Hidden Forty

I have a carpenter painting and doing some work on a door and equipment at our business. This morning as he was moving some cabinets he found some small towels wrapped up between the unit and the wall. When he unfolded the towels there was forty dollars in the towels. This happened right before I arrived. My wife was already there and told him he could keep the money.

The interesting part of the story is the particular renter that left this money behind was the evil one who was trying to steal and destroy our business just recently. Normally I return any lost money or goods to the rightful owner, but in this situation I never had control of the money in order to do so.

I asked the carpenter if he would like to wrestle me for the money, but he said no, that I would probably win!

So, anyway, I felt strange as I drove by other business where the evil person now works on my way to get fuel and breakfast, with a feeling of incompleteness knowing that I couldn't return the forty dollars to its rightful owner, no matter how despicable she might be.

Several weeks ago as Miss Despicable was trying to pay me for two weeks rent instead of one, and doing it a day earlier than normal, she accidentally gave me a fifty dollar bill in the mix instead of a twenty. When I pointed this out, that she was trying to pay me $30 too much, the other renters in the other room overheard our conversation and jokingly and veRy loudly chastised me, saying in siLLy grouchy overlapping unison, "WHY did you tell her?!?!? We could have had a party with that money!!!" - and they teased me again the next day when I collected their rent on the normal collection day.

I feel strangely sad today for a variety reasons, mainly grief at the recent loss of my friend and mentor Eddie. That has its own mix of problems with greedy people interfering who are clueless to the reality of business and the probate process. I am not sure I ever reaLLy have too many enemies, at least from my point of view, for veRy long at aLL.