Name your iPod wisely

On our way to Athens in the summer, me and the then boyfriend were doing the whole 'check the seat pocket in front' thing on the plane when we scored ourselves a 32gig, limited edition U2 iPod which had been left there from a previous flight. Feeling bad about keeping it but not trusting the young Easyjet cabin crew to do the right thing, we decided to keep it and, noting the name of the iPod and the photos stored on it, try and track the owner down on the internet / facebook when we got back home.

After a few days of trying to locate the iPod's owner, who unfortunately had the most common name in the history of Europe (think Italy's answer to John Smith), we gave up and reluctantly and kept it. It wasn't something we did suddenly or without thought. Both of us, particularly the boyfriend, would much rather have found it's rightful owner, as iPod's are so personal that listening to a whole catalogue of someone Else's music just feels strange. Besides, I already had one - but after a few weeks I decided to ditch my battery failing iPod mini and make use of our new find.

Then a few weeks later, in the middle of the 2 week break, I was hurrying along at Baker Street station when my music stopped and my earphones were hanging down unplugged. I thought they'd snagged so I kept going, patting my pocket to check for the rectangular shape of the music player. When I got on my train and realised that the rectangular shape I'd felt was actually my Oyster card, I jumped up and went back to the point it happened - but of course there was nothing there. Boyfriend and our joint iPod gone in one week. Great.

Because of the suddenness and the crowded space, and the fact I'd stupidly had the tell tale white lead running clearly into my open coat pocket, I assumed it had been pick pocketed. I was annoyed to lose the time I'd spent putting my photos, music and films onto it, but ultimately, it wasn't mine to begin with so I put it down to karma and thought, alright, time for someone else to have a go. Win some, lose some, c'est la vie.

A few more weeks passed, heartbreak earned me a new iPod Touch and then on Friday morning last week, a letter arrived.

Hi Jo,
Have you lost an iPod recently? If so, call me on 0xxxx xxx xxx to describe it and I'll pop it in the post. I found it on a train from Baker Street a few weeks ago and forgot I had it until I saw it at the bottom of my bag this morning. I hope you've not shelled out for a new one just yet. Apologies for the delay. Cheers, Jim.

I was mightily confused and surprised for a while, but then remembered that I'd thought to change the name of the iPod when I started using it. I'd called it Jo [surname], my house number and postcode. That way, I reasoned, if I do lose it and it's not stolen by some absolute skank, someone might be kind enough to track me down.

I called the guy the next day, confirmed it was mine and thanked him for his honesty. He's putting it in the post on Monday - wouldn't accept money for postage - and later, he sent me a text to ask if I wanted it recorded delivery.

He added a post script. "PS. I'm not sure you should be allowed an iPod with your taste in music :o)"

It turns out that given the means to do it, most people won't ignore a chance to do the right thing and get lost property back to it's owner. So get on it: give your iPod a name, house number and postcode: yours.

And happily, Prince: The Greatest Hits should be back in my clammy little paws on Tuesday.