Pirate rants become a lost and found of sorts

ECU student Amy Hart found a misplaced computer and used The East Carolinian's Pirate Rants to help it find its way back to its owner.

Hart, a first year graduate student at ECU studying chemistry, was in the parking lot of her apartment complex, University Park, when she spotted a computer bag and laptop computer laying in a parking space.

She picked it up before someone could wrongfully take it, and went through the bag looking for something that would identify the owner of the computer but found nothing. She also tried to log on to the computer in hopes that it would help but it was locked. Her only clue was the username "David," associated with the login screen.

After talking to the managers of the apartment complex, only to find that no David lived in the building, Hart called the Greenville Police Department non-emergency number and handed the computer over to police so that they could hold it in their lost and found.

Hart could not help but want to do more to make sure the computer was returned to "David."

She recognized that many people read the Pirate Rants religiously. She noted that, "even if this David person didn't read them, the likelihood of one of his friends reading them was high."

Hart submitted a Pirate Rant in the comments section that read: "If your name is David, and you're missing your computer, please contact the Non-Emergency Police Dept. at (252) 329-3937."

The Pirate Rant eventually did make its way to the laptop's owner, David Jenny, who was able to retrieve his missing computer from the Greenville Police Department.

Jenny contacted Hart shortly after retrieving his computer and was very appreciative. He thanked her and graciously referred to her as his hero.

Many of Hart's friends questioned why she put so much effort into making sure the computer got back to David. She quiets these questions by saying, "I slightly panicked when I saw it laying out in that empty parking space and could only think about how terrible it would be if I lost mine. Then I got to thinking about if someone possibly stole it and how cool it would be to get a stolen item back. It seems like nobody these days goes out of their way to return someone's possession back to them -- especially strangers."

Many of Hart's friends were skeptical, despite her efforts in going the extra mile to ensure the computer was returned. She did not tell many of her friends because she felt like she had contacted everyone that really needed to know. But according to Hart, the friends that she did tell about the rant told her that the posting would not work. She is proud to have proved them wrong.

Hart has not heard of any copycat Pirate Rant posters but she thinks that it would be very cool if it were to happen. Hart concluded with, "I feel very special when someone takes a moment of time out of their day to help me out. Why wouldn't I want to share that? It actually feels better sharing it!"

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.