If someone dropped a dollar, would you give it back to them?

Yes

1 of 11

by Barbara Griffin

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It is better to give than to receive for the Bible tells me so. How can anyone justify keeping what clearly is not their money because the small but meager bounty fell from the owner's possession onto public property. This inadvertent transaction was an error not an intention of lost, but as usual the ability to do the right thing depends on ones personal morality. Some people might justify keeping the money by considering to the victor goes the spoil or may even have the audacity to consider it a blessing, perhaps they will blame the person for being careless and figure it's a lesson learned about the ups and downs of life.

Returning the money is a blessing, I remember two incidents in particular when I was really impressed by someone's honesty, both of the incidents happened many years ago. I'd just walked out of a department store when a young man came up behind me, tapped on my shoulder and said,"excuse me Miss you dropped something." I immediately noticed that he was the same young man who was behind me in line so he had to have seen me pull out the pouch I was using instead of a wallet. I loved that cute little pouch that once held a present I received, for some reason I started using it to store my money.

When I saw the pouch in his hand I was surprised and very pleased to receive it, I had a lot of money with me that day for school shopping with my children. My heart began to beat rapidly at the possibility of the money being lost, my children would have been deprived of new clothes, shoes and school supplies. I was extremely grateful, I gave him a high compliment and thanked him more than was necessary. I also used the situation to point out to my children that there are good and honest people in the world.

Another event that was memorable happened June 1997 when we were in the process of moving from Seattle, Washington to Jacksonville, Florida our hometown. My husband at the time thought it would be a good idea for us to make a last minute trip to the grocery store to get extra snacks, drinks and whatever else was needed to help make the long travel across the country as comfortable as possible. I was a little skeptical about leaving the money I'd withdrawn from my personal account behind so I stuffed it in my black wallet.

I remained in the van while everyone else went inside the store. I remember sitting there counting the hundreds of dollars I managed to hold onto and was quite proud of my savings. After I finished counting the money I put it back in the wallet and set it on my lap instead of putting it back in my purse. On the way home my husband thought of something else we might need, he made another stop. The rest of us stayed in van until a couple of my children got restless and asked if they could wait outside of the van. I didn't blame them it was getting a little hot in there.

Without thinking and totally forgetting about the wallet on my lap, I stepped out to catch the breeze as well. After returning home we loaded up the van and double checked everything. Just before we were about to leave I checked my purse to see if all was accouted for, and that is when I noticed the wallet was missing. My heart literally missed a beat, I experienced a mild shock, some kind of blind oblivion, and disbelief all rolled up into one. I emptied my pocketbook hoping the wallet was buried somewhere beneath the other items, but it wasn't there.

I began to look under every nook and cranny, that's a term I learned from my mother. As I was franticly looking around my husband and children noticed I was panicked, they asked what was wrong. I informed them that I couldn't find my wallet, everyone began to help me search. Within the same hour I received a call from a police officer, he identified himself and asked what was my name, I told him my name. Then he asked me if I lost a wallet, I said, "yes I did." He preceeded to get more information and details about the wallet, the location it was lost, the contents and amount of the money. After he was satisfied that I was the recipient of the lost property he brought it to our home.

The officer was a life saver, for the first time in my life I thought of someone as a hero and a role model for the good in the world. I wanted to give him a big hug when I saw him but I decided against it, of course I thanked him beyond belief. I explained to him that we were leaving town which explained why I had so much cash in my wallet, he was truly a blessing. Our trip would have been somewhat effected without the extra cash on hand, it was surely needed. I'll never forget these two incidents and will always treasure them because of the honest nature of individuals who sought to do the right thing.

I have given back wallets, credit cards, pens or whatever a person has left behind or dropped. Even my effort to help a lady find a dime she dropped which was needed for the completion of a purchase. You'd think I'd helped to find a precious heirloom judging her appreciation for the kindness of a stranger. The key word is give it's rewarding in it's on right. Now, as some people like to quote, I said that to say this. I would definitely give the dollar to the person who dropped it. I must pass on to others what has been given to me. Good deeds don't go unrewarded they're returned to you in kind by making you a blessing to others as well as yourself.

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