When a Brooklyn woman stepped off a bus and realized she'd forgotten her purse there, it took a single smartphone to hail a cab, track the bus in real time, find the driver and ultimately be reunited with her purse and make a new friend.
Stephanie Seiler, 43, had just gotten off a B26 bus Thursday evening when she realized she'd left her purse on the bus, she said on Facebook.
She had just her smartphone on her, and she used it to hail a taxi on the Curb app.
"I asked the driver if he'd help me catch [the bus]. He was in," Seiler wrote.
The driver used an app on his own phone, Waze, to find the quickest route to the end of the bus line. Meanwhile, Seiler tracked the bus live on the MTA Bus Time site.
"He assured me we'd catch it as they'd hit traffic and get slowed down. He was right," said Seiler.
The cab caught up with the bus at the depot at Cadman Plaza and Tillary.
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Seiler told Gothamist, "The taxi driver dropped me off and wished me luck," and then she ran to find her driver.
"I recognized my driver. And I said, 'Hey, did you by any chance find a black purse?'" she told Gothamist. "And he said, 'Oh, that was you, I remember you! I have it, it's right here.' I was very happy."
The driver told Seiler that a passenger had found her bag and brought it to the driver. After confirming the purse was hers, he handed it back to Seiler. Everything was still inside.
"I asked him, 'Is it OK if I give you a hug or would it be inappropriate?' And he was like, 'Bring it on!'" Seiler told Gothamist.
Another bus driver took a photo of the them, and Seiler posted it to Facebook, saying, "People are awesome.""
