At 3 a.m., I ran up to my 8th-floor flat, panicked—thinking my taxi driver was following me. But he handed me my wallet I’d dropped and left a note: “Be safe. The world is full of both kinds.”
Curious, I tracked him down—Idris, a former philosophy teacher from Algeria working nights to support his sister. We bonded over coffee, walks in the park, and eventually he taught teens at my art center.
When his visa issues landed him in immigration trouble, I helped rally support. He was released, became a volunteer, then got a full teaching position.
That scary stairwell moment taught me: sometimes fear hides a chance to meet someone who changes your life. I return lost things now, because you never know what kind of kindness will come back.