Impressed with youth's act of kindness

I was scheduled for wrestling at Royal High School at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, for a VEX Robotics competition at Mattawa at about 2 p.m. then basketball at Royal at about 5:30. The round trip between the two towns is about an hour and 10 minutes.

When I arrived at Mattawa at about 1:40 for robotics, I turned to my passenger seat to find my note book. But my camera was not there. I knew immediately where it was, at the concession stand condiment table at Royal High. I had put it down to put mustard on my hot dog.

I started driving back to Royal and started to call Royal people with cells to ask if they had seen or would look for camera. I called Pat to tell her about my latest brush with senioritis.

“Don’t worry,” she said, “From what you’ve told me about the people in Royal City and Mattawa, nobody will steal it.”

Pat was correct. People at the Royal Rumble had already found it, secured it and were waiting to hand it to me.

A welcoming committee of Principal Matt Elliot and Assistant Principal Rick Follett handed it to me. Talk about nice people; they did it without laughing.

But the cool part of this story was person who actually found the camera, a Royal High boy whose name I do not know. According to the ticket booth attendant, Kevin Pastor had brought it to her, saying he thought it was mine. I called Kevin at the high school, and he said it wasn’t him.

Apparently I’ve been working in the community long enough that people know me or recognize me. This young gentleman was nearby when I left the camera, but he did not see me leave it.

When he saw the camera, after I’d left, he picked it up and went outside to chase me down. I was pulling out of the parking lot and never saw him. I drove on down to Mattawa as if nothing was wrong.

The young man was there with the principals when they handed me the camera. He told me he’d seen the camera and remembered I had been in that area. He deduced that I was the owner.

I thanked him profusely not just for finding the camera but also for being an outstanding citizen. He could have taken the camera home and sold it for a tidy profit.

Even though my day was about 12 hours long, it was a great day, especially at the end, thanks to this young gentleman.