Musing: An Exercise in Honesty

It happened while I was working out on an elliptical at my local Y. Sweating. Grunting. Groaning. Getting absolutely nowhere. The gist of exercise.

It’s not all bad. My Y has a great setup for ellipticals. They face a wall of windows overlooking a small park filled with cheerful people. Strolling along the paths hand in hand. Sitting on a bench reading a book. Listening to the birds sing. Enjoying the great outdoors.

Sort of the opposite of sweating, grunting, groaning, and getting absolutely nowhere inside a crowded gym with other people doing the same thing.

The ellipticals occupy the second row. Treadmills line the first row right up against the glass. Normally, they are filled with people walking, jogging, or running, but on this day, the beautiful autumn weather enticed most of them outside. Sure, they were still sweating, grunting, and groaning, but, outside, they went somewhere, even if it was just a giant circle on our greenway.

There I was, slogging along, when a young man stepped up to the treadmill in front of me. He extended his arm to settle his water bottle into the cup holder, but paused with a puzzled look on his face. He reached into the hole and extracted a handful of coins. A few dollars, at least, based on the number of quarters I saw.

But that wasn’t all. After setting his water bottle on the floor, he scooped more coins out. And more. And still more.

Finally, he held enough money for a meal or two. Quite the find.

That was intriguing enough, but it’s what happened next that surprised me. He didn’t look around to see who was watching. It didn’t matter to him who knew what he did with the found loot. He simply did what came naturally to him. He walked across the gym floor to the employee station and gave the cash to a trainer. He then returned to his treadmill and exercised, not another thought to the money he could have pocketed.

Even though a few weeks have passed since I witnessed this event, I can’t tell you what happened to the found treasure. Did the rightful owner return and claim it? Did it get passed on to a charitable cause? Did the employee pocket it? Did it go into a cash box at the Y and get used for some other purpose? 

What I know is the man, without anyone’s knowledge, simply did the right thing. He didn’t do it for recognition or reward. He did it because it was right. 

You might think he’s an exception, but research says that isn’t true. In a huge study involving 17,000 wallets left in 40 countries around the world, 71% of wallets with a hundred dollars cash were returned with the money intact. In fact, they found that the more money involved, the more likely the finder would seek the owner. Only empty wallets were returned less than half the time. 

Unfortunately, what we see on the news and hear on social media tells us about the bad in the world. Most people, though, are good. Honest. Trustworthy. What I witnessed may have surprised me, but he did exactly what most people do in that situation.

This Thanksgiving week, I’m giving thanks for all the small acts of compassion humans do every day. Returning lost cash. Holding doors. Letting people merge in heavy traffic. Picking up litter.

It certainly makes life a little better knowing kind people exist.

I doubt that man will ever read this musing. He never indicated that he knew I saw what he did. If he finds out, I hope he knows he made my day a little brighter.

I might still have been sweating, grunting, groaning, and getting absolutely nowhere, but I was doing it with a smile on my face and warmth in my soul.

If you’re in the U.S., I hope you, your family, and your friends have a terrific Thanksgiving. No matter where you are, pay attention to those doing the right thing around you. And do a little act of kindness for someone else. It makes the world better.

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