One of my best friends Reilly Flaherty recently lost his wallet at a Wilco concert at King’s Theater in Brooklyn. Flaherty was in an Uber and made it back to Manhattan before realizing it was gone, then made the driver take him back to Brooklyn, only to find it wasn’t there. He returned, dejected and tired, back to the city.

Then, a miracle happened. Well, a sort of miracle. A very New York miracle. Two weeks after he lost it, Flaherty received a plain white envelope in the mail. Inside was his license, his credit cards, and this note:


Dear Reilly Flaherty,
I found your wallet and your drivers license and your address so here’s your credit cards and other important stuff. I kept the cash because I needed weed, the metrocard because well the fare’s $2.75 now, and the wallet cause it’s kinda cool. enjoy the rest of your day. Toodles, Anonymous

“I’ve never been so conflicted about a nice gesture,” Flaherty said.

The cash? Gone. The wallet? Gone. The metro card? Gone. But, two weeks later, returned in a plain white envelope, a driver’s license and his credit cards.

“I had already gone to get a new license, and had already gotten all my cards replaced,” said Flaherty. “So basically it was useless to me.”