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Almost Magical

David Gartland

THE OTHER DAY, WHEN my son and I were out on our daily trash pickup walk, I found a $5 bill. No one was around, so I didn’t know who dropped it. It was just lying there.

I picked it up and put it in my wallet with all my other “pocket money.” This is money I use whenever credit cards aren’t allowed. The $5 bill slipped in next to the other $5 bills. I continued walking. The beauty of walking is it allows you to think. Since you aren’t driving, you don’t need to focus and instead your mind can just drift.

When I’m mowing my lawn, I’m also just walking, occasionally stopping to turn around. This becomes a great time to think about whatever. The blood is circulating but my brain is not being used for any great purpose. I come up with some of my best ideas during such walking sessions.

During this particular trash pickup walk, I started to think of using my newly found $5 for something special. My first thought was to buy a $3 scratch-off ticket that has the possibility of paying $5,000 a month for life. I’d cash the winning ticket under our local first-aid squad’s name, so the squad could get guaranteed funding.

Then I thought the New Jersey Lotto would need an individual’s name and Social Security number for tax purposes. In that case, I’d redeem the ticket in my name, and then donate the money every month to our first-aid squad since I found the $5 near its building.

Now that I had an investment strategy, off I went to our local ShopRite grocery store to buy my scratch-off. One problem: The scratch-off I purchased wasn’t the grand-prize-winning ticket. It was a winning ticket, however. It paid $10 on a $3 purchase. Good return.

As you’ll have noticed, I didn’t spend the entire $5 on the scratch-off. Maybe this was a bad move. Did I need to spend the entire amount to get the full effect of this magical $5? If I used the remaining $2 to buy a multi-million-dollar Powerball ticket, I could fulfill my charitable donation with the Powerball jackpot.

So, I bought the Powerball ticket with the remaining $2. Unfortunately, I didn’t win the jackpot, nor anything else for that matter. Still, I had my winning $3 scratch-off, which I took to ShopRite to collect. I asked for one $10 bill and put it in my pocket, where it is today. When they win a small lottery prize, many people feel compelled to let the money ride and buy another Lotto ticket or scratch-off to try and make a killing. I don’t.

It was fun to think that this particular $5 bill I found might be different from all the others. Maybe it was: It did give me one of my biggest payouts compared to all the other lotto tickets and scratch-offs I’ve bought over the years.

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Donny Hrubes
7 months ago

Me too! I walk around several blocks and notice the yards and trees and just nature.

On a jaunt several blocks from the home, as I traveled, I became aware of water running. The sound became louder until I was right in front of a magical yard with a water feature. The very unusual thing is, there’s no water to be seen!
The water is under a succession of smooth river rock on a slope and can only be observed with the ears.

How fortunate for me to just…walk!

Tom Kinney
7 months ago

David, 
Thank you for thinking of the financial wellbeing of your local first-aid squad emergency responders. 
I am a member of our local Fire/EMS Department and see the need for multiple sources of funding since the tax revenue isn’t sufficient. I never miss an opportunity to remind people of the value they receive for the dollars that are paid in taxes. Our organization is considered mostly volunteer with some paid shifts for ambulance during the daytime working hours. To fill out the budget we conduct fundraising dinners and events each year, in addition to the training, maintenance and other activities needed.
Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox for a moment.

My luck with the lottery is nonexistent so every time I get the urge to buy a ticket, I put $5 in my savings jar. One day I’ll even get around to counting it.

Patrick Brennan
7 months ago

Returning a found item to the rightful owner gives one about as good a feeling as any. I once found a wallet playing golf on a military golf course back in ’87. I was by myself walking up 8 fairway when lo and behold, there was a wallet. I looked inside to find the ID card and see who was the owner, and noticed in belonged to a Marine Brigadier General. Hmmm… interesting, and lots of cash. I put it in my bag and resolved to drop it off at the pro shop after nine. Walking up 9 fairway I noticed a golf cart coming the opposite way towards me. The driver stopped and asked if I had seen a wallet. I said yes, got it out of my bag and handed it to the fellow. Because I had looked at his ID card, I knew this guy was the owner. He opened it, fingered through the cash, smiled at me and said, “Thanks”, and off he drove.

Kevin Lynch
7 months ago

I chuckled about the lottery tickets.

As much as people bad mouth lotteries, and refer to them as “taxes on stupid people,” the fact is that someone will win and if you don’t have a ticket it will not be you.

Whenever the lottery prizes get well above normal, like the occurrence last year when the top prize was over $1B, I buy a ticket. I always get the quick pick, since I figure if GOD wants me to win, HE will make sure I get the right numbers. Ha! Then for a few days I think about what I will do when I win all that money, the people and institutions I will benefit…and tose dreams are fun.

Think about that..for $2 or $3, you get to dream for 2-3 days. Well worth the money to me.

Dan Smith
7 months ago

A year or so ago I found a $50 wad of bills while walking out of Costco; the guy at the service counter chuckled when I gave it to him to put in the lost and found.
Many years back I spotted a hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk while delivering beer in a very poor neighborhood. It turned out to be 4 hundred bills. I told the stores owner about it and he said he knew who it belonged to. I didn’t really believe him but gave him the money just the same. Then a few minutes later a young man entered the store in a panic inquiring about the cash. The owner gave him the money, pointed my way, and told him to thank the honest man. Now if I were a betting man, and given the character of the “hood” I was in, I would bet the money was part of a drug deal. Still, it wasn’t my call to make.

Nuke Ken
7 months ago

A couple of years ago, I found two $20 bills lying next to my car after I exited my favorite local hardware store. I picked them up and looked around. There was no one nearby. While I was thinking about what to do, an Amish fellow came out and opened the passenger door in the car next to me (you didn’t think he would get in the driver’s side, did you?). I felt certain it was his money so before he closed the door I waved the bills in front of him and asked if he had lost some cash. “No,” he emphatically said and closed the door. I decided to go into the store and tell a manager. I left my phone number and told them I would come back if anyone came looking for the money. I only live a half mile away. Well, I did get a call in a day or so. The manager said they looked at their cameras and did not see anyone drop money. Since this was found money that I didn’t need, I purposed to give it away. I was hoping that someone with a $40 need would appear and then I would know the money was intended for them. Months went by with the bills sitting in my wallet. No $40 need presented itself. Then, while I was getting a haircut, my hairdresser Amanda told me that she was stressed because she just found out her car would need expensive repairs. I knew from previous conversations that Amanda and her husband were not what you would call “well off”. I gave her the $40 as a tip on my $17 haircut.

Last edited 7 months ago by Nuke Ken
Mike Gaynes
7 months ago
Reply to  Nuke Ken

That’s lovely, Ken, and it’s very likely that Amanda will remember that tip for the rest of her life. Kindnesses like that have a way of staying with you forever.

Also, congratulations on still having enough hair to require a hairdresser!

Jeff Bond
7 months ago

Years ago I would run during my lunch hour at work. I never found money, but I did often, as you, have a chance to think. Many work or personnel ideas occurred during my runs. After I switched to a bike, I still never found money, but I did find tools. I’m sure they fell off construction trucks. Screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches and more made their way to my workbench.

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