A good deed

I took the bus to work almost every day, except on rare occurrences like if there was lot of snow on the ground and the city transportation stopped functioning, or if I had to go somewhere else that morning that perhaps the subway would get me to faster. I liked to sit in the front row to avoid the crowd that gathered in the middle but today the front row seats were taken so I made my way to the last row corner seat with the same goal in mind. I was exhausted this morning having run out the door before having my coffee and fell asleep within a few minutes.

The Diamond

I was awoken not more than ten minutes later to the sound of two women talking in front of me. I tried to readjust myself in this unfamiliar seat when my eyes caught a glimpse of something sparkling underneath the woman’s seat in front of me. I slowly bent down to take a closer look and my heart jumped in shock and excitement at what I was looking at, a pair of large diamond wedding rings.

I quickly scooped it up into my hand and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. I looked down again at my cusped hand, keeping it on my side against the wall of the bus, and slowly opened it. It was very clean, had a beautiful round shaped cut, exquisitely polished and cut, and was big too, at least 2.0 carat. This was a very expensive
diamond and someone somewhere was going to be bitterly upset when they discover that it is missing.

The Decision

The question now was what to do with it. I was holding in my hand something worth possibly at least $100,000. Should I give it to the bus driver and hope he has the good conscience to report it to the bus company so they can hold it for the rightful owner. What if he decides to just walk off with it? I would never know.

Maybe it belongs to one of the women in front of me. That could be a plausible explanation, but then again they could also easily lie about such a thing. I could just keep it for myself and pawn it off at any number of places and be financially set for a long time. As enticing as that scenario was, would I be able to live with myself?

How would I explain to my family and friends my sudden wealth? Perhaps I could put it away until retirement and then cash it in. My heart was pounding. My stop was coming up and I needed to make a decision.

The Answer

Finally, I decided just to give it to the driver and hope he is honest. Whoever lost it would most likely trace their steps and call the bus company. The bust came to a stop and I got ready to get off. Suddenly, the woman who was sitting in front of me starting shrieking loudly. “My ring, I can’t find my ring.”