She Went on a Roadtrip and Lost Her Purse, But When She Got It Back It was Heavier!

A package

After signing the document presented by the delivery man, she took the package inside. “Could it be?” she wondered to herself. She gently put it down and grabbed a sharp pair of scissors. She pierced through the packaging tape carefully, making sure she doesn’t damage the package. 

As she opened the box, she reached her hand inside. She touched something soft. “What is this?” she asked herself. 

On the road 

Lindsey Jones worked as a teacher from Texas. The stress of educating young children piled up over the past few months and she decided that she needed a well-deserved break. So she packed up her things and took her family with her to New Mexico. 

As they were driving back home from their week-long vacation, problems started to arise. 

Driving

The stress of traveling with children is different in comparison to traveling alone. What was supposed to be a fun family experience for Lindsey quickly turned into a nightmare. Just three hours on the road, her children started misbehaving. 

She tried her best to block out the sound of their uncontrollable tantrums and directed her attention on the road ahead instead. 

Losing Patience 

Although Lindsey has been doing her best blocking out the noise, her son couldn’t contain himself and started having a meltdown. After all, he’s been strapped in the car seat for several hours. Her son kept wailing but Lindsey stayed resilient despite losing patience. 

Suddenly, a bright neon sign caught her attention. “That’s it,” she muttered to herself. As if she finally knew the solution to their problems on the road.

Stop-Over 

Lindsey was relieved to spot a Chick-Fil-A restaurant along the road. She pulled over and told her children that they were going to take a break and eat there. Her 3-year-old son Max and 6-year-old son Gabe finally calmed down from their tantrums. Lindsey let out a sigh of relief, grabbed her enormous bag and took her sons inside the restaurant. 

Munching down

Fizzy drinks and $3 meals were enough to keep Lindsey’s kids happy and contented. Lindsey let her guard down and relaxed a bit as she watched her kids munch down on their chicken nuggets sugary drinks. “That should be enough to keep them behaved,” Lindsey thought to herself. 

But it seems Lindsey relaxed a little too much. 

Getting back in

After her kids were done eating, Lindsey immediately started to pack up and went inside the car. She opened the engine and mentally prepared herself for another exhausting leg of the trip, but she was confident that she didn’t have to deal with her children’s tantrums anymore. 

It turns out, Lindsey actually made a huge mistake, and she only realized this when she was already 15 minutes away from her house. 

Wait a minute…? 

Lindsey was already feeling relieved, she was about 15 minutes away from home when she noticed something. Her gas tank was almost empty. 

She glanced at the backseat and Lindsey finally realized something that made her spirits sink. 

Panic 

It turns out, Lindsey left her heavy purse back in the Chick-Fil-A restaurant. She started to mentally panic but tried to look calm for the sake of her children. “This can’t be happening!” she thought to herself. 

She tried to remember what items she has inside her bag. Her bank cards, ID, cash, medication, almost everything important was in that bag! She started to feel anxious as her gas tank was almost empty… 

Planning 

Her patience was running out as she tried to formulate plans in her head on how she could safely take her kids home. She can’t drive 300 miles back again just to get her purse—plus she’s almost out of gas! 

Then she realized, she had one more important item inside her purse… 

Keys

Her face went pale and her heart rate started to increase. She realized that the keys to her classroom were inside her purse! “How am I going to come to class on Monday?” she thought to herself. Coming to school without her keys would only prove how irresponsible she was, and Lindsey didn’t want that.

She built her reputation of being a good teacher for so long and now she’s afraid that she might lose that too. But Lindsey remembered something that might save her all the trouble! 

Hope

She remembered how she gave her phone to her son to distract him while she was driving. She glanced at the backseat but it seems her son has already finished playing Candy Crush. She wondered where she last placed her phone. 

She opened the glove compartment and rummaged through her stuff, hoping that she did leave her phone inside the car… 

Looking

Lindsey didn’t give up, she knew her phone was in the car somewhere. She just had to look hard enough. And just expected, it was lying in the glove compartment all along! Relieved, she grabbed her phone and immediately opened Google to search for something. 

Calling

She tried to search for Chick-Fil-A’s number in hopes of contacting the staff there. She wanted to ask if they were able to keep her purse with them. But Lindsey also tried not to get her hopes up too much, after all, someone else might have taken the bag as well. 

She crossed her fingers and dialed the number. She patiently waited for someone to answer. 

Relieved 

It’s been a few minutes and no one has picked up yet, but Lindsey still stayed on the line. Luckily, after a while, someone finally picked up. Lindsey was relieved. 

Darcey Cuellar, the director of hospitality in Chick-Fil-A answered Lindsey’s call. “I was working drive-thru and heard the phone ring, and she was kind of frantic saying she was like three hours away and she left her purse here,” Darcey said. 

Reassured 

During the call, Lindsey explained to Darcey how her purse had extremely important items inside it. Fortunately, they did have Lindsey’s purse. Darcey recommended that he would ship her purse right away. 

After the call, Lindsey decided to fill up her tank before going home. 

Anxious 

As Lindsey pulled over to the nearest gas station, she filled up her tank and used her phone to pay for it. Despite finding out that her purse was with the Chick-Fil-A staff, Lindsey still felt anxious about it. 

She then decided to call again. This time, she asked to talk to the director of operations. 

Amazed

Lindsey was surprised not only by their swift response but with how they’re willing to go out of their way to help her with her troubles! 

“He was incredibly helpful and understanding. He took my purse to FedEx and had it shipped to me “Priority Overnight”. With it being a Saturday delivery, and being that I carry a pretty large handbag that weighed 7 lbs, you can imagine it was NOT a cheap shipment!” Lindsey shared. 

Shipping

Lindsey didn’t want to cause trouble to the staff so she told them she was willing to pay the shipping fee, it was her responsibility after all. But the director of operations insisted that they shoulder the shipping fee instead.

“I was blown away by the kindness and generosity shown to me by the staff at Chick-fil-a on 4th & Frankford in Lubbock,” Lindsey shared. 

Getting it back

And just as promised, Lindsey was able to receive her package immediately! She opened the box and took out her purse. She grabbed it and reached her hand inside. 

Lindsey felt absolutely relieved! All her belongings were inside her purse. Her credit cards, her cash, and even her classroom key was there. But Lindsey noticed that there were some additional items inside the bag…

Eat more chikin! 

“I woke up this morning to a knock on the door from the FedEx guy with a big box containing not only my purse, but 6 coupons/gift cards for free food at Chick-fil-a, and a couple of plush cows saying “EAT MOR CHIKIN,” Lindsey shared. 

Flattered by the adorable gesture done by the Chick-Fil-A staff, Lindsey couldn’t help but feel grateful. So she shared the post on Facebook to share her positive experience. “I cannot thank them enough for everything they did to help me get my purse back as quickly as possible! This situation completely restored my faith in humanity!” Lindsey wrote on her post.