Integrity

This weekend, we all went Pawn Shopping. For those of you who don't know what Pawn Shopping is, it's kind of like hitting the yard sales, except they're pawn shops (which really comes in handy when it's cold and rainy like it was this past Saturday).

We were looking for a few select items - the best finds were the AC/DC Collection for Rock Band and an XBox 360 - both at a sweet price.

But what we didn't expect to walk away with was a lesson on integrity for our boy.

We enter one pawn shop and begin to look around. On the counter, we see this:



If you look closely, you will see a folded $20 bill on the newspaper.

I walk right by it. It's not mine, so I figure maybe someone left it there and they'll come by to pick it up. The Boy notices it and immediately comes to me:

The Boy: Mom! Mom! There's money on the counter!
Me: Is it yours?
The Boy (deflated a bit): No
Me: Then let it alone.

But the man beast...oh yes...the man beast. He does one better when we go up to the counter to pay for our purchases. He picks it up and gives it to the owner and says, "Here, someone dropped this."

As he hands out his arm to give it to the proprietor of the pawn shop, the bill unfolds.

(I regret to inform you that the Man Beast did not get a picture of the open bill. You'll have to use your imagine on this one).

Once the bill is unfolded, the paper on the inside is white and it contains one word:

GOTCHA

This started a nice conversation with the owner. He said that he has found that 'bill' on the floor more times than not because someone has tried to walk off with it.

As he told our boy, "It lets me know who I can and cannot trust."

Pretty ingenious, I say.

Until next time...