And Then I Found 110 Dollars
Posted in Once I Was a Kansas Girl and tagged with Friends, Humor, Money, Strangers on August 9, 2008One of the good things about our apartment complex is that it directly connects to the neighborhood next door. This allows for an easy shortcut as well as gives us a place to go on evening walks.
Thursday night as Dori and I were heading out for a walk (we were in a hurry because we wanted to get back in time for the SYTYCD finale) we ran into our friend Jen who was coming over to watch the show with us. So, the three of us head out on one of our usual routes through the neighborhood.
There are several places where bushes have grown over the sidewalk, and as we were walking by one such place Jen looks down and sees that there are two bills in the bush sitting right on top.
The bill on top was a $10 bill. Okay, that’s a lot to randomly find. And the bill folded underneath?
A $100 bill. No joke. We just found $110 in the bush.
Dori checked to see if it was real (it was), and I wondered if this was some drug payment (“I’ll leave the payment in the bush, you come by and drop the dope and take the cash.”) It seemed too out in the open for that, though.
We decided to find out if the $110 belonged to the person that lived in that house. As we walked up his super-steep driveaway past the 5 old Volvos in the street and driveaway, Dori rings the doorbell and a vicious dog responds.
We wait and we wait. After several minutes, a middle-aged man in a Volvo (would you expect any less?) drove up, and we told him what we found. He assured us that it hadn’t lost a $100 bill, but that his son lived there too and it might be his. We gave it to him and went on our way. I think that he would have been okay with us keeping it, but I wouldn’t feel right especially since we found it on his property and it could have been his son’s.
I wish we had taken a picture of the $110, because who will believe us that we found that much in a bush? But that is what we found. Dori told me later that she wondered if we were on some sort of candid camera trying to find out if people were honest or not. I guess we would have passed the test!
What is the weirdest or most expensive thing you’ve ever found?
August 9th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I once found $50 in the electronics section of Wal-Mart. I turned it in to the Customer Service counter, where they informed me that if no one claimed it in three days, they would donate it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. $110 though? That’s pretty impressive!
August 9th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I found 50 pounds in a bus once when I was in England (which was worth about $75 at the time). We decided to keep it and give the money at church, since we were pretty sure that if we gave it to the bus driver he would have just spent it all on gin and tonic, or perhaps a little whiskey.
And yes, I’ve changed quite a bit.
August 9th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
By the way, there’s a sign at the medical school that says “Yeild.” Yes, it does.
August 9th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I realize this was not at all the topic of your post – but what did you think about the SYTYCD finale?
I voted 15 TIMES for TWITCH!!!!! I was heartbroken.
Melissa at Stretch Marks
August 11th, 2008 at 12:04 am
You're awesome to return it!
I always seem to find wallets and purses. Usually in odd places at the Mall or in a park, etc. I always turn them in to lost & found, etc.
I've also been one to lose a purse and was thankful when someone turned it in…
August 11th, 2008 at 6:47 am
What a crazy thing to find! I am not sure I would have returned it, though. That’s a lot of money, and it sounds like the guy was way too casual about it. Like you found a pair of sunglasses or something.
When I was in middle school we found $100 (5 20′s) in a shopping cart at a Kmart. My parents turned it into the manager, and she told us to keep it. If she had made an announcement about it, everyone in the store would have been up there claiming it.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I’ve found jewelry, wallets, a purse and also ATM cards left stuck in the machine – TWICE! – before. I always turn them in to the nearest customer service desk/lost and found.
When I was a kid, I used to walk to school with a bunch of other kids (we were all in K-2nd grade and then there was one BIG girl who was in 4th grade). One day on our way to school, we found a $20 bill lying in a mud puddle. Alice, the big girl (and older sister to two of the other girls in our walking group), put it in her bookbag. All day long, we dreamed about what we could do with that money. How much candy it would buy at the 5 and 10, which had row after row of penny candy (yep, PENNY candy – this was back in the mid 70s after all). We met up on the playground at recess and discussed how we would spend the $20, which split 5 ways between us all still was a fortune – $4 apiece? Whoa nelly!
After school, Alice gave the $20 to her mother for safekeeping. After many hours of discussion, we finally came up with our spending plan. Alice went to get the money from her mother….. to find out her mom had spent it. She never did reimburse us for it, either. Humph.
Anyhow, this is turning into the world’s longest comment, so I shall stop now! :) Cheers!
August 12th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
You gave away the $110 to a man who might not have even lost it? You’re a better person than I am. BY the way.. what did you think of Joshua winning?