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HOLMBERG: How a found toy helps define us

Posted at 11:58 PM, Dec 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-22 23:59:11-05

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- It looked like a big piece of trash, recalled Chesterfield trucker Robbie Kirkland.

It was Monday morning on Jefferson Davis Highway near The Defense General Supply Center.

"I figured I'd get it out the road so wouldn't nobody would have an accident," he recalled.

He threw it in the back of his truck and when he got to his destination he unwrapped it and found a nice, new Black and Decker "junior ready to build workbench," complete with a drill, miter saw and other tools that make "realistic lights and sounds," according to the packing box.

Robbie Kirkland

Robbie Kirkland

"Somebody got it for their son or something for Christmas," Kirkland said.

As a man who has worked with his hands most of his like, he imagined what a toy like that could mean to a youngster.

"It's a good way to get him started in it and learn all about mechanics and carpentry and everything else, and all he'd probably really enjoy it."

How could he get it to its rightful owner?

His wife posted about the $50 (or more) present on Facebook. No luck. But we saw the post and went down there to do a little story about it.

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If it's yours and you can describe precisely how it was wrapped, email CBS 6 or call us at 804-254-3684.

Yes, it's just a little Christmastime lost-and-found story. No big deal, really.

But if you think about it, maybe it is.

A lot of us think we live in a cold, hard world where somebody's going to rob you or hurt you at every turn.

Those stories fill the news every day. We are conditioned to fear one another, which makes it easier for us to be divided and, perhaps, controlled.

But this is the second story I've done like this in a week. (Last week's golden wedding band was returned to its grateful owner.)

Robbie Kirkland

Robbie Kirkland

I, and likely you, have heard from a lot of people your whole lives who have left their bank cards in the ATM or lost their wallets or purses or left their luggage on the curb and they got everything back.

People who find these things frequently go out of their way to make sure they get to their rightful owners.

No, as Kirkland said, "It's not 'The Waltons' any more. But there are good people out here."

Me, I think there are many more people in this land like Robbie Kirkland than those who are trying to hurt you or steal from you - and not just around Christmastime.

We are still a country of great and honest people.

And that's not an idea we should toy with, but something we can strive for and celebrate.

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