my little miracle

No, I have not given birth.

I do have a story, however, which I think is flippin miraculous and should be shared!!

So. I have been in Auckland, the largest city of New Zealand, for the last three days, for the U2 concert. I stayed with some friends who also came up from Christchurch for the concert, Adelbert and Melinda (fictional names), at the house they were renting. More on that later.

But for now, all you need to know is that I sat in a foodcourt in downtown Auckland having a milkshake and killing time at some point on Wednesday afternoon. Five minutes later, walking up Queen Street, I suddenly realised my phone was no longer with me.

Now, my phone is cheap and easily replaceable, but I was really going to need it plus the numbers stored on it over the next few days and I had a little freak-out. I rushed back to the foodcourt, checked the table - gone. Checked with the foodcourt staff - no phone. Checked with customer services - no phone.

Feeling dejected, I decided the best course of action was to bus back to the house I was sharing with Adelbert and Melinda, so I could make some calls. On the bus ride, I felt very cynical and very disparaging of Auckland. It was full of people who stole phones and honked their horns too loudly.

First I rang Dad.
Allie: "Hi Dad, I'm just ringing to say that I've lost my cellphone and can you let the others know so they know I can't get in touch with them?"
Dad: "Oh, yes, I heard about that."
Allie: "..... whAT?!"
Dad: "Yes, I sent you a message."
Allie: "Father. I just told you I lost my phone. I cannot receive messages!"
Dad: "Well, anyway, he called me, and told me he had your phone."
Allie: "WHO?!"
Dad: "Roger O'Leary." *fictional name, of course*
Allie: "Wow! Oh great, someone found my phone! I'll have to ring him to sort out getting it back."
Dad: "Oh, no, it's all right, someone's picking it up."
Allie: "... Huh?! WHO?!"

He didn't know. Completely perplexed and confused, I decided to ring my cellphone. A voice answered, "This is Allie's phone."
How utterly surreal! I said, "Ah, this is Allie...?"
"Allie. It's Adelbert here."

Adelbert was at the top of my contacts list, so when Roger O'Leary found my phone, he called Adelbert - the very person I was staying with in Auckland, one of the only people on my contacts list who was in Auckland, and who had a car and went straightaway to pick up my lost cellphone from the central city for me!!!

Adelbert had my old number, and would have told Roger that he didn't recognise the number except for the fact that he checked at the last minute with his wife Melinda, who coincidentally recognised the number from when she got it off me two days before!

Roger O'Leary was also going to the U2 concert the next evening.

He rescued my phone from a group of young guys who saw it sitting by itself on a table. When they sauntered over to it, he said, "Hey, what are you doing? That's not your phone."
They replied, "It's our friend's phone."
He said, "No, it's not."
They left. He took the phone, and called my father, and then, with no rational reason but alphabetical order, called one of the only people who was able to rescue it.

Roger O'Leary - your name is not really Roger O'Leary, but you know who you are - you are my knight in shining armour. Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity.