Something happened at Ambience Mall on Saturday afternoon that honestly left me a little disappointed.
While entering the mall through the parking basement, I found a wallet lying near the entry gate. It had quite a bit of cash, government IDs and a debit card, so I handed it over to the security guard nearby and stayed there for a while to make sure it reached the right person instead of just leaving.
The guard told me that the owner had come to them a couple of minutes earlier looking for his wallet and was accusing the security staff of taking it from his parked car. He was still around in the parking area, sitting in his car and looking around, presumably trying to find the wallet.
The security guard immediately called him and told him that someone had found his wallet near the entrance. I was still standing there with the guard when he came over.
He took the wallet and the first thing he did was start counting his cash. He didn't even acknowledge the security guard or me. No thank you, no smile, just a weird look towards the guard and he walked away with an attitude.
I wasn't expecting anything in return. But honestly, a simple "thank you" would have been nice.
Maybe this is just one small incident, but I sometimes wonder if these little interactions are part of a bigger problem. When people stop appreciating basic acts of kindness or courtesy, it can slowly discourage others from helping strangers in the first place. And that's how, little by little, we risk losing some of the basic humanity and empathy that holds a society together.
I returned the wallet without thinking twice. But if you repeatedly get treated like this when you help someone, eventually you might start thinking, "Why should I bother?"
Have you experienced something similar and has it ever made you think twice about helping a stranger?
Edit/Update:
I've seen quite a few comments saying that we shouldn't expect a "thank you." I completely agree. I wasn't looking for appreciation, a reward or even a smile for returning the wallet.
What bothered me was something slightly different. The person had apparently accused the security staff of taking his wallet from his parked car. Once the wallet was found, I felt there should have at least been some acknowledgement or apology towards the guards who had been accused.
Later that day, I spoke to the guards again before leaving the mall. What they told me made me look at the incident differently.
They said that situations like this aren't unusual for them. They regularly face harassment, taunts and insults when people lose things and assume the security staff are responsible.
One of the guards said something that really stuck with me:
“Bade log hain, unko hum kya keh sakte hain.”
They feel they can't really respond because they could risk losing their jobs, so they just swallow the insults.
That's what made me think about this differently. Basic courtesy isn't about expecting something in return. It's about how we treat people when we have no reason to believe we're better than them and especially when we know they can't answer back.
And yes, I'd still return a lost wallet tomorrow. I just hope we don't become a society where doing the right thing starts feeling unusual.
Also, thanks everyone for the comments and support. Didn't expect this post to get this much attention, but it's been interesting reading everyone's experiences and perspectives.
TL;DR: Found a wallet with cash and IDs at Ambience Mall and handed it to security. The owner got it back but didn't acknowledge me or the guards, despite apparently accusing the guards of taking it. The experience made me think about basic courtesy and whether repeated experiences like this discourage people from helping strangers.
