The Luckiest Man Alive

This past week, a pair of friends from the US showed up to visit in Cairo. Jason and Kristina were the first (and only) people who visited us in Georgia. They stopped by this week en route to South Africa to see the World Cup. We watched a lot of soccer, but they also did quite a bit of sight seeing around town.

On Thursday night, we went out to a friends house for dinner. At the end, we walked a few blocks, got a cab and drove home. After getting dropped off, we all immediately went to bed. The next morning, we were supposed to go to the Khan, but we quickly realized Jason couldn't find his wallet. We ransacked the house, but nothing. So we went over to the place we were at dinner with and checked that place out. Nothing. Crap. It's probably in the taxi.

So, while Jason went to cancel the credit cards, Kristina and I went to get some coffee. Jason realized he didn't know the address in South Africa to send the replacement cards to, so wound up just sitting around waiting for us to get back.

When we got back, we got the biggest surprise. EVER. The taxi driver found his wallet, tracked us down and delivered it.

• The taxi driver picked us up a few blocks away from our start, and dropped us off a few blocks from home. He did not know where to find us.
• There are LOTS of Americans where I live. I do not stand out that much on my own. Finding me required some inquisition.
• He didn't know the neighborhood. It's not uncommon when going from one part of town to another, to have to tell a taxi where to go. We had to share show him how to get my house.
• Timing: if he had arrived an hour earlier, we would have been downtown looking at the other place. A half hour later, he would have delivered useless hunks of plastic because they would have been cancelled. If we hadn't gone to coffee, he would have cancelled the cards even earlier.
• It is quite likely his holy day where he should be spending time with his family. But despite that he went out hunting around an unfamiliar part of town to find us.
• Honesty: There's no lost & found center, no dispatch for taxis here. This guy had access to 2 credit cards and a drivers license. He could have been scot free. But he decided to put in some serious effort and delivered Jason's credit cards.

Without this fortuitous piece of karma and good will from a stranger, Jason would have been surfing for at least the next several weeks in South Africa with no access to his cash and leaning heavily on Kristina. Nevermind the hassle of card cancellation and chaos of trying to match up delivery of a card with multiple stops throughout South Africa.

Luck, I spell you J-A-S-O-N.