So I was pulling away from a gas station and was approaching the light just down the block as a lady in a car pulled up beside me, talking and rolling down her window at the same time. “…wallet in the street. money flew out.” I heard once her voice got through the open window, “and a truck stopped as soon as it happened.” Damn. I left my wallet on top of the car again, which is how I lost the last one, and this time I had a fair bit of money in it, a lot more than I regularly carry.
I swung around and went back to find two guys chasing down green paper, my money, which was scooting around in the breeze. One was out in traffic to fetch my wallet from the edge of the turn lane. Now at that moment, I had a choice of how to see things. Either these guys were good Samaritans or they were opportunistic profiteers. After a moment’s hesitation I set my mind that they were Samaritans. What the hell, give ‘em the benefit of the doubt, right?
I pulled over and said, “Thank God for you guys. You saved me big time.” He handed me my wallet through the window and then, with two hands, an almost spherical wad of crumpled bills. “I think we got it all.” He said. I thanked him profusely and he responded, “No problem.” as if almost getting his ass run over chasing money in the street was no problem.
So I had this wadded money and, since I am a compulsive bill straightener, I started to smooth my bills, counting as I went. I glanced up and they were sitting there in their truck looking at me, as if waiting for me to verify that I hadn’t been ripped off. Well, hell, did I trust them or not? So I put the wad back down, waved a last thank you and drove off. I got all the way to my destination before counting, but I was eager to see if my trust paid off or if I had been a fool.
All the money was there. I felt richer, even though I had no more money than when I started.