Ethical Dilemma at the Fair

The swings are always a favorite.

My son must have ridden this think two dozen times.




The other day, shortly after I rolled down my driveway to begin a bike ride, I grabbed my brakes to stop because of something I saw in the road: a five-dollar bill.

When I ride, I stop to pick up the discarded change I see on the road. That includes pennies. Yes, I know some people will tell me (correctly) that picking up pennies is a waste of time. I do it anyway.

Nickels make me feel pretty good when I pick them up, and dimes make me feel like I'm breaking even. Quarters are not as rare as the Holy Grail, but when I pick up one of those babies, I feel like I've locked in a profit. So you can imagine what finding five dollars on the road felt like.

Once, in the late 1970s, as I was walking to the neighborhood candy store, I found four dollars on the part of the route where the sidewalk gave way to a well-worn dirt path. I still remember that day vividly, and that was 30 years ago.

So my bike ride started out on a high note. And then, as I pedaled down Route 9 in Williamsburg, I came across another interesting item in the road: a wallet. I picked it up, took a quick look inside, and then put it in my pocket, which made riding a little bit more difficult.

I rode further down the road into Williamburg Center with the idea of turning the wallet in to the police department. But I couldn't find the police station. I looked at the owner's driver's license and saw that she lived in Williamsburg, but I didn't recognize the street. So, I rode home and figured out my next move.

I checked the phone book, but she wasn't listed. I checked online; still no success. I got into my car and drove to the address on the license, but while I could find the house at 25 on the street, her license said that she lived at 25 1/2, which I didn't see.

Defeated, I drove back to Northampton to the police station and turned in the wallet there. I'll admit that I was looking for some recognition of a good deed done--not money; I would have refused that--just some kind of acknowledgement, which the officer behind the glass didn't give me.

Does it count as a good deed if no one sees it?

I mention this by way of prelude to what happened on the midway at the Three County Fair yesterday. This was my second straight day at the fair with my kids, and my youngest son was obsessed with trying to win a jersey at the bounce-the-ball-off-the-easel-and-get-it-into-the-basket game. Just as I relented to letting him give the game a try, someone else got the ball in the basket. In the excitement, the carney running the game (or whatever his official title is) gave me back my change twice. In essence, we played the game for free. We didn't win a jersey, but we walked away winners, right?

Should I have said something and done the right thing? We'd spent hours listening to the games-people's pitch: everybody wins! Give it a try, Dad! Only $3! And in exchange for my money, we'd gotten lots of crap in return.

Should I have said something and done the right thing?

I think I did.