Sometimes being a Good Samaritan gets you nowhere. I have realized lately — due to one particular occurrence — that appreciation for good deeds is somewhat lacking in this society.
    I went grocery shopping after work one recent evening. After I made my purchases and loaded the car, returned the cart to the corral and buckled in for the ride home, I looked out my passenger window in preparation for backing out of the parking space. Out the window, there was a grocery cart. In the cart, there was a purse. Three parking spaces on either side of me were unoccupied and there were no other shoppers in sight. I stared at the purse in the cart for a minute, willing its owner to appear and claim it. Nothing happened.
    “I can’t just leave that purse there, someone could take it, what if it belongs to some poor old woman and it’s all she has in the world? What if it belongs to a young single mother?” I debated internally. “OK, then, what should I do? Police? Or return it inside the store? Maybe the owner will call the store looking for it later… Yep, I think that is the best bet.”
    I decided to take the purse to the customer service counter with the hope its owner would call looking for it, or store employees could look for identification and contact the owner. I picked up the purse by the handle and noticed it was open. I had no desire to look inside the purse, or touch anything inside, but I thought about zipping it closed. (Cynicism on my part, I guess, for not wanting anyone to think I had compromised its contents before turning it over.) I decided instead to leave the purse as I found it, unzipped.
    I walked through the parking lot, scanning for a woman who looked like she may have lost her purse. I was not approached, nor did I see anyone eyeing me suspiciously because I was carrying her purse. Purse in tow, I went straight to the customer service counter. The lone customer service representative behind the counter was helping someone, so I had to wait several minutes. I plunked the purse on the counter and told the customer service representative how I had discovered it in the parking lot.
    She eyed the open compartment, and me, suspiciously before whisking the purse away and turning her back on me without so much as a “Thanks.”
    It wasn’t like I expected a parade for doing the right thing, but a simple acknowledgement of a good deed would not have been out of line. I stood for a moment, thinking she might want my name or to question me further. She did not.
    I left the store, disheartened by her suspicion, but hopeful the purse would be returned intact to its owner, though I don’t think I will ever know the answer.
    What does it say about our society when a person doing a good deed is treated with suspicion and the doer is apprehensive about how the deed will be received? I agree now with the old saying, “No good deed goes unpunished.” I think people want to do the right thing but society’s perceptions and quick judgments don’t allow for it. It used to be that a person was innocent until proven guilty, but a shift seems to have been made judging people guilty until proven innocent. How is it supposed to encourage people to be Good Samaritans when they are treated as though they are committing a wrong?
    I admit I did not want to touch any part of that purse aside from the strap for fear something would be missing when its owner was found and suspicion would fall on me, even though I did nothing wrong. After leaving the store, I considered calling the police to report the purse, but refrained.
    Admittedly, the story is somewhat fantastic when taken at face value, and I did not want to waste the police’s time on something that was already out of my hands, the store would be responsible for the purse and  contacting its owner.
    I will continue to do the right thing, no matter how much suspicion falls on me. Why? Because it is still the right thing to do.
    Even if I had known beforehand what would take place with the customer service representative, I would do it again because if it was my purse in the parking lot, I would hope some Good Samaritan would do the same thing.
—Stephanie Grinnell