What do you do after finding a random dollar bill in a used coat or on the street? Now think about how you might react if you found a much larger sum! Still, while our minds might go wild with dreams of riches, one store clerk decided to return $7,000 she discovered in a coat pocket…
One Clerk’s Unusual Discovery
After a few months of working at the same place, most never expect anything out of the ordinary to happen there. However, last month, Jennifer Kimes had quite the day at work. Kimes works at the thrift and consignment store Plato’s Closet in Valparaiso, Indiana. There, she found some cash in the pocket of a recently donated coat. At first, it seemed like no big deal. “Sometimes you find gum, or a picture, or a grocery list,” Kimes said as she talked about her experience at the shop.
But, as she started to count the money, the store clerk became more and more nervous. You see, it wasn’t just a couple dollars. Kimes had found a tight roll of $100 bills. After counting twice, she found that the total came to a whopping $7,000! Kimes panicked, found a safe place in the register to hide the bills, and phoned her boss Tammy Wendland. Her boss felt just as baffled at the news, not even genuinely believing Kimes at first. “I’m saying to her, ‘What did you say? What did you say?’ And she said, ‘A very large sum of money,’” Wendland recalled.
Doing The Right Thing
Believe it or not, Wendland didn’t even think twice about what she should do. The store manager quickly took the high road and found the owner, immediately calling him. Within just a few minutes, Kimes and Wendland had arranged for the man who donated to come and pick up his cash. Turns out, he has hidden this cash in the pocket of the jacket and completely forgotten about it!
The boss simply felt happy to be of help. “Doing the right thing is rewarding intrinsically. It makes you feel good inside to do the right thing, and there’s really nothing as special as feeling good inside,” said Wendland. Meanwhile, while neither of them received a reward, the store clerk who found the money doesn’t feel too bad about it. “It’s just about integrity. So when you work with things like this, you just have to make sure that you’re honest, and you do the right thing,” Kimes added.
The Laws
So, we know that the women did the right thing. However, we know what some of you are wondering: could they have kept the money? Well, it depends. Depending on the state, laws might specifically exist for situations just like the one Kimes and Wendlend found themselves in. In most states, if a person found a wallet with an ID full of cash or a jacket like Kimes, they need to go to the local law enforcement and give them the money. Otherwise, it will be considered theft, and that person can be punished. Usually, if no one claims the money after a certain period, the finder can return and keep the money.
So, Kimes and her boss aren’t just good people, they did what the law states. Don’t forget to check the requirements and contact the police before mindlessly grabbing money! This story also teaches another valuable lesson: if you’re going to hide your cash, remember where you hide it!