- I had no idea how I was gonna return this lost iPhone.
But by God I was determined to figure it out.
(lighthearted music)
I went out to Long Island this weekend
with my girlfriend and Sunday evening we jumped on a train
to head back into New York City.
Right away we notice an iPhone wedged between
the seat and the wall.
Now we could have given the phone to a conductor,
but we had more than two hours to kill,
and I stared thinking, WWEDD.
What would Ellen DeGeneres do.
My girlfriend, Stephanie, starts googling
what to do if you find a lost iPhone.
But if the phone is locked, and the owner never filled out
the emergency info, then there's very few options
outside of Siri.
We asked Siri anything we can think of.
Siri, call home.
Siri, call Mom, Dad, Michael, Emily, Arnold, anything,
but Siri has nothing that matches.
Stephanie then asks Siri to dial the most recent call.
So, Siri FaceTime Audio calls Ryan's cell.
So we ask Siri to text Ryan's cell and dictate the message
word for word 'cause remember, we can't unlock the phone.
We ask Ryan's cell to call the number of the lost phone
so we can swap info.
I then start to think about the iCloud.
If the phone owner has his photos connected to the cloud,
then he'll see any photo or video I take.
I have access to the camera, so, I send a message.
But, it doesn't matter.
A few minutes later, Ryan's cell calls the phone.
Ryan, turns out, is the best friend of the phone owner,
who's name is Kirk and lives in the town of Bayshore,
which is halfway between where we left and where
Stephanie and I live in New York City.
I text Ryan so he has my number.
Please forward my info along to Kirk, or Kurt.
It was a loud train, I couldn't really hear the name.
Ryan passes the info to Kirk.
About 40 minutes into our train ride, I get a text message
from a Chris.
I tell her our next stop is Bayshore, but I'm not able
to get off the train.
Now, why couldn't I get off the train?
For one, you could wait up to an hour for a train
on the LIRR.
Two, it was raining and it was cold.
I was trying to do a nice deed.
I wasn't trying to get pneumonia.
Three, we had our cat with us, who was already hating life
because he hates traveling.
We'll be there in the next two minutes.
She texts, I live two minutes away.
The train finally pulls up, I poke my head out,
and I don't see anyone.
Just as the train doors close,
I get a text telling me to put the phone outside.
'Cause they're stuck on the other side of the tracks.
But, at this point, it's too late.
I sent a photo so they would know exactly
where the phone is.
Not two minutes later, I get confirmation
that they've picked up the phone.
The whole ordeal took exactly 58 minutes.
So, Kirk got his phone back.
Stephanie and I did a good deed.
Buzzfeed got a video.
Everyone was happy.
Except our cat, who was still pissed.
(gentle music)