The Red Purse Adventure

All summer I have been looking for the perfect red purse. I had the perfect pink purse. Now, it was time to move on. So, for the last 3 months, I have diligently looked in every store I went to for the perfect red purse. Three weeks ago, I was in the mall with my friend looking for a new swimsuit (for her - definitely not me). I found that perfect red purse. The straps were the perfect length; there was the right number of zipper pockets; the perfect size. I would like to say it was divine intervention, but I know that really it's not on God's top priority list to make sure that I find the perfect red purse - especially with all that hunger, disasters, war and hatred in the world. Red purse....hungry children....red purse.....hungry children......Yep, pretty sure God doesn't put the finding of my red purse right up there, so, no divine intervention. It was a real highlight of my day, though. I carried the purse all around the store because I also needed a new wallet. My wallet was pink and huge but I think it would have clashed with the red purse.

I excitedly take the new purse up to the counter to pay for it. Everything was working fantastic. There was no line at the check out. Sweet. I was going to zip right out of this store with my brand new red purse and be on my merry way. No such luck. Guess what the purse was lacking? Of course it was - there were no price tags anywhere on the outside of the purse. I was heartbroken. All right, maybe not heart broken, but disappointed. The clerk began to open all of the wonderful pockets in the purse. As the clerk opened a secret small zipper pocket on the inside to look to see if the tags might be in one of the pockets, her countenance changed. She paused for a moment with her hand in my new red purse and very slowly pulled something out. As she laid it on the counter, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were 2 bank envelopes stuffed with cash. Yep. Cash. Moola. Dinero. Stone hard cold cash. I couldn't believe it. How lucky am I to purchase a purse that already comes loaded with money! Ha ha. I know, I'm a dreamer. The clerk started to count the cash - $300 in small bills - mostly $5's & $10's. She called over the manager and both kept saying things like, "Thank you for being an honest customer"; "Thank you for bringing this to our attention"; "Thank you for bringing this up to us so we could be alerted"....Honesty, honest customer, thank yous......blah, blah, blah. Really, ladies, I just want the red purse. Secretly, in my mind, though, I wanted the money, too. The manager proceeded to tell me that this was unusual (obviously) and she would have to put the money in the lost and found at the store to see if someone would claim it in 30 days. I would like to pause here to say, "Are you kidding me? Do you really think the money, cash money, is going to stay in the lost and found?" Now, I'm sure this store employs only the finest and upstanding citizens in the County, but it's cash. Who's claiming it from lost and found (1), and (2) do you really think it will be there in 30 days?

As the clerk proceeded to find another purse like mine (not a red one, mind you) and check me out it all started to hit me. I found a purse with $300 in the pocket. What if nobody claims the money in 30 days? Do I get to keep it? What about the person who left the money in the purse? What about the little old lady whose electric bill wasn't going to get paid and her electricity is going to get shut off? What about the little old lady who isn't going to be able to get her pills because she left her money in this purse? I felt bad. On the surface. Deep down I thought "Lady, if there were tags on that purse, I would have been walking to my car $285 richer" ($15 less because I was buying the purse for $15).....This begs the question to me, what IF I had gotten out of the store with the money? Would I have returned the money to the store? Would I have turned around and brought the purse back knowing that the money didn't belong to me? Of course as I was answering these questions I had to respond at least once that I had been tithing and giving to missionaries better than I ever have, so maybe this was my reward from God. Don't get spiritual on me. You would have thought the same exact thing. You, too, would have been quoting the verse about giving and how if you give, you will be given to. Nobody is that spiritual. Besides, I called a few of my spiritual friends - they all said that they would have thought the same thing - this was God's reward back to them.

Well, 3 weeks have passed and I've pretty much chalked the whole incident up to just another crazy thing that happens to me in my life. I did learn, however, from a good friend who works for a detention home for delinquent juveniles that this most likely was a drug drop situation. Someone leaves drugs in one purse and the receiver of the drugs leaves money in another to complete the purchase. I didn't go there in my head, but she is well versed in how these tricks work from dealing with the delinquent teens. I believed her. So, I felt better about the little old ladies in my head. Yesterday, however, I was in that store again. I couldn't help but think about the purse and wonder if my $300 was still there. Ha - "my $300"....funny. Well, the long and short of it is that I was right, there was no trace of it in the lost and found. What did I expect, right?

Funny how I think I have these high moral values (aka self righteousness and pride), but when push comes to shove, would I have returned $300 in cash, non-traceable cash, to the store in honesty because it didn't belong to me? 3 weeks later, when I had an unexpected household bill to fix my electrical power, $300 would have been helpful - but it wasn't mine.

Now that I know the story about how drug drops happen, maybe I didn't need $300 that was tied to that crime in my possession. Of course now I've been thankful that the money wasn't there. What if it had been a sting operation from the government? See, there my imagination goes wandering. A sting operation. I need to drink more coffee and take more of my anti-paranoid drugs. I'm a sketch. I do, however, love, love, love my new red purse. Too bad it doesn't come already stuffed with cash. That would have been awesome, huh?