From the Editor's Desk
I still believe in good people

B.J. Davis

While making my rounds on Pensacola Beach this past weekend, I found myself stopping into a local establishment to say my goodbyes. It was at this time that I had figured out a new way to get a phone number, except not necessarily from an admirer. The employee handed me a note and an explanation of how my car had been brushed by another vehicle. Panic didn't set in until I realized it was too dark in the parking lot to ascertain any substantial damage, and it was up to the a.m. hours to "shed some light" on the problem.

To offset any unneeded worry (it's just a car, right?), I was immediately put at ease by realizing how honest the young lady was who left her information. Is it actually possible to encounter honesty these days? My answer that evening was a resounding "yes."

We've all been victim of ghost damage inflicted on our parked and unmanned vehicles; we've had something of value stolen or lost. Normally our minds are made up: we will retrieve that item unscathed and damage will not be spoken for.

Having personal property stolen, broken or broken into has got to be the most violating feeling we can experience. One evening in college,

was studying for a final when a friend invited me over for an impromptu get-together. My first reaction was no way, I have too much to study for. That thought should have the deciding factor, but as one would have it, I made my way gleefully to the party.

Once arriving at the party, I apparently forgot all proper vehicle-exit procedures, namely locking the car or even rolling up the windows. A few hours later, I returned to my car and was struck with that overpowering sense of violation as the contents of my glove box were strewn across my seat and floorboard as well as wires dangling innocently from a vacant spot which was once a very decent CD player.

Next came hopelessness as recovery efforts proved dim. A call to the police seemed more protocol than fruitful as the officer informed me cases like this are rarely solved, much less items returned. I had lost a total of $1,100 in electronics, CDs, sunglasses and a brand new camera received a month before for my birthday.

It wasn't then that I began losing faith in the honesty of the human race as a whole; I'm a sucker for thinking that people, in general, are good. That belief has burned me on more than once occasion, but at least I can sleep at night. At least I can hope.

I applaud people like the young lady who left her information for me after the incident. I know that she could sleep that night knowing if there were any real damage, she could only hope I was as rational as she was in that particular situation. Truth is, she did me a favor my scrapping some of the dirt off my bumper, and no harm was done.

This column is dedicated to the honest folks out there who keep fools like me convinced that there are, in fact, good people still left. I told her she could buy me a beer next time she saw me. She said she'd buy me a few. I still have the number.