Ordinary decency

This is a nice story about a man who did a decent thing (although he didn't realize, at the time, quite how decent it was):

When Shahla Ghannadian's husband accidentally left her purse on a park bench during a visit to Sausalito, the family didn't have much hope of getting it back. For one thing, it was a Louis Vuitton, a pricey find in itself.For another, the purse contained about $1 million in jewelry.

But against all expectations, the purse and valuables were en route back to their owner Monday after a San Rafael man who found the purse turned it in at the Sausalito Police Department.

"Obviously, people find purses and turn them in, but, from my memory, I can't remember anyone returning that valuable an amount of property," said Sausalito police Sgt. Kurtis Skoog.

The Ghannadians, who live in Toronto, were in San Francisco over the weekend to attend the wedding of a daughter who lives there. Their flight home wasn't until Sunday night, so family members drove to Sausalito on Sunday for some sightseeing and ice cream.

Shahla Ghannadian brought her purse, which contained the jewelry and accessories she wore to the wedding. The valuables included a Cartier watch and various pieces of jewelry made of pearls, emeralds and diamonds, including a 12-carat stone, police said. Also in the purse were $300 in U.S. cash and $200 in Canadian currency.

***

[O]n Monday, John Suhrhoff of San Rafael walked in to the police department holding the bag, all the cash and valuables still inside, and turned it over to a counter clerk. Suhrhoff mentioned to the clerk that he thought the accessories were costume jewelry.

"The finder has no idea it was real jewelry," Skoog said.

Suhrhoff could not be reached for comment Monday. But the Ghannadians are hoping he reads the news about his good deed so he knows their extent of their gratitude.

"You have to be a real man to return that bag," Ali Ghannadian said. "Even the bag is expensive. We're really, really thankful to that guy."

Keep in mind that, while Mr. Suhrhoff didn't know the jewelry was so valuable, he still returned about $500 in cash, plus a purse worth about the same amount. Congratulations, Mr. Suhrhoff, on being a truly decent person!

By the way, please contrast Mr. Suhrhoff's traditional morality with that being taught to Muslim's in Europe. As I quoted from Lowell Ponte in my previous post, young Muslims are being taught that they should steal from Europeans, in lieu of the tax that they would impose on non-Muslims were they living in a true Shari'a state.

UPDATE:  Regarding my last point about the abandonment of basic, get along in society morals (such as not stealing), the temptation amongst extreme religious groups to justifying theft from the dominant culture is apparently not confined to Islam.  I'm reading Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, and, in the very first chapter, he describes precisely the same phenomenom amongst fringe Fundamentalist Mormons.