It's not easy staying green

Today one of my students walked into my classroom and said he needed to talk to me. I asked him if it needed to be in private and he responded, "not really, it's just that I found this, and was wondering if you could turn it into the office or something" as he handed me a wallet.

I took a look inside the wallet and found:

1. A driver's license
2. Two atm cards
3. A permanent residence card aka a "Green Card"

I had a sudden flashback to 2003 when my wallet was lost then stolen with the my green card in it. Although I hardly ever carried this precious document, that was the week I was processing my new-hire paperwork for a big, evil district for my very first teaching job.

I cannot begin to tell you the anxiety, heartache, tears, and eventually resignation that losing that little piece of plastic caused.

Needless to say I immediately looked up the address on the driver's license and resolved to hand-deliver the card myself to this poor young woman who must've been wringing her hands even as I sat there looking at yahoo maps.

So I drive up the house, knock on the door and the same woman pictured in the id opens the door and a little chihuahua barks its tiny little head off and the covnersation goes like this:

Me: "are you Isis"?

Her: nods.

Me:"Oh, I found this" and hand her the wallet.

Her: "Oh okay" and looks through her wallet and seems disappointed when she realizes the cash compartment is empty.

Me: "Your green card is in there, I don't know if you've ever lost it before. But just so you know, it's incredibly difficult to replace."

Her: "Okay"

Me: "Okay, bye"

Her: Begins to close the door until the Chi runs out and tries to attack me, but I make it safely back to my car.

So why do I feel so disappointed? Shouldn't I be happy just knowing I returned her wallet?
The truth is, I'm not. I wanted her to be overjoyed, and express relief, and to be thankful, really thankful.