A tale of five dollars

After Bug’s pirate themed birthday party, I had a set of 8 loot bags and 8 treasure box kits left over. The bags were an entire unopened package, and the treasure boxes were extra’s from a set of 12, of which I had purchased two sets.

Because I didn’t know what to do with them, because I hate to waste, and because I am addicted to *bay (you know who I mean, I am trying to avoid unnecessary spamming here)... you can guess what I did. I listed them at 99 cents, or “buy it now” for $4.99.

So now, fast forward a week, to Saturday. 8 hours left to go on the auction, and while a couple of watchers came and went, the pirate booty remained with nary a bid or even a single question. The kids and I were due to attend a get together with friends, including a total of 8 kids. So. I had a brilliant idea that I could give each kid a loot bag filled with one treasure box kit and a few pieces of candy, and it would be like an early Halloween gift.

It was perfect! It satisfied my need to both a) bring joy to children and b) not waste.

So, I tried to end my auction, but alas with only 8 hours left on it, I was not allowed. I took a deep breath and thought – it won’t sell! If it was a hot seller, surely it would have by NOW! And I proceeded to give it all away.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I checked *bay Sunday and found that – yes – somebody had “bought it now” for $5 at the last minute. SHIT. Not only did I possibly ruin somebody else’s plans (the person who purchased it), but now my prided perfect rating of 171 feedbacks on *bay was at risk. Plus, I could have made $5, but honestly, that wasn’t what bothered me. It was mostly that somebody bought it on good faith, and I had let them down.

I was helpless to fix this the proper way. So, I did the next best thing - I wrote an apology, and refunded their money, plus some extra to cover their fee for receiving money via the online service they used.

SHIT. OK, did the best I could. But I still felt awful that I screwed up in such a stupid way. Stupid.

Later I took Bug to movie. We ate lots of dots and popcorn, and had a great time. He really liked the movie, Wallace and Gromit, and so did I. When we left the theatre, it was pouring rain, so we clasped hands and RAN through the parking lot to our van. As we neared the van, I looked down, and there, in a large puddle, was a five dollar bill.

Coincidental, no? I had a decision to make. I could either leave it there, or take it inside and turn it in. The one thing I could not do is keep it. I am a huge believer in “what comes around goes around”, you see. If I had kept that $5, I would have not been able to sleep at night. In my mind, it would have been cursed money. Not to mention that I already felt bad about the EARLIER $5 fiasco. But really, that was beside the point. So, I grabbed the bill, turned Bug around and we ran all the way back inside and took it to a window where a ticket clerk sat, getting further soaked in the process.

As I slid it in to her, explaining that we found it in the parking lot, she gave me a look of disdain. She then picked up the soggy bill in a pincer grasp, like I had just deposited a dead bug, gave me a brief fake little smile, and set it aside.

When I told Firedaddy about this, he told me I was crazy – that the $5 was going to dry out and become the property of that haughty ticket clerk. Maybe so. Probably so. But honestly, keeping that money wasn’t an option for me. As I said, I believe so much in “what comes around goes around”, it is unshakeable. If a waiter forgets to charge us for drinks on our dinner bill, I will bring this to their attention (yes, this has happened). If I am given too much back in change, I will give the extra back, even if I have to go out of my way. I cannot help it, If I don’t, it will haunt me.

And yes, FD made a correct point when he said these things are easier to do when I KNOW the money goes back to its rightful owner. Will the $5 bill I found actually get back to the person who dropped it? Doubtful, I know, but I do still hope so.

In the end, I do have to wonder – is there some sort of strange cosmic linkage between these two $5 events in one day? Or, if you are a religious person, the hand of God, perhaps? Was the $5 in the parking lot my repentance for the $5 pirate booty mistake (even though I had refunded it)? Or was it my reward for trying to make the booty mistake good (in which case, I just turned it down, so what does THAT mean?)

To add further to my confusion over what it all means, the purchaser of the pirate booty still gave me positive feedback. Bless their soul. I still don’t feel completely better, because, what a total screw up. I mean, I would be so disappointed if I was them. Oy. I'm glad that guilt-ridden day is behind me, although I still have no idea what to make of it all.