Lost / Found

     Wednesday afternoon we left the office and crossed the street to wait for our bus. While standing and talking, we were approached by a middle-aged gentleman in a business suit. He had a little, dark blue booklet in his hand.  He held it out to me and said something and pointed to the sidewalk about 10 feet behind him. I took the little booklet and discovered that it was a passport. The man explained that he had found it on the sidewalk "over there".  It was a Chilean passport and appeared to be brand new. The duplicate ID photo was tucked in the back along with the receipt.  There was no telephone number, but it said he lives in San Felipe. San Felipe is a small community near Vina del Mar, about 90 miles from Santiago. I started feeling his anxiety as he realized that he didnt have his passport. I imagined him searching his pockets, his briefcase, any bags he was carrying, then searching again, frantically. I felt his anxiety. Our bus arrived and we got on, trying to decide what to do with this document. We decided to find a carabinero. A carabinero is the State Police equivalent. They are the ones who really and truly enforce the law. They are the only ones to carry weapons. As we got off the bus, we located a couple of them across the street. The attendant at the bus stop hollered to them and they came over. I told them what happened, handed them the passport, smiled and said Gracias. Hopefully it didnt just go in a lost and found drawer somewhere in the depths of  carabinero world, but that they located the owner and made arrangements for its return. We will never know.