To think of what Big Brother knows...

To think of what Big Brother knows.... Although its hard to care when he helps you find your wallet.

 There are so many forms of public transportation in China. In addition to taxi services, its also common to find unmarked cars, vans, and even bikes offering rides for money. While the warning bells from our 'stranger danger' culture make this seem creepy, here its not.

We recently traveled out of town to visit some friends. And we rode in one of these unmarked vans. As wallet to pay the driver, I was juggling Bella and serval bags. I felt something drop and when I looked down at the floor, I saw Bella's toy. I picked it up, gathered my belongings, and got out. A few minutes later I looked in my purse and saw that my wallet was missing!! It was one of those hind sight moments where I knew exactly what had happened. What I felt falling in the van was not Bella's toy, but really my wallet. The problem with the unmarked van is that since the driver does not work for a company or give out a receipt, it was going to be nearly impossible to find him. Tracking this driver down in a city of about 5 million people seemed hopeless.

Since I'm usually pretty good at keeping up with things, I had a lot of important things in the wallet. About $150 cash, all our credit cards, debit cards, drivers licenses, and all of our social security cards. And as icing on the cake, I had put a special necklace that Philip gave me in the change compartment that morning (something I had never done before). I was so upset!

Philip went with a couple friends to give their best shot at tracking down the van. They went to the place where many of the vans hang out and try to get business. After a couple hours there was no luck. Then, they followed a friends suggestion and went to the local police station to ask for help. Many chinese cities have recently added street cameras like we have in America. The police officers were so helpful and kind!

Philip told them where he was at about what time. They took him back into what he describes as a bat cave with TV monitors everywhere. Sure enough, they were able to find our family getting into the van on the traffic camera. That particular shot did not include the license plate. They asked Philip to give them 30 minutes to work on it. When he came back, they had followed the van to a place where they could get a clear image of the plate, blew it up, and had a print off of the drivers information. A quick phone call later he was in touch with the driver.

I'm not sure if the driver was just a kind honest man or if getting a call from the police scared him a bit,  but he said that he had the wallet and he would bring it in 8 minutes! He gave the wallet back to Philip with everything (even the cash) inside!!! We thanked the man and gave him a little something for all the trouble. We were so thankful to have the help of friends and also the protection of our father!

 Finding a wallet in a city of 5 million was truly a needle in a hay stack!! I am still shocked. Its amazing and a little scary to think of the information that 'Big Brother' has available - being able to look up when and where you go! But in this case, we were grateful.