Honesty is always the best policy

By Bob Stickley

Recently I came upon an incident at our local Wal-Mart store.

I had gone there with my three-year old grandson. We browsed about the store and bought a few items.

We went to the 20 items or less register on the grocery side of the store. The clerk rang up my items and gave me the price. I pulled out my wallet and paid the clerk, she gave me my change and bagged our items.

Then I picked up my grandson, all 36 pounds, and sit him in the cart and we headed out of the store.

When we returned home, we unloaded the items and put everything away.

It was then that I discovered my wallet was missing from my back pocket. I immediately called Wal-Mart and the clerk at the service desk told me that it had not been turned in to them.

We then got one of the floor supervisors involved. She and I backtracked the steps we had made and talked to several employees who had seen me at the register.

We then found the employee who checked me out earlier, but she had not seen the wallet either.

There was several dollars in the wallet, but that was not that important. Of course I didn’t want to lose my money, but I was much more concerned about the important documents in it, such as my credit cards, driver’s license, medical cards and Social Security cards.

If those had gotten in the wrong hands there could have been a great debt bestowed on me.

The Wal-Mart supervisor and her staff were very courteous and helpful, but after all the looking and backtracking, we decided the wallet had been stolen.

I started home, very dejected over it all.

I had told my wife if Wal-Mart or anyone called before I got home, get their number and I would call them back.

As I approached the railroad track by Mr. Wages’ old store, I got a call from my wife. She said an elderly lady called and wanted to speak with me.

My wife told her that I had gone to Wal-Mart because I had lost my wallet.

The lady gave my wife her number and asked that I return her call because she had my wallet.

After speaking with the woman, I immediately went to her apartment complex. As I arrived, a gentleman who had been behind me in line greeted me at the door and invited me to come in. He introduced me to his aunt and handed my wallet to me.

Everything was in place and there was nothing at all missing.

The man said he found it at the register.

His aunt told me that they were honest people who loved the Lord and no way would they have kept the wallet.

This story is about two very honest people and proves there are some good clean, honest folks still in Russellville despite all the corruption we have, with drugs working in the city.

I thought this was a wonderful story and I wanted to pass it on. May God bless these two honest people.