Today was an interesting one full of karmic mystery. I called my mother as all of us who could did today and we talked for a bit. Mother's Day found her reflective and wishing she had been a better mother to us which broke my heart more than a little. Perhaps more on that another time but for the record, she's a great person and a wonderful mother.
I decided to celebrate the day by going shopping for dresses (boot uniforms) and shoes for my left feet that evened out my boot gait a little bit. Shopping is mere blocks away but I decided to take public transportation there and back to stay off my feet. On the bus on the way home, a guy extended his hand to help me from my seat at our stop and we walked the same way down the street. Naturally he asked about the boot, we had a pleasant conversation and then two randomly strange things happened.
I looked down on the ground and found $25 dollars. It was just sitting there on a windy day on the sidewalk. I only saw it because it was on a paper bag that had been run over or stepped on until it was flat and I was trying not to step on it. I have never found that much money. It was so totally random. I looked around, asked my new stranger friend from the bus what I should do, looked around and concluded there was no good way to get the money back to whomever had dropped it and that was that. I still feel bad for the person who dropped it.
Then we get to random dude's alleged street and he asks me if I have an e-mail address because he would like to say 'hi' sometime. Then he takes out his PHONE to get my e-mail address. WTF? He asked me if I was on Facebook as well but never attempted to give me his number or ask for mine. Maybe that's how kids do it these days. If he's under 25, I'm going to laugh myself silly. Since then, I've entertained paranoid thoughts about being part of Dateline special on honesty and this seemingly random guy actually tossed down the $25 and asked for my e-mail address so they could send me the release form before I'm on TV.
So my question is: 1. What would you have done re: the serendipitous money find? and 2. Has a guy ever asked for your e-mail instead of an actual phone number?
p.s. I haven't heard from him. In my paranoid fantasy world it is because they are continuing this social experiment and will contact participants at the conclusion so no one spoils their results by wearing a sandwich board on 3rd Street (which I would do) warning folks not to pick up money off the street because they are in no way actually that lucky and they are also being filmed.
6 comments:
Answering your questions:
(1) I would have done the same as you. If it's obvious who dropped it, I'd give it to them, but if I had no idea who dropped it, I'd take it - if I didn't somebody else would. Plus giving the money to the police or lost property office is unlikely to ensure the person gets it back.
(2) Yes, many times, and they never emailed. Well, apart from a guy who later became my (ex) boyfriend, but he emailed me to ask for my number anyway...
OMG...I am so going to be watching dateline looking for a girl a boot who finds $25.
I would have kept the money too. There's no way you could have found the owner...it's your good karma at work.
I don't know about the e-mail thing. People are so much more connected via the internet these days, maybe e-mail just seems safer to him.
Look at the bright side, at least he didn't elbow your boob!
1. There was really no way to find out who left that money. I'd look at it as a gift from the universe! If you still feel bad about picking it up, you could always donate it to a charity. Or use it as cab money to spare your foot if you have more errands to run.
2. It is slightly unusual, IMO, to ask for an e-mail instead of a phone number, but maybe he's just a person who feels awkward on the phone. Definitely listen to your intuition if other things he does (assuming you see him again) strike you as bizarre/troubling, but I wouldn't read too much into it as yet.
and yeah, I agree with marathoner81--there was no boob-elbowing or sidewalk weight-lifting, so yay for that!
@everyone: Thanks for the feedback. I'm still keeping the $25 separate from my other money like it's tainted. Some random lady at the store had insisted I sue the city for my fall so I thought it was funny I should find money on the same street I fell on 15 minutes later. It was like the sidewalk was trying to pay me off. :-)
Tamara, marathoner, you made me laugh, you're right, not boob poking and no awkward silhouettes, so Sunday was a banner day!
I would have done the same as you, reagrding the money. When i was in Vegas once, a lady dropped $300 and i ran up to her and gave it back. It was an instant reaction, i could never steal. So you did a good thing. If you feel bad for keeping it, donate it or something!
As for the dude asking for your email address! OMG. That's too funny for words. What an idiot. I probably would have said 'maybe you can have my number instead.' If he had looked stunned by that, well, then you'd know he's not really a keeper! :)
Keep the money, the angels left it there just for you! I would have kept it but maybe not spent it for a little while. The e-mail thing was kind of odd, I don't know what I would have done about that.
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