WICKER PARK — A wallet stuffed with $27 in cash, credit and gift cards belonging to a Wicker Park woman sat unattended on a bench for 10 hours and was not stolen, it was announced to the mother of the wallet owner and her boss in separate phone calls early Wednesday.
"This morning was a little crazy... I realized I lost my wallet and then went back to the bench I was sitting on last night and it was still there," the woman, a DNAinfo reporter, told her editor.
The discovery was determined to be "a miracle" by the woman's mother and to the editor, a possible "Block Club" post.
OK, the woman was me. And I agree it was not only a miracle that no one stole my wallet — or just emptied and tossed it — but the incident also provided a boost to my faith in humanity, which needed a lift.
Here's how it happened:
I started a long walk Tuesday around 3:30 p.m., including some stops on The 606 trail and a dinner break. Walking near the Polish Triangle around 8 p.m. I saw police cars and people told me a man was beaten up near the new Burger King. (Ugh.)
About 8:15 p.m., I witnessed a hit-and-run accident on Division, where the driver of a minivan left the scene of an accident and a woman was injured. (Ugh, again.)
Settling into the bench in front of Ask Nagel Realty at 1919 W. Division St., I put my wallet on top of some newspapers I was intending to read, including last Sunday's New York Times magazine.
But instead of reading I stared into space for a few minutes and ate some frozen yogurt I had bought at Starfruit, 1745 W. Division St.
Then I left the bench for home, apparently leaving my wallet and the newspapers behind.
This morning, I went to get coffee at the local 7-Eleven around 6:45 a.m. and realized my wallet was not in my shoulder bag.
I checked my online bank account and nothing had been withdrawn; there were no sales pending on my credit card either. I debated between staying at home and canceling all my credit cards or retracing my steps.
While walking down Damen Avenue back to Division Street, I called my mom to tell her that my wallet, which also unfortunately contained three $50 Macy's gift cards that she'd given me for my birthday two months ago, was missing and I was pretty sure I left it on a bench.
"Why didn't you put your wallet back in your purse after you bought the yogurt?" she asked.
Of course, a great question, for which I had no answer.
When I approached the bench around 7 a.m., like a mirage in the distance, my hard-to-miss purple wallet was still sitting there.
Inside, everything was in place: $27 in cash, the gift cards, my driver's license and press badge, both of which would have required trips Downtown to replace.
Oddly, the only thing missing from the bench was the newspapers, so possibly someone took the papers but left the wallet?
So if anyone wants to lend me this past Sunday's New York Times magazine, I'd be most appreciative. But mostly I'm thankful that's all I'm missing this morning.
Yay, humanity!
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