Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
Print
E-Mail
tool name
closeSunday, Jun. 28, 2009
Richland man who lost wallet not taken to cleaners
By Loretto J. Hulse, Herald food writer
It was one of those "Oh, no" moments: Tom Doncaster reached for his wallet to pay for lunch and came up with hand empty.
"I just looked at Alice, my wife. We were both shocked," said the Richland resident.
They sat at the restaurant table for a few minutes Wednesday, thinking back about where he'd been in the past day or so.
"At first I thought, 'Gosh did I take it out and leave it at work or on a restaurant table somewhere?' " he said.
The Doncasters searched for his wallet off and on for about five hours, checking everywhere, the office -- Doncaster Insurance and Financial Services in Kennewick -- car, home.
His wallet was small and thin with a money clip attached, "just big enough to hold his drivers license, Visa card and some money," Alice said.
"It was one of those situations when you think should I call and cancel the credit card or just wait. I checked and there had been no charges on it so I thought, 'OK I'll wait and look for it at home,' " he said.
When they got home after 7 p.m., they began looking for the missing wallet.
"After 30 or 40 minutes we knew it wasn't at home. That's when we finally listened to our messages on the answering machine," she said.
Two were from Columbia Cleaners in Kennewick, where employees had found his wallet in a pair of pants dropped off earlier in the week.
"Leaving it in my pants pocket is the last thing I would have guessed," Doncaster said.
"The only question then was would the credit card still be there? What about the money?" he said.
It was all there in the wallet: License, credit card and close to $200 cash.
"I would have been happy to get my license and credit card back, let alone the money. I could have the money replaced but it was good to see they were good honest people. No sticky fingers there," he said.
Young Bak, owner of Columbia Cleaners, said, "It's very important to check pockets. We do it three times -- at the counter, then a second time and a third time just before cleaning."
The pocket check is partly to search for valuables, partly to remove anything that might cause stains during the cleaning process, Bak said.
And if they find something important -- like a wallet -- "We call the people immediately," Bak said.
The Doncasters have been taking their dry cleaning to Columbia Cleaners for the past decade and have no plans to patronize any other establishment.
"Especially after this," he said.
@Nyx.CommentBody@