The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
Today’s something good is dumpster diving.
Emily Dickerson, a 17-year-old Iowa resident, recently performed at Texas Six Flags with her school choir. It would be a trip she will likely never forget.
After performing, charter buses took the 200 students to Corpus Christi to relax at the beach and have lunch. Emily, worried about losing her jewelry in the ocean took off her rings and tucked them in a Subway box for safe keeping, according to KIII 3.
It wasn’t until she had boarded the bus and was on the way home that she realized her rings were left behind in that Subway box. The rings were very sentimental – one was a ring that belonged to her grandmother, one her sweet 16 ring, another a promise ring from her boyfriend. But the most important was a ring that held the ashes of her father, who died when Emily was eight.
Emily was distraught at the loss and in a panic but turning around was not an option. Her mother hurriedly called the Corpus Christi Parks and Recreation Department, but it was a Friday evening and no one was there. Tina, Emily’s mom, left a detailed message about the ring but didn’t expect anything to come of it. It was not until Monday morning that Laura Perez, the supervisor of the park’s operations, heard the voice mail.
She remembered the visit by the 200-member choir and recalled their trash being thrown into a specific dumpster. That dumpster was normally picked up at 8 am but a quick call confirmed that it had not been picked up yet that morning.
So, Laura and two of her staff members began the unpleasant job of sifting through an entire weekend of garbage in the oppressive south Texas heat. Temperatures that day exceeded 115 degrees, but Laura and her team spent three hours searching for Emily’s precious ring. And, miraculously, found it. They found the other three missing rings as well.
The rings were shipped to Emily in Glenwood, Iowa and she is thankful for the effort put into finding them. Her advice to other beachgoers is to learn from her mistake and leave any valuables at home.
Sometimes kindness is easy to the point of being effortless. But sometimes it is sorting through trash in sweltering heat to help someone you’ve never met keep a memento of her deceased father. Both kinds of kindness are to be celebrated but the latter deserves recognition as being truly something good!
Now it’s your turn… Tell me something good!
