It was the RIGHT thing to Do!

Reaching down to pick up the $50 bill I knew what I was going to do…

Two weeks ago, I had about 20 minutes between appointments, so I stopped by Costco real quick.  Yes, that might be an oxymoron a ‘quick’ stop at ‘Costco’, but I was disciplined I had 4 things to get Apples, Strawberries, Waters, and Pizza.  If you don’t have discipline and a list when you go to Costco you end up spending $200 at the blink of an eye.

In and out and then onto the rest of my day.

I walked into Costco while talking on the phone so I was on ‘auto-pilot’ and I was focused so I didn’t have time to shop and look for items. 

Checking out and ready to walk out of Costco with the receipt that they have to verify that you have the items that you paid for… nothing more, nothing less.  I do the quick pat down of my pockets to get my keys. 

Nothing.  I start to panic.  Then I look in the cart thinking they might be in there.  NOTHING.

I mentally run through walking into Costco.  I distinctly remember putting the keys in the cart in that top section, or atleast I thought that I remembered putting them there.

Realizing I couldn’t find my keys before I went through the final checker I start to get a little panicked.  I head back to the cashier to see if I left my keys at the register – wouldn’t be the first time that I have done that.  Nope, no sign of keys.

Then I reverse the path through Costco.  Looking on the floor.  I go to the waters to see if I put the keys on top of another case.  NOTHING… I head back to the ‘cooler’ area where Costco keeps the produce.  I look near the apples.  NOTHING.   I look near the strawberries.  NOTHING.

F.ck!  I then retrace my initial steps from entering Costco, looking on the floor.  Nada. 

Then, thinking I may have overlooked the keys.  I do the same thing in reverse.  I start from the entrance and retrace my steps.  NOTHING. 

I get back to the front of the store and head to customer service asking if anyone turned in keys.  I explained that I had them when I walked in, but no one turned them in. 

NOW I am pi$$ed.  At no one but myself.  If I wouldn’t have been on the phone.  If I would have paid more attention.  Why did I put the keys in the cart?  Did I put the keys in the cart?  Second guessing every move.  I walk out to the Yukon, maybe I dropped the keys there.  Maybe I left them in the car?  I pull up on the handle and the door was unlocked.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I did leave the keys in the car (wouldn’t be the first time I did this either).  Nope, no bueno.  Still no keys, but I was able to put the groceries in the car. 

Two laps around Costco.  Nothing at customer service.  No keys in the car. 

I sulk for 32 seconds and then I come up with a game plan. 

See, that is what I do.  What I’m good at doing.   

Things go wrong, or things go ‘not as planned’ about 200 times a day being an Entrepreneur and being in real estate.  If I let one incident sidetrack me I would be STUCK.  But that’s just what ‘we’ do.  We re-evaluate and react. 

I call Lou, my father-in-law, who was staying at our house and I ask him to get the spare key and run it up to SueMart who was having a meeting with Hashtag about some the direction of her position.  I was supposed to be at this meeting, but I had written an outline so the 2 of them were able to handle it without me. 

During this time, I walk around the store 6 more times retracing step after step.   

I had given the customer service lady my phone number, knowing at ‘some point’ the keys would turn up.  Someone would turn in the keys.  But I couldn’t wait all day for that to happen I had to move on with my day. 

An hour and 20 minutes after I first walked into Costco for my ’15 minute’ stop I’m sitting in my car checking emails and waiting for the spare key when I get a phone call, it is the customer service lady someone found my keys.  I call SueMart and she hasn’t left her meeting with Hashie yet, so I tell her to hold tight as they ‘found’ my keys. 

Head back into customer service and I get there the same time that the employee brings my keys up to the front.  I ask him where my keys were.  He said they were in an empty cart just outside of the ‘cooler’ area. 

GRRRRRRR… that makes sense.  I walked into the cooler having not yet put anything in my cart, then when I came out with strawberries, I must have grabbed someone else’s empty cart leaving my cart with my keys right there! 

No one’s fault but myself.   

It was because I was on the phone.  Because I was thinking about 1,000 things.  Because I didn’t pay attention to the details.  Some kind person saved my butt, he returned the keys. 

Yesterday, I was at Giant picking up some lunch items for the boys and again I had 15 minutes (you see a theme here?) before I needed to pick Alex up from a birthday party.  List in hand, tight schedule.  Only had 7 items to get. 

Then I’m walking through the produce section and something catches the corner of my eye on the floor.  “It looks like money” … “Hmm, let me get closer and check it out.” … “Holy crap someone dropped some money.” ….  

I reach down to pick it up, thinking I was picking up a dollar bill.  

And come to find out it was a $50 bill.  I looked around, no one was there.  Someone dropped a $50 bill!  Now, truth be told, if it was a dollar I probably would have just pocketed the money.  But $50.  $50 is a lot of MONEY!  I immediately remembered back to the time I was 7 years old and I was at the racetrack with my parents.   

Having grown up on a Thoroughbred farm going to the racetrack was common.  This time I had $20 in my pocket and we were in the arena where they warm up the horses and walk them around in a circle for everyone to view.  Being a breeder/owner, you are allowed to go down where the horses are and talk to the trainers and jockeys before the race.  I dropped my $20 and a few minutes later noticed I dropped it.  I saw one of the workers pick it up and immediately told my dad.   

The next time the guy came around the circle my Dad approached him and asked if he picked up the $20.  The guy said no, lying right to my Dad’s face.  I saw him pick it up and put it in his pocket.  My Dad was pi$$ed at the dude, “You are really going to take the money from a 7-year-old?”  If you know my Dad, he can be intimidating, but I was proud of my Dad he didn’t beat the guys a$$.  It was $20 and to me, it was everything.  But in the grander scheme of things it was ONLY $20 and was not worth my Dad making a scene. 

I still remember that a.hole to this day and how that made me feel.  Reaching down to pick up the $50 I knew exactly what I was going to do.   

I took the $50 bill to customer service and left it with the manager.  I could have easily pocketed it and no one would have been the wiser… EXCEPT FOR ME! 

It also reminded me of a quote I hear often from Gary V.  “Doing the right thing, is always the right thing.”   

Having returned the $50 bill to customer service yesterday was the right thing to do… Hopefully the money finds its way home to its rightful owner and that person and maybe that person is reading this story that is 35 years in the making from when I was 7. 

“Doing the right thing, is always the right thing!” – remember that quote!