A Surprise Pay Day

I read this morning about a 71 year old lady who sat down for a meal and unravelled a serviette in her own home only to find a Target employee’s pay packet from 1993, along with four one hundred dollar bills and a couple of fifties.

The $500 was in an envelope hidden inside a second-hand napkin her sister bought for $2 from an op shop.

The sisters managed to track down the owner and returned the money. The lady who got her money back held a morning tea for the sisters when they returned the money, giving them flowers and a reward.

“I couldn’t believe it when I found all that money. I was even more surprised to find it had been rolled up for almost 20 years,” Ms Hansch told the Frankston Standard Leader.

“I definitely wanted to return it to its rightful owner and never once thought about hanging on to it.”

Ms Hansch called her sister, Clare Fisher, 67, from Seaford, and the pair began their hunt. After trying Target, they turned to the phone book and found Margaret Dorothy Fife living in Bonbeach. Sceptical of their strange phone call at first, Mrs Fife, 74, confirmed she had worked at Chadstone and Frankston Targets two decades ago. – News.com.au

So, what would you have done if you’d found the $500? Would you have taken the time to track down the original owner or would you consider the money was now yours?

I often find things on the side of the road when I’m out cycling. I’ve found phones, wallets, and other bits and pieces. If there’s any way of identifying an owner I try to track them down and return the item.

Have you made an effort to find the owner of something you’ve found or have you had something returned that you never thought you’d see again?



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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2 Comments

  • I would make every effort to find that person. Seriously. I have found a few things along the side of the road but never something like a wallet that might identify someone. I once found $60 after a weekend ride in the area that draws about 5000 participants. No way was that able to be followed up on. Ironically, that was what I needed at that moment for something pressing.

  • If it’s a wallet (whether it has money in it or not), phone, jewellery, or a large amount of cash, I would hand it in to the police or the lost property department etc.

    If it was $20, I wouldn’t. That would be too hard to track down the owner.

    Once I lost a USB that had the book I’m writing saved on it. Actually I hadn’t even realised I’d lost it until a guy called me and said he had found it. He was able to track me down because I had a copy of my resume with my contact details also saved on there. I was sooo grateful to him.

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