Moments in life often test our morals and personal ethos. If you find a wallet on the street, what is your instinctual response? Sure, some might look to return the wallet, but others might keep it and use whatever money was found for things they need. They may even justify keeping the wallet by saying it was fate that presented them with it when they needed it. Others would argue that no matter what, karma begs you to return it to its rightful owner.
Bobby Puryear was put in a similar situation, and his response was quite unique…
The Good & The Bad
The world is mostly divided between the good and bad. Who those people are is always contested and a matter of opinion, but more or less, humans look to classify people in clean little titles, whether that makes sense ultimately or not. When Bobby Puryear was confronted with a moment of morality, he made an incredible decision…
ATM Stop
This all started when Bobby Puryear made a stop, as many people do, at an ATM to take out some cash. This seemingly commonplace act would lead to an amazing and unpredictable outcome…
Typical Pit Stop
Bobby used the ATM as he typically would, entering his account information and going through the motions. As he waited for the bit of cash to dispense, his mind wandered onto what he had planned next for the day, not thinking anything of this standard ATM stop…
Stuck Inside
When the cash began to dispense, however, a large wad of money came out of the ATM all at once—jammed up from the previous customer. Confused, he paused for a second to figure out just what was going on…
Hundreds Extra
He starred at the wad of money and looked at it with shock. He didn’t take this much out, and the receipt only listed the amount he had deducted. This was hundreds of dollars extra, and Bobby was a bit shocked…
What’s Next?
Bobby was no thief, so when the extra cash came out, he was a little nervous about the situation, even unsure if he should touch the cash at all. Ultimately, though, he grabbed the large wad of cash and tried to figure out his next steps…
New Plan
While at first he had planned on making this a quick stop at the ATM, he determined that he should head inside the bank and discuss the situation with a manager. He needed to figure out why that money was there in the first place…
Consulting a Manager
He sat down with a banking manager inside the local branch wanting to figure out why a different amount was dispensed, and who the money might actually belong to. This was easier said than done, though…
Cannot Disclose
The issue here, though, was that it was against bank policy to disclose personal information about other banking customers, even if it was to return some missing cash. The manager also told Bobby something surprising…
Leaving It
Because the banker could not reveal any information on the person who may be missing this extra money, he informed the manager that he wanted to leave the money with him at the bank in hopes that its rightful owner might return to collect the funds…
Manager Refusal
He thought this seemed like a totally reasonable option, however, the bank thought otherwise. The manager told Bobby they could not hold onto the funds, claiming they didn’t want to be responsible for the money in the case that it was misplaced or reached the wrong hands…
Solving the Issue
Bobby was perplexed, after all, the bank held on to everyone’s money. He was a little annoyed at their carelessness in his attempt to do right, so he pushed them a little further and the banker then went to check the system to at least try to see whose money it was…
An Elderly Woman
Finally, the bank gave him some information. The stack of forgotten money belonged to a 92-year-old woman named Edith. Bobby thanked the manager and went to consider what he might do next…
Waiting Game
Still, the bank manager refused to keep Edith’s money. All Bobby could do was ask that a bank associate give him a call if Edith showed up back at the bank so that he could loop her into what had happened. Now, for Bobby, it was just a waiting game…
Down Time
After finding out that Edith was the rightful owner of the cash, he felt responsible to ensure she got every penny back. Fortunately, it wasn’t too long until the elderly woman make it back to the bank…
Getting the Call
Bobby’s phone rang just a day later—Edith had returned. Without wasting a minute, he jumped in the car and drove over to hopefully catch her…
She Was There
Bobby arrived happily to see Edith still there. Edith couldn’t believe her eyes, and she was so thrilled that Bobby had made such an honest gesture. She filled him in on a bit of a heartbreaking circumstance…
Ever Grateful
Edith was on a fixed income and money was tight. She had been down to her last $20 for the month before her encounter with Bobby. She tried to offer him that $20 to thank him for his honesty and the effort he put into making sure she got back her lost funds, but he, of course, refused, and instead, decided to do something else for Edith…
Another Plan
Bobby had told her that her smile and graciousness was enough for him, but that wasn’t quite the truth. He placed another call to the bank manager and asked for a favor…
A Kind Heart
Bobby had asked that the manager deposit $500 from his account into Edith’s. Knowing that she was struggling a bit, he wanted to help out this elderly woman. Edith was shocked…
A Reason
After she had told him about her money struggles, he wanted to help. All Edith was told was that a donation had been deposited into her account. She had a guess, but when Bobby admitted it was from him, she was brought to tears, and he has a particularly good reason for doing so…
Setting an Example
Bobby’s life was a bit complicated, but there was one special person in his life that always influenced him to make good decisions. His young nephew was very important to him, and it was important to him that he always set a good example for him. This was a good way to show him how to care for others…
A Good Lesson
Without children of his own, Bobby’s nephew was like a son to him. With Edith’s chance meeting, he thought it was a great opportunity to teach his nephew about doing things for those without expecting anything in return…
His Word
Bobby was a true believer in karma and that actions are far more telling than words. If he hadn’t live by such a strict moral code, he would’ve just as easily taken the money and never looked back. Because of his honorable actions, others were inspired to help, too…
Chain Reaction
When the folks in Bobby’s town discovered what he had done for Edith, they were inspired to do the same. To commend him for his thoughtfulness, they rallied together to do something too…
Helping Out
They had heard about Bobby’s kindness and gathered together to chip in small donations to help Edith get her bills paid. Then, someone else chipped in as well…
Inspired Act
One donation after the other came rolling in for Edith. The locals band together to help her out. Word had spread so much, that even the bank manager who had worked with Bobby that day chipped in!
Direct Deposit
When the banker had heard about the townspeople’s contributions, he took charge and collected the money the locals had raised. He added a donation of his own and deposited the full amount of $5000 into Edith’s account.
One Good Deed
Things surely happen for a reason. If Bobby hadn’t been the first to use the ATM after Edith, who knows what kind of trouble she could have been in financially. If someone less honorable had found the money, Edith could have been left with just that $20…
Domino Effect
Instead, his one good deed grew to many more, reaching so many people in her town. The 92-year-old was overjoyed and felt loved by so many people’s kindness. Instead of being down to her last $20, she now had not only her $500 back, but another $5000 to take care of her for quite some time…
Bills Paid
When Edith was asked about how she felt to have had the help of Bobby and so many people in her town, saying that when she lost the money she feared what could happen if her bills went unpaid. Luckily, with everyone banding together to help her out, she was in an even better spot now…
Doing the Right Thing
This whole ordeal taught the people of the town to do the right thing when put into situations like Bobby’s. Had he not done the right thing, Edith would have been down to her last dollar, struggling to get by.