We Are Rich!!!

Look At The Money!!!

Today, my wife and I witnessed one of those unique series of events that do not happen on a daily basis. We were traveling in the outside lane of a six lane highway. My wife was behind the wheel. I was riding "shotgun" and working very hard to solve a Sudoku puzzle when she excitedly exclaimed, "Look at the money! Look at the money!" Looking up quickly, I spied several pieces of U.S. currency, being lofted into the air by passing cars and blown quickly away by the stiff breeze. No, there were not oodles and gobs of bills floating around, but it takes only one to pique my interest.

I spoke my first thought as it ran through my brain. "Pull Over!" Once stopped, I was quickly out of the car door chasing down money which was quickly being whisked away. From the beginning, the entire event was unique.

I am not the type that is too proud nor too "cool" to chase flying money as hundreds of cars whiz past. If you have ever dropped a piece of paper in a parking lot on a windy day, you can picture what I experienced. The wind or a passing car would launch the bill upward and onward. I would rush to where it eventually settled. As I reached to grab the bill, a fresh gust would send it out of my reach, dancing ever further down the side of the road. I probably looked like one-third stooges chasing money. In the event you are wondering, all this took place on the roadside. I was not dancing in the traffic.

A Winner In A Lost Battle

I managed to snag four bills, three ones and a five. The rest were quickly dispersed up and across the road. Then, as I scanned the roadside for more possibilities, I spotted a the shiny, colorful plastic credit card. Close by, I picked up a quarter. My thoughts began to focus on the cause of these effects. At that moment, I looked and spotted a women's wallet in the middle of the three north-bound lanes. The traffic light overhead was green and cars were whizzing by and over the wallet at what seemed to be "break-neck" speed.

Once I spotted the wallet, I instantly assumed a new mission. I was suddenly refocused on preserving someone's wallet and whatever contents remained therein. As I waited and watched I fully expected to see the wallet and its contents erupt into a giant puff of shredded pieces after being nailed by a speeding front tire. Yet, that scenario did not occur. At the first break in the traffic I dashed out and retrieved it. I brought the wallet, money, plastic, and other items recovered to my wife who had remained safely behind the wheel of our car.

Man On A Mission

Once I realized I was not the recipient of unearned cash, but the sole preservationist of someone's most important possessions, I considered my actions to be much more important. Without really thinking, I began to operate in the "Golden Rule Mode."

Once I had passed the first gleanings to my wife, I crossed over to the middle of the highway and retrieved a few more dollars and other items that had blown into the area between the inside lane and a low retaining wall. Every half minute or so I would like back onto the highway. Occasionally, I would glimpse a dollar or credit card sail further away as it was launched upward by a speeding auto. At its apex, the item would be caught in breeze and sail away.

I continued up the roadway for a quarter mile or so, crossed back over and searched both the roadside and the wide grassy area on that side of the road, retrieving an item here and there.

The Kicker

I returned to the car to make a second deposit. When I reached my wife's window she excitedly said, " You are not going to believe this!" My first thought was that she had discovered the wallet belonged to a local celebrity or otherwise notable individual. However, it turned out to be something much less likely. In searching for identification, my wife discovered the wallet belonged to one of her co-workers!

You do the math. We were in an area of dozens of stores, restaurants, banks, and all manner of other businesses. Scores of cars passed each minute. We were more than ten miles and on the opposite side of the Mississippi River from where my wife and the owner of the wallet are employed. We were even further from both residences. To these, factor in the fact that the wallet we "preserved" belonged to one of the fifty or so individuals who worked in the same building as my wife. Without saying it aloud, we agreed our "Higher Power" was involved.

Making Contact

The wallet itself still held the individual's driver's license, several credit and bank cards, many photographs and several other important items. Along with the items I had been able to chase down in the traffic and wind, we felt confident we had preserved most of what the wallet originally contained. We theorized the wallet had probably been left on top of the car and forgotten there when the individual drove away from one of the nearby shops or restaurants. It rode there until my wife's co-worker turned off a side-street onto the larger highway we had traveled. We also agreed the wallet could not have been on the ground for long. Observing the number and speed of the cars passing, one or two additional hits would have obliterated it and its contents.

I made one last quick sweep before my wife and I continued on our trip. As we traveled, my wife secured the individual's home telephone number through directory assistance. When no one answered, she left a message. As we headed out of town, I made additional calls, attempting to find a cell phone number.

About twenty minutes after leaving the message, my wife's cell phone rang. The caller was a frantic individual who had recently discovered the loss of a wallet and had already began canceling bank and credit cards before arriving home to hear the message my wife had left. This evening, my wife's relieved, amazed, embarrassed, and extremely grateful co-worker happily came by our home to retrieve her wallet.

Though she was extremely grateful, I felt blessed in that I was allowed to help in the preservation of something that I knew was of great importance to its owner. I did not have to ponder what I should do. Without conscious thought, I simply followed the Golden Rule.

Thanks for Reading,

Robb