Wow, I don’t think a poll has ever turned out this way before!

Last week I asked if you’d ever found a lost item on transit and turned it in. And after 102 votes, the poll was split right down the middle: 50% have turned a lost item in, and 50% have not!

In the comments, Cow had one of the few stories about turning an item in. It’s all about karma!

I’ve turned in a few things over the years. About two years ago, I found a U-pass in a bus shelter at Granville and Pender, and turned it in to the Lost Property Office. Six months later, I left mine on a bus, and someone else was kind enough to turn it in — I got it back! So, TransLink, we’re even on that front. :3

Most of the stories were just great anecdotes about recovering items that you thought you’d lost. For example, here’s Holly:

I lost my videocamera on the Sea Bus during the Olympics and it was turned in and I picked it up from the Lost Property office!

And scottclayton had a similar story, but with a tip for others!

During the Olympics, my wife and I (collectively) left a camera on the Seabus. A few days later, we got a phone call from the Lost Property office informing us about it and where we could pick it up. Luckily we had attached a little thermal-label-maker label with our name and phone number to the camera strap. We hadn’t even realized the camera was gone by the time we received the phone call.

Great stuff!

Lost Property was pretty excited about it: they said that they get a lot of cameras turned in, but they often don’t get returned as there are almost never any names or phone numbers on a camera that can trace it back to its home. They highly recommended putting labels on stuff like cameras.

You need not have a label printer to make waterproof labels—you can make them easily enough with tape, paper, and some sort of marker (or printer).

But some people shared some different experiences! Sungsu lost and found an item and didn’t even have to get to Lost Property:

A few years ago, my daughter left her jacket on the bus on the way to a gymnastics class. A little over an hour later on the way home, we caught the exact same bus back, and the exact same operator had the jacket hanging behind him, ready to hand in to the Lost Property Office. We were happy to relieve him of the chore.

And NS saw a great act of collective caring during the Olympics:

During the Olympics, upon exiting the Skytrain, a girl forgot her umbrella. As she was leaving, we tried to let her know, but she didn’t hear us. Someone decided to toss her umbrella on the platform just as the skytrain doors were closing (this analogy is for football fans, he basically threw a perfect completion in tight double coverage). She looked up, smiled and waved. Awesome moment.

Last but not least, Steven passed along a link to some of the crazier items found on public transit in London, England. A case full of dentures! I only saw one pair when I visited our Lost Property office in 2008 :)

Visit the original post to read all the comments: there is a great bicycle story from Cliff there! And thanks again to everyone who voted in the poll: I’ll have another little something for you next week.