At work this week, I’ve been digging into a financial scam. A deliberate, calculated scheme in which some men decided to steal loads of money and lie about it. It’s discouraging. At least they got caught, right?
So this story about three men finding tens of thousands of dollars in cash and turning it in to the police gave me a needed reality check. Three young men found a box that turned out to be full of envelopes with cash in them. Lots of cash. And despite being in debt, or otherwise needing money, they turned it in. The rightful owner was looking for it, and got it back.
Several years ago, I pulled into a Walmart parking lot and was loading my young children into a cart to do the grocery shopping when another woman, also toting a toddler, approached me. She handed me a wallet and explained that she’d found it in a grocery cart near her car, and she didn’t want to haul her kids back into the store to turn it in. Would I do it? Of course I said yes, and dropped it off at the customer service counter before I went shopping. Later, I thought that over and smiled. A random stranger found a wallet and wanted to turn it in. She handed it to me, another random stranger, trusting that I would do the right thing. I did the right thing.
Honestly, there are good people in the world. We need to remember that while we deal with the bad people and the scammers. A lot of people, when put in a situation, will choose to do the right thing. It’s a Christmas gift for the soul to focus on the good. Not ignoring the bad, but taking a deep breath and remembering that there’s a lot of good in the world too.
When have you done the right thing, even though you could have gotten away with doing the wrong thing?
When have you seen someone else do the right thing?
Has anyone helped you when they could have just ignored you?
Has anything restored your faith in humanity recently?
Wheat & Tares 
I left my small folder with credit cards and driver’s license in safe in hotel room in Maui. The next guests mailed them to me.
More than twenty years ago one of the partners in the small company I worked for bought socks at a small store specialising in socks, the cashier had obviously been in the process of cashing up the till, and had put the cash they were counting into a bag, the bag they then put the socks in, handing them to my boss. He opened the bag on returning to the office, saw the cash, and headed straight back to the shop. To the immense relief of the grateful cashier.
I am absolutely convinced that most people are good. If you have 30 minutes today, listen to this episode confirming that. I promise it will brighten your day. 🙂 https://www.itjustgetsstranger.com/strangerville/episodes/episode-36-you-are-now-in-paraguay/
The bad acts get reported in the press, talked about, and noticed. The many more acts of goodness and honesty that happen all the time are unmarked by most of us.
I’ve got a couple stories.
Once we were living in Vancouver, BC. I took my kids to Seattle to do some shopping. In an era before the plastic economy, since I assumed no one in Seattle wanted checks from Los Angeles or Vancouver, I got a healthy supply of US and Canadian cash. I mean my wallet is thick with it. In the confusion of herding 3 kids all excited about a new place and new things, I didn’t notice that I had dropped my wallet.
We continued shopping and it wasn’t for some time when I went to make a purchase that I discovered my loss. We re-traced our steps back to the children’s department at Nordstrom and there was my wallet sitting, well in view, on top of the clothing rack.
Who knows who found it and placed it where it was dropped? And who knows how many people in the busy back-to-school season passed it by waiting for the rightful owner to discover it?
I’ve never gotten over that collective goodness.
Second story.
Back in LA at a busy UCLA student center I left my purse behind. I discovered that when I was readying myself for bed and planning to take a Rx steroid that I had been carrying because they have to be taken on a precise schedule. I called UCLA, got connected with the manager of the student center and explained that failing to take at least 2 doses on schedule could have aggravated my condition. He agreed to open the student center for me, aware that it would take me 20 minutes or so to get back over there.
When I arrived he was waiting for me and my purse was waiting in his office with all the contents intact.
Again, hundreds of students many probably cash-strapped use that student center. One of them turned the purse in and the manager was incredibly gracious to accommodate me at a time when both he and I probably should have been asleep for the night.
I’ve got more. That’s why I’m a believer in the basic goodness of people but I’ve gone on long enough.
One time I was buying something expensive and they accidentally put about $3000 too much of the product in my bag. I could easily have walked out and when doing inventory later they’d discover it and have no idea where it went. It wasn’t a difficult decision, it was the right thing to do.
Today I attended the funeral of my 45 hear old cousin. She died of alcohol related problem and had a rough life, not all of which was her doing. Hearing the service I was reminded that people are complicated and everyone has a good side and a bad side. I do think life is more pleasant if one assumes people are generally good and are doing the best they can.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Thanks for this post, Janey. Very much appreciated at this time.
“When have you seen someone else do the right thing?”
I work at a hospital in a non-medical support role, but on patient floors. I see and hear things, people having the worst, and sometimes the last, day of their lives. For all the strained bureaucracy and hierarchy of the place, the hospital provides me with so many opportunities to see people at their best, doing the right thing at great inconvenience ro themselves. Especially nurses. Brave and hardworking, tireless in their efforts to deescalate tense situations. Inspiring.
“Has anyone helped you when they could have just ignored you?”
Over the past couple of years I have had multiple friends and family step up, and be available in practical ways. I’ve been saved more than once as I transition into a different lifestyle and career than I anticipated. Time and their complete attention have been invaluable as I worked through changes. All of these folks could have justifiably walked away, but stayed as close as they could
I dropped my wallet at a gas station while driving across Mexico 20 years ago – that went faster than I expected. It had hundreds of dollars in cash and my credit cards. I drove away and was on the highway when I was pulled over by the Mexican federal police and he asked me my name and for my ID. I thought I was going to be arrested and was terrified and the police officer checked my ID and then handed me my wallet.
The gas station attendant gave him my wallet and he chased us down on the toll road outside of Guadalajara.
All those who work in our NHS day to day without fear or favour, often migrants with great skills in either medicine or care, for overall low incomes. An everyday miracle, often working hours over shift to get the job done.
Such great stories, everyone. Thanks for contributing.
I found a cell phone at the beach a few years back. I was able to open it, and dialed a contact called “dad”. An old man answered, and I told him I had found his child’s cell phone. He didn’t believe me, asked why the F#$^ I had his son’s phone. I hung up and dropped the phone in the trash.
In 2011 Brisbane flood we had a rental property flooded 1m into the second floor. On the first day after the flood went down vast numbers of total strangers turned up to help remove carpets, and furniture. Others with high pressure cleaners helped clean out the mud, and still others drove around the streets offering sandwiches, and cold bottled water. The press called them the mud army.
The majority of people are good, but some are even better.
The mormons helping hands took a couple of weeks to have someone tell them to serve.