W4: Finding A Family’s Future In An Envelope
Not everyone keeps their savings in a bank account. In some cultures, it’s customary to keep it in cash and carry it with you. Van Ha, originally from Vietnam, is a woman in her 70s who keeps her savings with her at all times in an envelope. Well, she did, until a few months ago, she lost it one afternoon while shopping at a Boston-area Market Basket. Luckily, she was in good hands. This story reminds us that we should believe in the people around us to do the right thing.
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W4: FINDING A FAMILY’S FUTURE IN AN ENVELOPE
EVERY ONE OF US, AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, HAS BEEN WALKING SOMEWHERE AND WITNESSED SOMEONE ACCIDENTALLY DROP SOMETHING VALUABLE. IMMEDIATELY OUR INSTINCT IS TO ALERT THE PERSON TO WHAT THEY DROPPED. WE DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. BUT WHEN YOU FIND AN ENVELOPE FULL OF CASH, WITH NOBODY AROUND, IT GETS A LITTLE LESS INSTINCTUAL.
THIS IS A STORY ABOUT WHAT WE DO WHEN NOBODY IS LOOKING…AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT’S ABOUT BELIEVING MORE IN THE STRANGERS AROUND US.
EPISODE
ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN LATE SEPTEMBER NEAR BOSTON, JUST OUTSIDE OF WORCESTER, IN A TOWN CALLED SHREWSBURY, VAN HA, AN OLDER VIETNAMESE WOMAN, DID SOME SHOPPING AT MARKET BASKET, A LOCAL GROCERY STORE. WHEN SHE RETURNED HOME, SHE REALIZED THAT SHE NO LONGER HAD THE MOST IMPORTANT THING SHE WAS CARRYING. IT WAS THE BANK TELLER ENVELOPE WITH $12,000 DOLLARS IN CASH TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILY….AND IT HAD DISAPPEARED.
WHILE IT SOUNDS ODD FOR SOMEONE TO BE CARRYING THAT KIND OF CASH, FOR VAN AND HER GENERATION, AND IN HER CULTURE, KEEPING THE FAMILY MONEY IN CASH WAS NOT UNCOMMON.
SHE IMMEDIATELY CALLED HER NEPHEW, TRUONG HUYNH AND THEY BOTH RUSHED BACK TO THE STORE. THEY FOUND THE STORE MANAGER, DAN DESFOSSES, WHO OFFERED TO GO THROUGH THE FOOTAGE FROM THE SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS TO SEE IF THEY COULD FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENVELOPE. SURE ENOUGH, THEY FOUND THE FOOTAGE OF VAN WALKING INTO AND OUT OF THE STORE, BUT THERE WAS NO SIGN OF HER DROPPING THE ENVELOPE. AND, WHEN THE GROUP SEARCHED THE STORE AND THE LOT, THERE WAS NO SIGN OF IT THERE EITHER.
VAN WENT INTO A PANIC. THE MONEY WAS EVERYTHING TO HER AND HER FAMILY. HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?
OUT OF OPTIONS, SHE GAVE DAN HER NAME AND NUMBER, AND HE TOLD HER THAT HE’D CALL HER IF HE RECEIVED ANY LEADS.
JUST AS HE WALKED BACK INTO THE STORE, HE NOTICED ONE OF THE GROCERY STORE’S LOYAL SHOPPERS, A MAN NAMED SKIP, JUST ANOTHER SHREWSBURY LOCAL, STANDING AT THE SERVICE COUNTER. IN HIS HAND, WAS A BANK TELLER ENVELOPE FULL OF CASH.
THE TWO WENT OUT TO THE PARKING LOT AND CAUGHT VAN AND TRUONG BEFORE THEY HAD LEFT. WHEN THEY SAW THE ENVELOPE VAN AND TRUONG WERE ECSTATIC…SO EXCITED THAT THEY GRABBED THE CASH AND HEADED HOME WITHOUT EVEN SAYING THANK YOU OR GOODBYE.
NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT, SKIP FELT GOOD ABOUT CONNECTING THEM WITH THE MONEY THEY HAD LOST, SO HE SMILED AND WENT HOME.
NOT LONG AFTER, FEELING TERRIBLE THAT THEY HAD LEFT WITHOUT THE PROPER THANK YOU, VAN AND TRUONG RETURNED TO THE STORE. THEY FOUND DAN AND ASKED IF THEY COULD CONTACT SKIP. HE KNEW SKIP BY HIS FIRST NAME, BUT THAT WAS IT…BUT LUCKILY, SKIP’S GIRLFRIEND JUST HAPPENED TO BE A STORE EMPLOYEE, SO THEY WERE ABLE TO EVENTUALLY CONNECT AND NOT ONLY GIVE SKIP A BIG THANK YOU, BUT ALSO A CASH REWARD FOR DOING WHAT HE DID.
I’M GOING TO GUESS THAT SKIP DIDN’T EVEN THINK TWICE WHEN HE FOUND THE MONEY. HE COULD HAVE USED AN EXTRA $12,000….BUT HE KNEW IT WASN’T HIS AND, NO MATTER WHAT, HE WAS GOING TO MAKE SURE IT GOT BACK TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNER.
I BELIEVE THERE ARE A LOT MORE SKIPS OUT THERE THAN WE ALL WANT TO ADMIT. MANY OF US, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN CITIES, UNKNOWINGLY GET INTO BAD HABITS OF PROTECTING OURSELVES BY ALWAYS ASSUMING THE WORST – THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE IS THAT WE DON’T TRUST THE INHERENT GOOD IN PEOPLE LIKE WE SHOULD.
THIS IS A GOOD REMINDER FOR ME…AND ALSO FOR VAN AND TRUONG, WHO SUMMED IT UP ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT EVENING. HE WROTE…
“IT TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF PERSON TO DO SOMETHING SO HONEST AND SELFLESS, AND SKIP, YOU ARE A TRUE EXAMPLE OF INTEGRITY AND COMPASSION. THANK YOU – YOU’VE TOUCHED MORE LIVES THAN YOU KNOW TODAY.”