It’s More Than Just a Money Clip

When Ron’s new-to-him car arrived a few months ago, it was clear the previous owner had taken excellent care of it. The body was in great shape, especially considering its age, and the interior was clean with very little wear. And it’s continuing its life as a pampered vehicle with Ron, who’s been working diligently to bring it back up to snuff mechanically, while also making sure it’s suitably clean and shiny before hitting the road.

His thoroughness in cleaning has reaped some unexpected rewards: starting with a business card and a Swiss Army Knife money clip.

He found the business card in the crevice between the passenger seat and centre console. You know, that space where things fall in, never to be seen again. (Like french fries.) Thinking it might have been the previous owner, and hoping it might lead to more info on the car’s maintenance history, he sent an email to the address on the card. It turned out the car had been her husband’s, so she put Ron in touch with him. They exchanged a few messages. Ron was able to get the car’s entire history, and the previous owner was pleased to learn his beloved car (which he’d given up because it was too low to the ground for him to comfortably get in and out of anymore) had gone to a good home.

But there was still the money clip.

It just kind of appeared one day. It was nowhere to be seen when the car arrived, and then suddenly it was sitting on the floor behind the driver’s seat. It was in that same crevice on the driver’s side and got knocked loose somehow, perhaps? Who knows?

Whatever made it suddenly materialize, Ron packaged it up and mailed it and a note to the address on the business card. A few weeks later, it landed back in our mailbox. Undeterred, he took to Google, figured out that the business had moved and the new address, and mailed it off once again.

And today, he got an email from the previous owner.

Good morning Ron, it was quite a surprise when I opened the package you mailed and found the money clip. It had been with me for many years. It was purchased many years ago on a Florida vacation with my family. My 11-year-old son had picked it out in a Target store because I was looking for a money clip. He is now 40 and the clip has been with me all these years. During that time it is had a few trips of its own. I think of it not as a knife but as a money clip. As such it has been taken a number of times by airport security, who seem to object to carrying a” knife” on the plane. It has been returned to me each time through various means. So, you can imagine on the day the 08 BMW was on the back of the truck leaving the house for the last time I thought of the clip/knife. My wife and I had both looked for it one last time but obviously we were unsuccessful. I thought that day that it would be the last time I would see the car and the knife. It will now be retired and kept safely in a drawer. Thank you so much for taking the time to send it to me.

I admit, I was a bit bemused by the effort Ron made to return the money clip to its owner. It seemed like an awful lot of effort for a not-very-important, easy to replace thing.

Just goes to show – what’s easy to replace for one person can easily be irreplaceable for someone else.