Good conscience. (The Goodness of America).(lost money returned)(Brief Article)

Jarvarious Jones and Oscar Carter, both 13, are 6th graders at Greco Middle School in north Tampa, Florida, The two friends were on their way to school on February 13th when they noticed a soiled paper bag in the street near their bus stop. Curious, they picked it up, peeked inside, and were startled to find four envelopes stuffed with $100 bills totaling $4,000.

They momentarily considered keeping it, but as Jarvarious later explained, "I knew I had to turn it in because it didn't belong to me." Oscar affirmed that his mother had taught him that same important principle. They stuffed the money into their pockets and, upon arrival at school, turned it over to an assistant principal. Though a few schoolmates teased them for not keeping the stash, they both insisted that they would do the same thing again if tempted similarly in the future.

The money belonged to Chicago resident Andrew Pride, 72, a semi-retired car salesman. During a golfing vacation, he had withdrawn it from his bank account intending to purchase traveler's checks. Running late for breakfast with his golfing buddies, however, he decided to wait until later. The paper bag apparently slipped out of his jacket on the way back to his hotel room or the restaurant.

After noticing the loss, he checked the room, the restaurant, and points in between, but to no avail. He assumed that the money was gone for good, believing that if someone found it he would never turn it in. When he learned two young teens had found it and turned it in, he could hardly believe it. St. Petersburg Times staff writer Tamara Lush reported on January 19th that "Pride is still stunned that the boys, whose families could have used the money, turned it over to authorities." During a telephone interview after his return to Chicago, he told Lush: "I couldn't imagine it at all.... I wouldn't think they would turn the money in."

On ...