Thanks, Okayama!
1. As I’m changing trains in Okayama, my iPhone falls out of my pocket.
2. By the time I realize it, I’m 65 miles away, halfway to Kyoto on the next train.
3. I get off at the next station, to return to Okayama on the off chance it’s been turned in.
4. I mention my situation to the station master.
5. …who summons the lost & found guy (using the word “immediately!”). He’s there in seconds.
6. …and calls lost & found in Okayama. He asks me for the train I came in on, car and seat number and a description of the phone and the case. All the train info is printed on my ticket, so I just hand it to him.
7. Two minutes later, Okayama calls back. The cleaning crew has turned in the phone, having meticulously cataloged the train, car, seat number and a description of the phone and the case.
8. When I return to Okayama, the lost & found staff greets me with “iPhone?” (OK, admittedly, I stand out in Okayama.)
9. I show my ID and sign for the phone.
10. A minute and a half and we’re done, and I’m back on the platform in time to jump on the train to Kyoto, with seconds to spare.
This kind of thing happens all the time in the States too, right?