Durham - Where Acts of Kindness Happen

Yes, Downtown Durham. East Main Street. That's where an act of kindness happened without fanfare last week.

An employee here at DHA discovered that his wallet was missing. Since he was sure he'd had it in the parking lot, he went to his car and searched it and all around it. No luck.

So off he went to his bank to cancel credit cards, to DMV for a new license and to Social Security to report his missing Social Security card -- all in the midst of the Christmas rush. Finally, he returned to work to find a message on his voice mail. A message from Mr. James Watkins, a nearby resident, telling our staffer that he (Watkins) had his wallet and would bring it by the office.

He did stop by, but was unable to talk with our staffer directly, so he held onto the wallet until the next day. He returned, the two men talked about this being an unusual way to meet a neighbor, and our employee had his wallet back.

No cash in it, but every credit card, his driver's license and, yes, even his social security card were all right where he left them. He paid Watkins a modest reward, but for this simple act of decency, no amount would be enough.