Kenneth C. Martin Blogs: It’s just a u-lock, but its recovery shows power of kindness (and Twitter)

Monday, February 6, 2017

It’s just a u-lock, but its recovery shows power of kindness (and Twitter)

Couldn’t hurt to try.

Ever see something in the roadway as you pedal by and think to yourself, “I wonder if someone’s missing that?” Happens to me pretty often. I see things like gloves, glasses and keys. I usually don’t stop to pick things up. I’m either in a hurry, or I figure the person who dropped it might roll back to that general area and find it themselves, or I simply don’t feel like getting involved.

Besides, what are the chances of finding the person anyways?

Well, with today’s use of social media so widespread, the chances are actually pretty good.

Case in point: On January 12th, reader Chris S. emailed us:

“I was riding into work this morning and found a pretty new Kryptonite lock on the ground. Do you have any good ideas on how to try to find the owner? This is a good 50-60 buck lock. I figured leaving it was just risking it to get lost forever. This was at 39th and Clinton.”

I immediately thought of Twitter. I replied to Chris on January 30th and said I’d be happy to Tweet an image of the lock. “It seems like such a long shot getting this back to the owner,” Chris said.

Inspired by Chris’ kindness and persistence, I figured a Tweet was the least I could do.

And guess what? Just a day later we heard from Rod @portlandfrog. “I think it’s mine! It fell off my bag on a bumpy ride during a snow day,” he wrote. “I’d love it back, I still have the key for it.”

Rod and Chris arranged to meet. An in-person connection didn’t happen, so Chris just dropped the lock off on Rod’s porch.

A happy man this morning, using the u-lock he thought was lost forever.
(Photo: Selfie by Rod)

We heard from Rod on Thursday that he’s once again in possession of his u-lock. “It’s really nice to see we look out for each other in the biking community. Keep up the good work and thanks again.”

And this morning, Rod sent us a photo of himself at work just prior to locking up for the day. “Was able to secure my bike at work again this morning, thanks to you and Chris!”

We love happy endings.

Thanks to Chris for going the extra mile.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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