Day 105: I find money, a lot of it
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
105 — I find money, a lot of it
15-November-1971
(Mon.)
TRANSCRIPT
Today was a weird day. Took pictures for Mike.
Practiced. But then…
While I was on a Strassebahn (52), I happened to find
this shabby envelope— with 3,000s and 100 DM, plus a
sales receipt. This amount of money ($150) was enough
to live on for a month, and with my money problems,
it could have been a gift from heaven. However, being
myself, I decided that I couldn’t keep it (honesty)
and should try to find the owner. I couldn’t keep it
because my luck of fortune could be someone’s extreme
misfortune. For example, for an elderly person, it
could be an extreme hardship. The sales slip with its
info (store name, Wien 7, Siebenstorngasse 27),
produced nothing.
So, I brought it to the police, who also could not
find it. If at the end of the year, no one claims it,
of course it is mine. I will make sure to have to
check up on it—to make sure the police or some other
unrightful person doesn’t claim it. And if someone
does claim it to make sure they are “brummer.”
I hope that my philosophy of being honest doesn’t let
me down, because I would hate to turn into someone
who becomes extremely selfish and uncaring. Maybe I’m
being naïve for this world.
REFLECTIONS
I
find money, a lot of it. I forgot
about this incident, but now I remember this day. I
was on the streetcar system and find a very shabby
envelope on the floor by my seat. No one is around.
There is a lot of cash in the envelope—3,000 Austrian
schillings and 100 Deutschmark. At the time, I
guessed that that is about one month’s worth of
expenses—rent, food, everything. I needed the money.
I could use it. It was like a gift from heaven.
Doing
the right thing. I couldn’t
keep it. Honesty is part of my character and still is
today. Generally, when I find things I return them.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the entire world were this
way? Too bad it isn’t. However, many, many people are
honest, good citizens and are always doing the right
thing. In many ways. It’s just that you don’t hear
about these good deeds. It’s not newsworthy. If
you’re one of those people though, it makes you feel
good. Very good.
John,
the sleuth. There is
no ID in the envelope, only a sales slip. I go to the
store to try and see if they could tell who the owner
might be. No, it was just a cash register receipt. I
return it to the police in that district. They take
down my contact information and explain how things
will proceed. Of course, I am just a little bit
skeptical about human nature, but hope for the best.
Prophecy.
In my
journal that night, I am writing about how my fortune
could be someone else’s misfortune. This was very
prophetic. In the future, you will learn about how
this event played out.
Till tomorrow.
John
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