My faith has been restored in humanity

My faith has been restored in humanity. Honestly, how many people would return a lost wallet? I didn't lose my wallet today but an interesting situation happened.

I woke up around 12:30pm, the usual time for me to wake up with the hopes the day will be quick and painless. Ate some breakfast, applied for a job that doesn't exist with the YMCA and then went out to run errands.

First I went to the bank to cash a $75 check. Then I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the house. After that I went to the corner store to pick up the paper and the post office to mail a few letters. I returned home with my bunch of groceries. I was kind of paranoid because my parents specifically requested that I check the eggs to make sure none were cracked. Well, when I checked, none were. Then I put them in my basket and somewhere during my journeys I cracked one of the eggs. I didn't notice until I was already in the checkout line. I really didn't want to run across the store to get another carton because I KNEW that I broke that egg somehow. Its one thing to discover a cracked egg in the dairy aisle. It is another to discover a cracked egg in the checkout line after you examined said eggs in the dairy aisle. I figured my parents would be pissed about the one egg but I wasn't going back to get another carton.

Anyway I walked inside my house and shoved the groceries down in a heap. They were heavy and I didn't want to make two trips out to the car. I sorted through the groceries and then went to my wallet to gather the change from the bank. The check was my room deposit from school so the money was really my mother's. Well my heart dropped down to my feet when I realized I didn't have the money envelope. I checked my wallet, the bags, the car, and then with dread, announced I must have left the envelope at the grocery store. There was $51 in that envelope. Holy shit. So I kind of freaked out a lot and drove back to the store. I asked the cashier if she saw a Sun Trust bank envelope left at the counter. She said no. The customer service guy said no. I drove home in tears, angry at myself for my carelessness and stupidity. I've had a lot on my mind lately. My head was apparently up in the clouds. I returned home again and my parents tried to calm me down. I ate dinner without speaking. I had called the store and left my name and number with customer service. Sadly when I did this I was still not done crying so I basically yelled at the customer service guy in incomprehensible and high pitched run on sentences. When I cashed the check something told me to put my debit card back into my wallet instead of leaving it in the envelope like I usually do. I suppose I should have been thankful for that.

I began to cope with the situation towards the end of dinner. My dad said maybe someone who needed the money more than we did found it. Bitter, I said some drug addict was celebrating his big score. As I went to the stove to get more snowpeas, the phone rang. I was annoyed at this too because I figured it was our neighbors or my friend and I didn't feel like talking to anyone. "Hello, is Ms. Rodabaugh there?" I thought "OMG ITS A JOB OFFER" But of course, why in the world would a job be calling me at 5:30pm. "Did you leave a small envelope in the parking lot in Exmore today?" I couldn't believe it. "Yes, OMG yes I did. It had $50 in it and a receipt." He told me that he found it and I could pick it up at his house which wasn't to far from my own.

I was elated. A kind soul was returning the money! I thought it was karma at its best. See, few months ago a woman left her wallet at the cash register counter in Dollar Tree. I recognized the foreign object and asked the cashier if it was a wallet. Her eyes got wide and she looked around as if she didn't know what to do. I was already out the door with the wallet chasing after the owner before she left the parking lot. I found her, gave it to her, and just went about my business. I think I held the door for 3 min for a little old lady at the post office on this day too. Anyway I thought it was karma. I couldn't believe this guy actually looked on the receipt and then looked us up in the phone book and called to return the money. What a blessing.

The story gets more interesting. I pulled up at his house and this nice and football player like guy answered the door. He told me I had one heck of a last name. He handed me my envelope and I told him that honest people are hard to come by these days. I searched for $10 to give him but he stopped me and told me that the next time I go to church I should put that $10 in the collection basket. I thanked him again and asked his name. Walter, he said. Then he went back inside to rejoin his family. I took down the address so I could send him a little something to thank him. That was so nice of him. One thing I remember that as I drove to his house I saw sunbeams, the ones I correlate with God.

Walter was a very honest man. I really appreciate him going all the way to call my house and track me down. The funny thing is, just as I put my debit card into my wallet at the bank...I put my shopping list into the bank envelope. It is a good thing too because the receipt didn't have my name on it. Usually when you use an MVP card, your name is at the bottom of the receipt. There would have been no way for Walter to track me down if it wasn't for the fact that the stationary that the shopping list was written on has my parents full names at the top. I put that list in the envelope and that was the only clue that Walter had as to who the money belonged to.

Thank you Walter.

Until next time....