proactive positive engaging

I lost my phone at the library a few years back, and the librarian at the time recognized the photo on the screensaver, and saved the phone for us the next time we came in. The photo was of my husband and son.

The spare keys went missing a few days ago, after we picked up my in-laws at the airport. My mother-in-law made a full set at the neighborhood supply store, where they invited us over for Christmas Eve lucky number drawing (for a widescreen TV).

Just today, I heard from the manager at the nearby condos, where my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law stay when they’re visiting. Incidentally, the manager is also the mother of my son’s classmate, and we do a carpool into town for the elementary school. Anyway, the manager said, Monica, we have your keys!

• The keys were dropped in the condo parking lot.
• Another resident turned them into lost-and-found.
• There were no identifying marks on the set of keys, but there was a postal box key, so the condo manager called the local post office. (There’s just one main post office in town, and two satellite smaller ones.)
• The postmaster looked up the key number and said it was ours. (By the way, the postmaster also knows us by name when we come to the counter to pick up packages.)
• The manager just happened to have our home phone number, so…

Bob’s your uncle — we pick up our keys.

Imagine living in a place where the librarian, the local shopkeeper, the condo manager, and the postmaster all know you and your family by name.

I like it!