I am familiar with – hell, on intimate terms with – the concept that “no good deed goes unpunished.” But this here’s a story that *may* demonstrate the opposite:
Homeless man returns ring accidentally given to him
In short: woman accidentally drops her engagement ring into the beggin’ cup of one Billy Ray Harris, homeless feller. Rather than pawning it, he decides that it was probably an accidental donation and holds onto it; a few days later the woman returns, asks if he has it, he gives it back, and she sets up a donation site to thank him, hoping to get him $1,000. As of this writing, there are over $117K in donations.
With a story like this, cynicism – built on experience – suggests that a followup “where are they now” news article from a year or three down the line will include phrases like “squandered” and “drug use” and “found murdered.” But one can always hope that Mr. Harris will be able to make good use of this windfall, turn his life around. If the story is as advertised (“if”), then he sounds like a decent enough guy. I think he made a very important observation here:
“What I actually feel like is, ‘what has the world come to when a person who returns something that doesn’t belong to him and all this happens?'”
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FOR COMPARATIVE PURPOSES: Last summer I posted about a bus monitor who was abused by some horrible little brats. Someone set up a donation site for her; in the end, it raised $703K. Discuss!