Good Samaritan returns lost wallet to senior
Employee at Pointe-claire Village store brings belongings back to grateful woman
Ever lost a wallet or purse? There's a sinking feeling that comes after a frantic search through coat pockets and other logical places, followed by an unsettling realization that your credit cards, cash, driver's licence and other ID are suddenly gone.
For 80-year-old Mary (née Haselton) Hoerig, that moment came after she recently returned home after grocery shopping at the Marché Epicure store in the Pointe-claire Village.
Hoerig didn't realize she'd lost her purse until later in the evening. “Where the heck is my wallet?” she wondered after a search of her seniors residence apartment came up empty.
“We searched high and low and couldn't find it anywhere. I was positive I had put it in my grocery bag. My wallet had all my medical papers, all my 92-year-old husband's medical papers, plus $330 in cash.”
Hoerig, who uses walking canes to get around, retraced her steps that day. She recalled buying a few items at the store. “I had left my purse in the car with my husband and just brought my wallet into the store.”
After paying at the cash, she remembers putting her wallet in the shopping bag with her groceries. She then put the grocery bag in a small shopping cart to bring to the car, which was parked in a handicap spot near the store entrance. But a search of the car also came up empty.
Hoerig went to bed that night with her mind racing. The following morning, she called the store at 7:45 a.m. At first, she got an answering machine that was too full to receive messages.
“I kept trying that phone number and suddenly somebody answered. I just started telling him the story and he said, `I have it.' He asked, `Is it a blue wallet'? And I said, `Yes!”
It was icy outside so store employee Ajmal Gulam, who found the wallet, offered to bring it to Hoerig, who lives in Pointe-claire.
“I couldn't believe my ears,” said Hoerig, who was moved by Gumal's genuine kindness.
“This young man got into his car and brought my wallet to me. I was so delighted with him and he was so pleasant.”
Gulam explained that he found the wallet in the shopping cart outside the store at around 7 p.m.
“So my wallet had been sitting in a shopping cart on Lakeshore Rd. for more than two hours. It was still there. Everything inside the wallet was still there. Nothing was taken,” Hoerig said.
“It's a real good Good Samaritan story and we need to hear stories like that now. I phoned the store manager and told her she has a really good employee on staff that she has to hang on to.”
Gulam shrugged off the praise and said he was happy to return Hoerig 's purse.
“'It's not good when you lose all your ID and credit cards,” he said. “It happens sometimes at the store that people lose their wallet or cellphone.”
The 27-year-old Gulam emigrated to Canada from Uzbekistan 14 years ago.
He has been working at Marché Epicure for the past two years. He often puts in long hours, 50 to 60 per week, and gets paid $19 an hour. He lives at home with his parents and helps out with household expenses.
Hoerig almost had to force Gulam to accept a $50 bill as a token of appreciation when he brought her purse to her apartment.
“I didn't want him to (refuse) it,” she said. “Everyone needs money at this time of year, so I said to him, `You need to take this.' And I emphasized the word `need.' He stepped back but I placed the money in his hand and insisted he take it.
“We need more people like this. He helped a senior.”