Lost and Found

Nearly two weeks ago, the teacher in charge of the group decided that we should walk the entire length of the reflecting pool from the Lincoln Memorial to the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. It was rather late and I was tired and asked if we could take the bus instead. My teacher was adamant and inquired which path was better. I opted for the 'high road' because it was lit by a series of lamps and the one along the pool was dark and littered by Canada Geese droppings.

Unfortunately, the 'high road' turned out to be a gathering place for gigantic swarms of gnats, although harmless unless they fly into your eyes, nevertheless, they are still annoying. Frightened students started to scream, waving their arms, and anything they had in front of them which would disperse the gnats. Many started running toward the WWII Memorial only to slam into another swarm! (There were about ten of these!) It was an amusing sight that had me laughing between 'bouts', being careful to keep my mouth shut while in the midst of the gnats.

When we finally reached the memorial, the teacher said it would have been better to have taken the 'poopy' route! (I think next year she'll take the bus!) However, one young man was extremely upset, for he had lost his wallet.

One of the other teachers tried to retrace his steps with him to look for the wallet and asked the usual questions regarding the last time he saw his wallet etc. He was sure he had it with him at the Lincoln Memorial. It became evident that it must have flown out of his fanny pack while he was 'defending' himself against the gnats.

The head teacher was rather cynical and wrote this off to irresponsibility. It was a done deal in her mind that he would never see his wallet again and that someone would find it and the $200 inside and declare it a holiday! I told her I would pray for it; again I was faced with a cynical expression. This young man was a nice fellow who didn't seem like the careless or absent-minded type. I felt badly for him.

Despite being brought up in cities where one experiences a greater cross-section of behavior, I am not cynical; just the reverse. I have a great deal of faith in my fellow man and the grace of God. In fact, there have been several instances on my trips that lost items had been found and returned. I told her that I would call several places the next day to report the wallet missing and try to track it down. She didn't understand why I would take the time and trouble to do this. What were the odds that a small, dark, ballistic nylon, fold-over wallet would be found or turned in? Well, one doesn't get, unless one asks.

The next morning I called the US Park Service grounds personnel, both the Lincoln and the WWII memorial National Park Rangers, DC police, as well as some other numbers given to me. Interestingly enough they all did have wallets and purses that were either found or turned in by others (So there are honest people in the world!), but not the one I was looking for.

The young man was devastated and accepted the inevitable truth.

Our day was being spent at the International Spy Museum, National Archives, the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian before touring the US Capitol and meeting their US Representative.

It was at the National Museum of the American Indian that my teacher received a call on her cell phone.

She quickly handed me her cell phone and on the other end was a voice proclaiming that the wallet had been found!

It was the voice of another tour guide who had followed the same route with her group (for the same reason) and were evidently right behind us! When she picked up the wallet, she noticed that there was a school ID in it, besides the money, and set to track down the owner.

After she returned to her hotel room, she hooked up her laptop and researched the school to find that indeed, their eighth grade was in Washington, DC. She called the school as soon as it opened (a three hour time difference since the school was in California) and was able to get the head teacher's cell phone number!

At the point of this call, she was aboard her own tour bus and was two blocks away from the Smithsonian we were visitng!

Naturally, I literally ran out to meet her and retrieve the wallet.

Imagine my surprise when it was pointed out that she had been a new tour guide I had spent time encouraging three years previously! Hugs all around!

She certainly went the extra mile!

She wouldn't accept a 'reward' as she felt what she did was her duty - the right thing to do.

After thanking her and hopping on her bus to thank the group and let them know how much this was appreciated and how good it was that they were honest and compassionate, I rushed back to the museum to reunite the young man and his wallet. All the cash was there.

The young man was joyous and the teacher was flabbergasted. I gave thanks and I used the opportunity for another teaching moment on compassion and honesty. (The two, in my mind, go hand-in-hand.) The teacher said that some of her lost faith in people was found. (Some!)

It also brought home the fact that blessings and grace can be found and not all the lessons learned on tour are academic.

Epilogue:

The other tourguide's group was eating in the same Kosher Jewish restaurant in New York City before the Broadway show, as we were! She recognized me and came over to my table where I introduced her to all the teachers, the entire group, and especially to the young man. I was glad they all had the opportunity to put an actual face to the person responsible for returning the wallet.

Coincidence?

I think not.

HAVE GUM? NO TRAVEL!

Former 'Gum Tree' at the Peterson House.

Some years ago one of my groups entered the National Museum of Air and Space immediately after it opened at 9:30 AM. There weren’t the usual longs lines of student tour groups waiting to enter that day and the teacher stopped short and looked at the great expanse of light colored carpet (I think it was blue) and exclaimed, “Look! They even have the cosmos embedded in the carpet!”

I paused, thinking that I had missed a bit of trivia concerning the building and surveyed the floor. Indeed, there were black spots of various sizes all over the carpet. It occurred to me that these spots weren’t intended to represent the cosmos; they represented careless gum chewers which seemed to be universal!

Naturally I used that stunning example to underscore the reasons for my tour rule: NO GUM! It was a great teaching moment which I have used several times since.

While I was growing up, quite frankly, my mother (and also my stepmother) did not allow us to chew gum. She considered it to be a low class preoccupation. In her view, ladies and gentlemen should neither be seen chewing gobs of gum in public, blowing bubbles, nor making ‘clicking’ sounds. It was ‘common’. (Common, in our family was much lower than, tacky.) She would point out the transgressors we would see during our outings and likened them to cows chewing their cud. (At least cows chew with their mouths closed!)

I'm sure some psychologists will say that gum chewing is an extension of the pacifier (something else my mother shunned). I've never clearly understood why people do chew gum except to clear their ears after a flight.

Gum chewing, alas, has become commonplace, but I still find it almost as unacceptable as smoking because of the litter. One can find gobs of gum and cigarette butts in the most peculiar places! The cigarette butts are bad enough, but they don’t get stuck on the soles of my shoes nor the back of my skirt!

In Washington, DC, as well as every tour site, there are prominent warning signs against gum chewing. Even motorcoach companies do not allow it on their buses. These signs and rules are not age specific. In the case of the government buildings in DC or battlefields etc., the prohibition is a Federal Law and not one to be dismissed by students nor adults.

It has become difficult to enforce this law or request, and local tour guides, such as myself, are taken to task,especially when we ask the adults to comply. I’ve tried my best to make it into a joke: Why is a train different from your tour guide? The train says, choo-choo, but your tour guide says, “don’t chew, don’t chew!” Or the recent reference from Night in the Museum: No Gum-gum for the Dum-dum.. It’s an uphill battle.

Why is gum chewing so prevalent? Why is it necessary? It certainly is an unattractive habit resembling addiction. Gum chewing actually detracts from one's looks and perception of intelligence.

But that aside, why are people so careless about the disposal?

The Peterson House, which is across the street from Ford’s Theatre, had a strange problem for years. A large student group, perhaps a band, was waiting to get into the Peterson House to see where President Lincoln died. Since nearly the whole school group was chewing, the local National Park Rangers explained that they would have to trash their gum. Some members took out the wads and threw them into the street, which infuriated the Rangers. The students then proceeded to stick their gum on the trees which were lining the street in front of the house. Thus the ‘gum trees’ were created as more and more groups stuck wads of gum on the bark and branches of the trees. Pennies were added to the bits gum (in ‘honor’ of Lincoln) and most of the trees on the block were covered with this mess that became a glob during the heat of the summer. It became a photo op and recognized tour sight.

Here is a posting I found on the NET concerning a Ford's Theatre visit:

We took my son here when he was young but he still enjoyed it since he had heard teh (sic) stories. To be in a place where something like this happened gave me goosebumps. Across teh (sic) street is a neat little tree outside of the place he died. Many have taken gum and attached a Lincoln head penny to it in his honor. We added one , too.

In my opinion this was not an honor, it was an act of vandalism.. both destructive and disgusting. And the above was done by an adult.

No one cared about the effect on the trees; unfortunately, these poor trees were unable to survive and were removed. (I also imagine that it was nearly impossible to remove everything deposited on the bark.)

So the taxpayers of America had to pay for the removal of the trees and the purchase and planting of new ones because of something that should be controllable. A fence surrounding the trees was also a requirement.

Government and private buildings, museums, monuments, and memorials are literally coated by gum. One can find them on walls and between floorboards of historic homes like Monticello and Mount Vernon. Williamsburg is having on on-going problem with gum. Removal is not easy and it is expensive. I wish I had statistics to share with you, but I can only imagine that the cost of gum removal each year in this country must be in the millions.

This has become a serious problem.

Recently outside our hotel in Manhattan, there was a van called, Gumbusters, capitalizing on the movie, Ghostbusters. While the workers did not have the same costumes and backpacks of Dan Ackroyd and company, there were funny looking machines that controlled high-powered stiff hoses which released a stream of steam and secret chemical.

Thankfully, this illustrated the recent talk I had had with my students earlier concerning gum litter. Watching the process was fascinating. Regrettably, Ii is a necessary service.

Why not do your part?

STOP CHEWING GUM!

(Or at the very least, dispose of it properly!)

Thanks!

Read the flash introduction to Gumbusters NY
Removal in the DC area
Wall of Gum photo in Seattle's Pike Place Market