Honesty is always a good investment. It seems to pay dividends to hoard karma points like Bitcoin, like these stories demonstrate. Take a cue from some of the most honest people on Earth.
1. Homeless Man’s Honesty Rewards Him Thousandfold
“What I actually feel like is, what has the world come to when a person returns something that don’t belong to them and all of this happens?”
Those were the mindful words of Billy Ray Harris, an (ex-) homeless man hailing from Kansas City. A lady accidentally dropped an expensive diamond ring into his cup. He briefly considered selling it, but couldn’t go through with it. So he kept the ring safe until she would come back to get it.
Skip a few months … “I feel human now.” When news broke of his honesty and the fact that a man of his predicament could use a diamond ring to pawn, people from across the world donated to a fund set up by the woman’s husband. Within months it totaled $190,000. Harris also reconnected with his family members (who hadn’t seen him for 16 years and thought he was dead) when they saw him on TV.
He now has a house and a car. And he is a living example that honesty can inspire others to be charitable, and can save lives. One of the better examples of honest people getting rewarded.
2. Man Makes a 65-Year-Old Wrong Right
In late 2011, an elderly man walked into a Seattle Sears and handed a manager an envelope. Within it were a note and a $100 bill. The note explained he stole $20 to $30 from a Sears cash register in the late forties, some 60 years ago. So he paid Sears back with interest.
To the manager, he believed the man’s conscience “has been bothering him for the last 60 years,” and that he finally wanted to make it right. Honest people, they are a different breed.
While the initial theft doesn’t qualify by damn sight as honest, it’s certainly conscientious to make amends for a bad deed that happened a lifetime ago. The store caught the man on camera but didn’t release the video or his name.
3. Sin City Cabbie Finds $221,510 in Backseat…and Returns It
Ethiopian immigrant Adam Woldemarim let off a passenger at the Las Vegas airport. A little later, he was cleaning his cab when he found a black laptop case in the backseat. He opened it, and it was full of money – $221,510 to be exact.
As for me, I would’ve slyly taken it home like Llewelyn Moss in “No Country for Old Men.” But Woldemarim wields a bit more integrity, so he went to the security company that owned his taxi service and dropped off the case, saying an unknown man left it. He then went back to work.
One hour later, Frias Transportation Management called him and told him to come back to the office immediately. A young man in his late twenties called, claiming he won the money at the Wynn.
When Woldemarim arrived, the man was effusively appreciative. He thanked him for his honesty and left him a $2,000 tip. Quite the payday for one small gesture.
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4. Inmate Returns to Jail After Prison Sets Him Free
When prison officers walked Luis Lopez out of his cell, telling him he was due out, he was in disbelief.
“I was stunned,” he said.
He had only served three months of a second DUI bust. When he got home, he called his lawyer and asked him if everything was kosher. Not exactly. It was a glitch in the computer system, and he advised him to return. Instead of doing the criminalistic thing and figuring out a way to skip out of town, he bit his lip and went back.
“It would have been better if they had just let him service his time, instead of releasing him and then taking him away from me again!” Lopez’s girlfriend said.
5. Struggling California Landscaper Finds $140,000, Does the Right Thing
Life was tough for landscaper Eli Estrada. He was stacked with credit card debt, had to pay for an upcoming wedding, and his gardening business Tuff Turf eked out a modest and troublesome living. So when he stumbled on a bag of cash in the middle of a Cerritos street, his first thought was, “I’m rich.”
The bag contained $140,000. It was from a Brinks truck on its way to deliver ATMs. Money like that would’ve solved a hefty chunk of Estrada’s woes, but being with that much cash was weird for him: “It’s not like you would expect it, it was surreal.”
He returned it to the Long Beach police. Some days, Estrada said, “I think I was nuts.” But the man had a disciplined conscience. “I know in my gut that to keep that money would be wrong.”
Brinks gave him a piddling $2,000 for his honesty, which to Estrada’s mother was lame: “They should’ve given him 10 percent,” she said with a smile.
6. Steven Miller, Divorce Lawyer
There’s nothing more refreshing than an honest lawyer. This man’s video is one of the world’s best divorce attorney ads. And while the universe agrees that divorce is a humorless thing, Miller brings the funny. If you’re going through a nasty “conscious uncoupling,” let this man get you through the mess.
7. The Most Honest T-Ball Player on Earth
Sports Illustrated ran a story in 1989 about a kid who displayed honesty beyond his years. During a T-ball game in Wellington, Florida, 7-year-old Tanner Munsey was playing first base. The batter hit a ground ball to him, and he attempted to tag a runner going from first to second. The umpire, a lady named Laura Benson, called the runner out. Tanner ran to her and said, “Ma’am, I didn’t tag the runner.”
Benson appreciated Tanner’s honesty enough to reverse her call.
Two weeks later, almost the same thing happened, except Tanner made a good play. Benson was again working as the umpire but called the runner safe. Tanner simply looked at Benson and threw the ball to the catcher.
Benson, knowing Tanner, asked him if he tagged the runner. Tanner said he did. She then called the runner out.
Coaches and parents threw up their hands and pooh-poohed the call, but Benson told them what happened two weeks prior. “If a kid is that honest, I have to give it to him.”
Let this be a lesson to overly competitive parents out there: There’s more to America’s favorite pastime than winning.
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8. Garbage Man Shows Heart on Christmas Day
It’s not the amount of cash returned, it’s the thought. On Christmas Day in Greeley, CO, Jimmy James was on his route throwing Christmas trash in the back of his dump truck. After one household, he noticed a card in the heap. He took it out and opened it, finding a JCPenney gift card.
After discovering the $50 balance, he continued on with his day. At the end of his shift, he drove back to the house (in his own car) and knocked. James informed the family of his discovery and gave them the card and the JCPenney cash.
The family was pleasantly flummoxed that someone would do something so big about something so small. James wasn’t looking for a reward, he simply wanted to do the right thing. The family gave him $75 with a note attached stating, “To Jimmy, thank you for your honesty.”
9. Bobby Jones: The Consummate Sportsman
Bobby Jones was an amateur golfer who participated in national and international tournaments about a century ago. He later became known for his sportsmanship and being one of the most honest people ever.
At the 1925 U.S. Open in Boston, Jones hit his ball into the rough on the 11th hole. While lining up his stance, he accidentally clipped the grass which moved his ball slightly.
He insisted to the officials and his competition that he violated Rule 18 (moving the ball), and they argued about it, but he stuck to his guns. They eventually gave him a 77 instead of a 76, and he lost the round by the same margin – one stroke.
He was praised by sportswriters for his deed. But, in the ever modest nature of Jones, he quipped, “You might as well praise me for not robbing banks.”
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10. Homeless Ex-Meth Addict Returns $125,000
In May 2014, Joe Cornell was living in a Salvation Army rehab center in Fresno. He overheard a passing motorist yell to a Brinks truck telling them they forgot something, but the driver didn’t hear. Cornell walked to the bag and opened it, finding $125,000.
“What type of man do I want my grandkids to think I am?” he told KMPH. “I want them to think I’m a just man that does the right and I did the right thing.”
He returned the money. The married father of two only had a dollar to his name. His family was tremendously proud of him, and surely his grandkids will be, too.
Brinks gave him a debit card for $5,000. And this begs the question … when the hell is Brinks going to drop a bag near me?
We don’t know if all of these stories look good for these honest people, to be honest.
