Lost and found.(The Goodness Of America)

It is not known if the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes ever found the "honest man" for whom he searched, but if someone were to resume that quest today, the Kalispell/Whitefish area of Montana might be a good place to start. For instance:

* On November 22 of last year, Kalispell resident Carmen Williams and her boyfriend, Jake Jensen, were preparing to leave for California the next day to attend college when, near a money drop outside First Interstate Bank on the city's main street, Williams virtually stumbled across a deposit bag. It contained $14,622 belonging to the nearby Wal-Mart where the couple had just been shopping. An armored car courier working for Security Armored Express (SAE) had inadvertently dropped the bag while transporting a deposit from Wal-Mart to the bank.

Williams and Jensen could have used the money, since their tight budget precluded even renting a truck for their move to California. Williams admits that it was tempting, but told the next day's Kalispell Daily Inter Lake, "I believe what goes around comes around. I would have felt guilty keeping it." The pair flagged down a Flathead County deputy sheriff who was driving by at the time and gave the bag and its contents to him. He, in turn, returned it to Wal-Mart.

A few months earlier, Wal-Mart had recognized SAE as its best armored carrier in the country. SAE president Bryan Sandrock told the Inter Lake that "making this type of mistake is not consistent with the services that earned that award, and we sincerely apologize to Wal-Mart." The Associated Press quoted him on November 26 as saying of Williams and Jensen, "We are delighted to be part of a community with such fine and upstanding citizens." He said that SAE was trying to contact the couple "to provide them a reward for their honorable actions." A few days later, the couple received $1,000 from the security firm.

Wal-Mart spokesperson Sharon Weber told the December 11 Inter Lake that her company was pleased that Williams and Jensen had been rewarded for having "acted out of true integrity. We're just really tickled to have honest people." SAE had, she noted, insisted that it provide the reward, rather than Wal-Mart, since SAE "wanted to step up to the plate."

* On the afternoon of April 5, another Kalispell resident (who has opted to remain anonymous) was driving along a rural Kalispell road when pieces of ...