On The Kindness Of Strangers At The Sartell Compost

Last week I swung by my in-laws place and grabbed a few lawn bags full of leaves to bring to the Sartell compost site, alongside my two-year-old.

It was getting dark but we still had about an hour until the site closed at 6 p.m. and there were only a few bags to dump anyhow. We showed up and dumped out the bags, then I drove over by the dumpster to dispose of the empty bags.

I had gotten back in the truck to head home when I went to put on some hand sanitizer. As I pulled out of the lot, I realized MY WEDDING RING WAS GONE.

PANIC ENSUES 

I tried to get back into the compost site, but when I scanned my pass it kept coming back "ACCESS DENIED." As this played out, another guy pulled his trailer to the EXACT spot I had been unloading leaves and dumped a MASSIVE pile atop my previous one.

I haphazardly parked my truck near the gate, scooped up my two-year-old and straight-up RAN to the pile. Using my cell phone's flashlight, I frantically (and pathetically) started digging through the pile, hoping against hope that I could find the ring.

Soon, the guy who had just dumped the leaves on mine was insisting on joining the search. Not long after that, a couple got out of their car to help.

Not only did that couple help dig around, they gave us their phone number and offered to let us borrow their metal detector the next day if we needed it.

A fourth guy hopped off the back of his truck with a giant leaf blower and spread out the leaves to see if it would sift its way to the ground. Soon, we had eight people on their hands and needs, praying for a miracle find.

A LOST CAUSE 

We did not find the ring that night, nor did I find it the next day when I went back to look with daylight (again, a nice couple insisted on helping me look when they saw me crawling near the dumpster). We never did get a metal detector out there, as the staff had bulldozed the previous night's hauls into one massive pile by the time I had arrived.

As devastating as it was to lose the ring (I am a very sentimental person, the ring was not worth much monetarily), it was heartening to feel the love from those strangers at the compost heap that night.