A few weeks ago I was reading USA Today and read an article where a man living in Arizona found a backpack and gave it back to the owner. Sounds like a pretty simple story and what’s the big deal or importance of the story? Well there are a few twists to the story – the backpack had a laptop and $3,300.00 in cash in it and the man who found it was homeless. I think this story and person (Dave Tally) is amazing! Truly! He is a person who has been living on the edge for 11 years. Probably many nights where he was cold and hungry. Probably many discussions with himself that said “why me”, “how do I get out of this situation”. All of a sudden he finds a laptop which he could sell and a pile of money and returns it! What an amazing individual. I obviously have never met Dave but I am very proud of him! So glad he did the right thing!
A few years ago I found a wallet in a cab. I have no idea how much money was in it or if and how many credit cards there were. All I did is find his driver’s license and after calling information spoke to the person who was very happy to hear I found his wallet. When we met he did want to give me a “reward” which I wouldn’t take a penny for just doing the right thing.
- What do you think of Dave Tally and what he did?
- Have you ever found anything of value and returned it?
- Did you get a reward?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Jami Pulley says:
I love stuff like this!! My Father was given an extra $100 at the bank once, and went back and returned it to the Bank Teller. I have lost my phone in a NYC Cab, and the cab driver sent it to me via FedEx. I have lost numerous things, and people were nice enough to help me get them back. I would do the same for someone else, but haven’t had the opportunity. I am a true believer in “What goes around, comes around.”
Erin Jewell says:
This is such a great story!! I once lost a deposit envelope with $5000+ cash in it. Lucky for me 2 guys who worked in an office near me picked it up and took it to security who contacted me and it was all there. They wouldn’t take a reward so I sent them a cookie bouquet with dollar and coin shaped cookies as a thank you for being so honest.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Erin,
WOW – that is a really amazing story. Love the dollar and coin cookie idea – really cool touch!
Appreciate you sharing.
Merrill
Kimberly White says:
Another great post Merrill!!
I too have done something like this…. I was in the airport shuttle van that drives you to and from your car when I noticed that somebody had accidentally left his/her daily planner/calendar on one of the seats.
After realizing that if I didn’t take it into my own hands to try to return it, that it would just go in the airport shuttle’s lost and found box and probably never make it back to it’s owner.
I opened it up and the only ‘lead’ I could find inside other than the owners name was a card with the date, time and location of his next Dentist appointment so I called his Dentist office, told the receptionist the story and asked her to reach out to him and give him my phone number. She might have thought that I was crazy but she notified him and I heard from him later that day.
He was SO happy to hear from me and he offered a ‘reward’ and to pay for the postage as well which I told him was unnecessary. I dropped it in the mail the next day and a few weeks later I received a wonderful thank you note and a small gift. I still have the note today – he was so appreciative of the effort that I went to and that made me feel good.
I hope that somebody would send mine back to me if I misplaced it as well.
Merrill – both you and Dave did the right thing as well and must have felt as good as I did afterwards. I feel that good people will always do the right thing, no matter what their personal situation is. Kudos for doing the right thing!!!
Happy Holidays.
Kim
Merrill Dubrow says:
Kim,
Really cool story – Nancy Drew has nothing on you. Maybe your next job should be as a P.I.
I hope everyone does the right thing!
Merrill
Debra says:
What a wonderful post for this time of year, Merrill!
My Dad passed a couple years ago so I would like to tell you his story. He and my mother were driving from NY state to Atlanta to visit us. When he arrived, he explained that they had stopped at a rest stop just over the GA state line and when he stepped out of the car there was a man’s wallet on the ground. He checked at the rest stop, but no one had reported it missing, so he brought it along with him to Atlanta.
When he got to our house, we went through the wallet and the only identification we found was a drivers license for a man living in Raleigh and his business card. His employer was located in Atlanta, so we called the company and he was indeed in Atlanta for meetings. He came to the house, thrilled to get his wallet back. Of course my Dad wouldn’t take any reward, but just asked that the man “Pay it forward.”
The best part for me was that my (at that time) young son saw this selfless act of kindness to a stranger and will associate that with my Dad.
Debra
Merrill Dubrow says:
Debra,
“Pay it forward” is a great concept! Thanks for sharing your story.
Merrill
Stephenie Gordon says:
I believe in finders keepers, losers weepers…
kidding of course. I’ve been on both sides of the coin. I tend to leave things behind and 90% of the time I come out the loser / weeper. I’ve even had my credit card stolen from me in plain sight when i had to leave it at a bar to start a tab. the bartender gave my card to her buddy who went on a $2000 shopping spree while i was having drinks with friends! Only once was I lucky enough to have my wallet returned to me. And, funny enough, when the boyfriend found out the girlfriend called me to return it, he was enraged and tried to fist fight my husband. Needless to say, I need to find something of value I can return to the owner unharmed so that I can rack up some karma points.
Carter Cathey says:
A few years ago, I left my wallet on the roof of my car while pumping gas and juggling two little boys fighting in the back seat of the car. I realized as soon as I got home that I had driven off with it on the roof. I retraced my route and found my pictures on the side of the road. I assumed that it had been found, pictures discarded, and was gone forever.
About four hours later, I received a call on my mobile phone. A guy had found my wallet, called my work number from my business card, and then called my mobile that I gave on my voice-mail message.
He met me at a gas station, handed me my wallet, and got back in his car and drove off. I barely had time to get out a thank-you. All my credit cards and a few hundred dollars were still there.
It was really nice to be reminded that there are still a lot of really decent people in the world that care about doing the right thing.
–Carter
Merrill Dubrow says:
Carter,
What’s really funny is I left my wallet on the top of the car BUT I actually saw it fly off into the grass. Looking back it was pretty funny!
Merrill
Fee Sepahi says:
Hi Merrill,
I am totally the “pass it forward” type.
It’s been years since I’ve found anything, but when living in Old City, Philadelphia, i came across many stolen purses. It was a nice area at the time and a good neighborhood, therefore easy target for thieves.
On two separate occasions, I came upon purses that had obviously been swiped and I managed to reunite them with their owners, obviously void of any valuables. On both occasions, I heard their sad, sob stories about what they had lost only pictures of grand parents, camera with photos of this trip, etc.
One of the ladies actually asked me to take her to where I had found the purse, which I was glad to do. I assumed she was trying to come to terms with how it all happened and if she could find anything else.
The other lady, I had to convince that I was not the one who took her purse!!!
No, I took no rewards.
Sybil Stershic says:
Here’s an interesting experience I had returning lost money. My son & I were in a WalMart where I found two $100 dollar bills on the floor. I immediately took it to Customer Service. My son chided me – NOT for returning the money, but for handing it over to the customer service reps instead of waiting to give it to the manager. “They’ll just keep it,” he told me, and he was probably right. I called the manager the following day to ask if the money had been claimed and returned to the customer who lost it. The manager said he didn’t know anything about the situation. While I did the right thing, I learned I should have handled it differently.
Bobbie Kirkland says:
I love these stories. I’m a firm believer in giving it back no matter how big or how small. Last week I dropped my daughter at school and saw a $5 bill lying on the ground. I didn’t hesitate to take it to the office and say “If you hear anyone mention that they lost $5, I found this in the parking lot.” There is probably no way it will get back to the person who lost it, but all I knew is that it didn’t belong to me.
Thanks Merrill, great topic. Merry Christmas.
Bob Graham says:
Back in 81 my wife and I were moving from NY to Dallas. We got off in a small town in Tennessee to get a bite to eat and when we went to get back on the highway, I saw a purse on the exit ramp. I had my wife stop the car and I retrieved the purse. We decided the best thing to do was to hand it over to the police, so we stopped in Nashville at the Tennessee State Police station. We walked into the station and the police office said to me: “Sir, I want to shake your hand. It’s a pleasure to meet an honest man.” We then opened the purse found a wallet and driver’s license and the police said they would contact the owner, a woman in Virginia. On our way out, the officer thanked us again and said “Sir, I want to just shkae your hand again. Where did you say you were from?” And I will never in my life forget the look on his face when I told him “New York”.