Just Rewards: Banking On It?
If you do the right thing, should you expect to be rewarded?
Yes, say three men in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The men—all city-employed water department workers—were on the job when they discovered an abandoned safe at the side of a road. The safe had been stolen by robbers who broke through the wall of a local bank during a winter ice storm.
Inside was $11,000, credit cards, several bags of blank traveler’s checks, some presumably valuable watches, and bank records.
The three workers notified authorities of their find, and the stolen safe was returned to the bank.
But the story didn’t end there. Two of the three workers told the local newspaper they felt they hadn’t been properly thanked—by the city or the bank—and suggested that virtue might not be its own reward.
“We did the right thing,” said the 62-year-old supervisor of the group. “No one even knew that we were out there, and we (still) kept the money secure.”
Another of the men said, “We did the right thing, but are the other people doing the right thing? That’s my question to the bank.”
In response, the bank manager and the mayor offered thanks, but newspaper readers offered criticism. In a letter to the editor, one wondered, “Would they have not done it if they had known they wouldn’t get the proper praise or reward?” Another reader wrote, “They did the right thing. But do we have to be rewarded for doing the right thing?”
Tell us what you think: Should the men have been financially rewarded by the bank? If you found valuable property belonging to a bank or other company, but you knew in advance you wouldn’t be rewarded for its return, would that change the way you dealt with your find?
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Ego and Spirit
I think the greatest issues, here, are, the expectations and the shoulds of doing the right thing. Doing the right thing because you know in your spirit that it is good, kind and it adds to the level of trust in humanity. To me, that is the most important reward…to know within the self, that you did what was right and good. I think the expectations of rewards is of the ego and not the spirit. It’s great if the reward comes, but sometimes the rewards are hidden within the heart of the receiver. We never really know how much we can touch others lives. The greatest gift can be the gift of knowing what was done right or good, in your own heart.
Donna | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Karma and Science
Yes, the bible is full of glaring contradictions, I agree.
But, cause and effect are simple/complicated facts of life. If you wrong someone, that wrong is not easily righted. Attack a person, or steal their possessions, and enemies are etched in stone. How could anyone actually believe there are not repercussions for every deed?
Jesse B. Smith | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Setting the Example
I thing that the bank had an obligation to let people know loudly what these three men did. A small reward should have also been in order. All it seems to have done it reinforce my belief that the bank didn’t really appreciate it at all. I doubt that they men would have reacted any differently reward or not but I am sure they don’t feel the same about the community they live in give the lack of gratitude. The city and the bank should care about that!
Jeannie Stalker | 1 year, 7 months ago
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Re: Humility
Please re-read “humility”. I agree that the three men should just feel good about themselves for doing the right thing.
t.amerson | 1 year, 6 months ago
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The issue
I believe that the blue/white collar thing could be at issue here. These gentlemen were helping a group of people much better off than themselves and were likely stunned by the lack of gratitude. It may have injured their faith. I would expect better behavior. If someone else had spoken up for this honest gentleman it would have made a better story.
animal_lover | 1 year, 6 months ago
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Right and wrong
We know what is right and wrong. If you see someone drop a $100 bill, you know that saying nothing so you can pick it up is wrong. If you find a safe by the side of the road and you say nothing, you know that is wrong. Can you live with doing the wrong thing?
If you then report the $100 bill or the found safe, it’s nice to be thanked, it’s nice to be publicly praised but in reality, our reward knows that we did the right thing. Going to bed at night and knowing that we have earned a good feeling about ourselves. It’s really simple and looking for more only destroys the inherent value in doing the right thing when we make that correct choice in the first place.
Muffie Alejandro | 1 year, 5 months ago
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REWARDED...
I say, whoever they returned the money to, should and must reward these men, because whether they did it from the heart or not, returning something that could make a difference in some lives is awesome.
Sometimes others don’t know or understand how hard it is to give back something that can totally make a difference for that person when they find it. So, when and if they give it back, WOW!
There was probably a battle of thoughts as to whether to give or not, but if whoever finds it returned it, know that it must have taken that person sooo much to take it back.
I think, with no doubt, that the least they can do for those finders, is to help give some of that money or buy something as a token for being honest and giving it back without doubt.
Tia Anae | 1 year, 3 months ago
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happiness
I feel like doing the right thing, knowing that you love yourself enough to do the right thing, is rewarding itself.
lashun | 1 year, 1 month ago
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rejoiced reward
When you did the right thing,you received a reward from the LORD! Your payment in HEAVEN is much more rewarding than anything you will eventually leave behind! Would you rather them donate the money to a community that needs a center for youth (helping lives) or waste it being selfish?
BlaccWolf | 11 months ago
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USA
When a bank comes into money that was otherwise lost, their insurance more than likely may have fixed that loss immediately so they actually would have gotten over! I would bet that they never disclosed recovery to their insurance claim? Yes the men should have received 1/2 the cash right off the top. Banks do not always have good reputations, so in this case I personally would of found and returned everything but the money…………. who knows…
Mike
Mike Ledwell | 10 months, 2 weeks ago
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