....And Now, The Rest of The Story (Show and Tell Sunday)

**So I came upon a blog that does Show and Tell Sunday, so I thought I would join. Hopefully I can keep up with this every week. Sounds like a great idea. In any case, here's my first show and tell.......

Almost 10 years ago, my husband Keith had something very unusual happen to him. He went to a gas station on the way to work to get some smokes and some cash for the week. As he went to the ATM to take out a $20.00 bill, the cash machine ended up giving him 279 $20.00 bills! Totaling $5580.00. You can imagine his shock as he sat there and it spit out one bill after another. He ended up calling the police later that morning after getting to work and turning the money in, but his story made the headlines. All the local news channels and papers were calling our house trying to get an interview with him. We even had the BBC call for interview. It was really kinda cool. But that wasn't the the only cool thing that came out of it.

The bank that owned the ATM gave him two child sized backpacks and a big hearty thank you for returning the money. Woo-Hoo. After the news stations got wind of that, I think they ended up feeling like dumb asses because no one was impressed with the gift given to the man who returned almost $5600.00. A representative from the bank called after seeing the news reports and he ended up getting $500.00 and two front row tickets to a Minnesota Vikings game. That was much better than two child sized backpacks.

But the best gift of all that came out of it was from a stranger who lived across the country. We received a package a couple of weeks later from an old woman who was impressed by Keith's honesty. Inside the package was a statue of Diogenes with a handwritten letter.

The card that came with it stated:

DIOGENES(400-323 B.C.)
-Was a Greek philosopher who believed that only virtue brings happiness.
-It is said that he searched Athens with a lighted lamp in broad daylight, looking for an honest man.

The letter says:


Dear Keith,

It was a pleasure to read about your experience with the cash machine. Read the card with the figurine and you will see this is Diogenes - Who has found his honest man!

His name is on the base and seems to have something green tucked under his arm.

This came from Greece, imported into the USA at Tampa Springs, Florida, a Greek fishing village, also known for its tourist. I was there about 30 years ago and I spotted Diogenes.

Please Enjoy.

Sincerely,
Florence K.

We were so touched by this gesture of a complete stranger. The fact that someone reached out to him to say 'good job' and send him this beautiful statue was extremely kind and generous. We treasure the statue and display it proudly in our house to this day.