a question of integrity

I read this guy’s blog
I don’t know him
and never will
he’s not the same race as I
nor is he in the same country

I found him via another blog
that I stumbled across
and that interested me

I've probably been reading his blog
for a couple of months

so today I read a post
about how
he travels on a "train"
to and from work
and recently found a 60 gb iPod
lost by someone on the train

a 60 gb iPod a year ago
cost about $499.99 in this country
and.....in this country
an 80 gb currently costs $399.99

not pocket change....

so the story goes
that he argued with himself
over the idea of returning it
and in the end went out of his way
to find the owner and do so

inspite of the fact that his own player
is a cheap iPod substitute
and that he probably could have kept it
and remained "scott free"

because really...
how would one track that?

the thing that struck me
was the almost apologetic manner
in which he wrote

as if the "masses" would view
what he's done
with derision
or find it suspect
in some manner

this brings me to mind of 2 separate thoughts

1....what a great difference
culture can make between 2 countries
on the same continent

2....what a strange thing
that I can be so very proud
of a man I have never met
and never will