a contact number was handed over. First thing Sunday morning a phone call was placed and a message left. Later that afternoon a woman with a strong Texan accent called my wife Janet from The Lone Star State and burst out crying on the phone. She had been celebrating a college reunion in New York. She had taken a whole host of photos of friends she hadn't seen in years because of the distance involved. She thought her camera was lost forever. She couldn't believe someone had gone to such great lengths to retrieve the phone and locate its owner. She ended the conversation so thankful as well as appreciative of how friendly and helpful she had found New Yorkers . What a great story. The camera has since been picked up by a friend of hers in the City and memories of a great night out have been kept intact. I reached two conclusions from this event. A few bad apples may spoil the New York crop but in general New Yorkers are kind, considerate and aim to please and that my wife is a superstar.