WESTFIELD – Friday September 16 was expected to be a typical day of grocery shopping at Price Rite on East Main St. for Dennis Billings.
A resident of Granville, Dennis Billings picked up his groceries at the checkout and proceeded to walk out the exit doors and head to his car in the parking lot.
In the parking lot, Billings quickly realized that one of his pants pockets felt awfully light; his wallet was missing. With roughly $120 in his wallet, credit cards, and banking information, Billings began to panic and expected the worst.
Back tracking his every step, Billings checked all of the stores he entered, including Ocean State Job Lot, Big Y, and as well as Price Rite.
Leaving his phone number and name at all of the stores, Billings notified the Westfield Police to see if they had any reports of a missing wallet. As Billings checked back in with Westfield Police on Saturday, there was still no such luck with his wallet appearing.
As the hope seemed to be dwindling down for Billings, the most valuable piece of information in his wallet ended up being his daughter’s business card.
Jitendra Patel, the night manager at the Quality Inn on Southampton Rd., found Dennis Billings’s wallet and was able to return it to him in person. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Jitendra Patel, a night manager at the Quality Inn on Southampton Rd., just happened to go to Price Rite on the following Tuesday to shop.
Patel saw a wallet on the ground in the Price Rite parking lot and picked it up. According to Patel, he sat in his car with the wallet and waited for about 10 minutes, waiting to see if someone would be looking to retrieve their wallet.
Patel looked inside the wallet to see if there was any information that could be helpful to tracking down the owner and there shined Billings daughter’s business card.
Once Patel called Billings’ daughter and informed her that he had found her father’s wallet, Dennis and his wife then proceeded to meet Patel at the Quality Inn.
“I was shell shocked,” said Billings. “I just think it was wonderful that this guy found it.”
Patel could see the blatant reaction on Billings’ face when he realized Patel found his wallet in the condition he last had it.
“He was very glad to see somebody was giving that wallet back,” said Patel.
Although Patel just simply thought it was the right thing to do in that situation, Billings couldn’t have been more grateful for the Good Samaritan that Patel was.
“You don’t’ hear about that as often, I just thought it was a wonderful thing he had done,” said Billings. “A cheerful moment like that would be uplifting for many people to hear about.”
The connection brought Billings and Patel closer together as Billings insisted that Patel gives him a call if he is ever in need of anything. The two men exchanged numbers and remain in contact with one another.
A small gesture by one man brought hope and an unbreakable glow of happiness to another man. But, quite possibly the greatest part to the experience is the fact that a friendship has emerged.
“If I need him some time, I can call him, it’s a good friendship,” said Patel. “I’ve got a new friend.”
