My iPhone Saga (why I love Germany)

Saturday, 16 June, was a beautiful day so we went to our favorite markt at Gutenberg and picked up some bread, cheese, fruit, and wine. We then headed out to the Rhine via the tram to have a picnic and take a stroll along the banks of the river. Here is the rest of the story, for those of you who haven't seen the synopsis on FB. 

Art enjoying a white French wine with his camembert and baguette. 

I'm snacking on small red peppers stuffed with cheese. Oh my, life is so good. 

After lunch, we stroll along the banks of the Rhine for an hour or so. The weather is perfect, warm and sunny (for a change). It's so nice to be out of the city and walking hand in hand along the river bank. But, tragedy is about to strike. We return from our stroll and I discover that I have lost my iPhone. OMG. So, we retrace our route, but no joy. No phone. Back at the apartment, I cancel service to the phone, change all the passwords to my email, banks, credit cards, anything I can think of. I tell Art: it's only a phone. I could have lost our passports or my wallet,which would have been much more serious. But I'm thinking: there goes my camera, which I have been using to take pictures for my blog. And, big bucks to replace the iPhone. I am not happy!!!!

Late Monday afternoon, Art gets a call from Sam. The German police called her to  tell her that someone has turned in my phone (Sam, I can only imagine your reaction when you heard the police on the line). She gives Art the officer's phone number, we call him, he confirms that he has the phone. So, we head down to police headquarters (pictured here). After we get into the building and find the officer, we ask how he tracked Sam down. Turns out he looked me up on Facebook, figured out I had two daughters, called Cindy  (but she didn't answer), then called Sam. Wow! Small world. We gave him a large box of cookies and gave the woman who turned in the phone a lot more than the required 5% finder's fee. When I related this story to my German students, their reaction was: of course, that's what we would do as well. When I posted this saga to FB, the reaction was: never happen in Macon! (and I agree, unfortunately). So, did I say life is good here? I am so fortunate on so many levels. And, I can continue to take pictures for the blog (so much easier to do with the iPhone than with Art's large cumbersome camera). And, did I say how much I appreciate how honest and sincere the Germans are?