20+ People Who Just Wanted to Do the Right Thing but Ended Up in an Unexpected Situation

Returning missing items to their rightful owners is, indeed, an act of kindness, but sometimes, doing the right thing can turn into a situation with unexpected consequences. Some people may get a huge thank you that they didn’t expect, while others, on the contrary, get a whole lot of trouble.

We at Bright Side like stories with unexpected endings and are sincerely happy that there are so many honest people in our world. That’s why we’ve read, with big interest, the revelations of Internet users who decided to return their finds to the original owners and got impressions that will last them a lifetime.

• Once, when I was on a shift, my colleague was celebrating his birthday. Prior to that, everyone contributed some money to buy him a present. I didn’t give any because I was having financial issues at the time. In the evening, as everyone was celebrating, I went out for a walk. While doing that, my wife called me and said our kid was sick so I had to find money to buy medicine. I was walking deep in my thoughts when something familiar appeared at my feet. I looked closer and saw an iPhone 5S. I picked it up and realized that it wasn’t broken and was working perfectly. I had mixed feelings because that could be my money for the medicine if I sold it, but on the other hand, I knew I should return it to the owner. I came back into the room and put it on a table. I figured, if they call me, I’ll return the device, if not, I’ll keep it. After 2 hours, the phone started to ring. A young guy came to pick it up. At first, he decided to check whether I had stolen it or not and asked where I had found the phone. I told him everything. He said, “Okay, I believe you,” and gave me $100. I wanted to refuse it but my situation didn’t allow me to. © dda7 / Pikabu

• One client who was using the solarium before me left her ring in the room. It was very beautiful and apparently expensive...I rushed to her in whatever clothes I had on me. She was about to get into her car and leave. I don’t know what shocked her more, my look or my actions. © Katerina Grigoreva / Facebook

• My friend told me this story. Her son who works as a taxi driver was taking a large family of foreigners with small children and big suitcases to the airport. They reached the point, took the luggage out of the trunk, and he left. Halfway to the city, he suddenly hears some noise in the cabin. They forgot their smallest kid who was sound asleep! The driver turned around and rushed to the airport. There, he saw the whole family crying and talking to police officers. And suddenly he bursts in with the cradle! Such things also happen in real life. © Alina Kalina / Facebook

• This happened in my early twenties. One night, while out walking my dog, another dog runs up and starts to try and play with her. There was nobody else in sight and it was clear the dog was lost. There was a tag on her collar but I could only make out an address from the tag, no phone number or anything else. When I got there, I found a dark house with a “for rent” sign. The owner knew the dog and said it belonged to his previous tenant. He gave me her ex-boyfriend’s number, who forwarded her my number and she called back. Stephanie was flustered, crying, and thanking me profusely for keeping her “baby” safe and finding her. I gave her my address and she said she’d be right over. She turned out to be about my age and really cute. She was crying, hugging the dog, and thanking me profusely. Then she asked if she could use my bathroom and get a glass of water. To cut the story short, we started to date. © Anonymous / Quora

• Once, I was standing in a line at an ATM and there was an elderly couple in front of me. When they left, I came to the ATM, which withdrew a big pack of money. I called those people over and didn’t even touch the money. The man thanked me while the woman started to avidly count it and shouted that there should have been more! I said that the ATM has a camera that will show that I didn’t touch the money. Good intentions pave the road....you know where. © Irina / AdMe

• My kid found a phone in a taxi. When I asked, “What are we going to do with it?” He replied that we indeed needed to return it. In the contact list, we found the contact, “mom,” so we dialed the number and told her where to pick up the phone. 5 minutes later, the husband of the woman who lost the phone called back and started to yell. He said he was a taxi driver and was giving a lift to his wife and she left the phone in the car, which means my son had stolen it. Finally, when he came to take the phone, we heard many unpleasant things about us instead of getting a simple “thank you!” © Overheard / Vk

• Today at 11:30 a.m. my boyfriend and I found this puppy while walking our dog. We knew if we lost our dog we would be frantically looking for her so we took action immediately. We put up signs around the neighborhood, posted on various websites, took her to the vet to see if she had a chip, and let animal control know we had her. The owner called at 2:30 p.m. Turns out she lives just a block away. The owner says, “Are you in a hurry to get rid of her? It’s my day off and we want to go get something to eat.” I said we could watch her for a while. We fed the dog a little and gave her water. She looked a bit malnourished to me and she scarfed down her food. We let her in the house but learned after a few accidents she was not at all potty trained. At 8:30 the owner picked her up. The woman said the dog climbed the fence sometimes. I hope she comes back to us. And if she does, I just might keep her. © breez7768 / Imgur

• I found a wallet near a shop. When I reached the office, which was close to that place, and opened the wallet, I found 2 insurance policies for children and some other trifle. I asked the office chauffeur to take the find to the owner at the provided address. He came back angry. Turns out, when he was giving the wallet to the owner, she instantly started to yell, saying there were gold earrings in it and that she would sue us. The earrings were found in a small compartment. Such things happen too. © Elena Abramenko / Facebook

• I once found a wallet with what looked like $1,000 in $100 bills in it. I was in a mall sitting on a bench when I found it. I figured whoever lost it would come back looking for it. Sure enough, after a few minutes, a woman with a wide-eyed panicked look came looking around the bench. I said, “You must be looking for this!” She shot me a suspicious look while she snatched it from me and hurried off. You’re welcome, I thought with an eye roll....sheesh! A simple thank you might have been nice. Anyway, I gave myself a pat on the back...© Kerwin Tuazon / Quora

• Years ago, when I was in the merchant marines, I got off a ship in the Persian Gulf with some shipmates and we all headed to the airport together. So we are getting ready to board the plane and the chief cook slings his backpack over his shoulder and his wallet, which contained 6 months of wages with overtime (probably $15,000 cash), falls out and hits the floor. He doesn’t even notice it and just walks off. I scooped that up and chased him down. He was shocked to see me with his wallet. First, he had no idea he dropped it, and second, he didn’t know that someone would be so honest and give it back with that much money. It was half a year’s work for this guy, how could I keep it? © unknown_user / Reddit

• This happened around 2003 in Hawaii. I pulled up to the gas pump as soon as the SUV in front of me left. While pumping gas, I noticed a fat, red wallet sitting on top of the pump. I took it and finished pumping my gas. After, I took it into the store because I knew a very trustworthy woman who was working that morning, Chris. By the time I walked into the store, I discovered the wallet belonged to some people from Maui and it contained $2,250 cash. I gave it to Chris as I figured the owner would surely be back soon. The next week, she told me that afternoon, a very desperate man rushed into the store and asked about the wallet. Chris gave it to him and he was in disbelief that all the money and cards were intact. He gave Chris his number and told her to have the finder call him. I was not going to call but my girlfriend talked me into it. He sent me a check for $200 and I took my girlfriend out for a very nice dinner. I tried to give Chris the remaining $75 for being a decent person but she refused. © David Powell / Quora

• About one year ago, I found a phone. It was locked. I put an advertisement in an online public group on the most popular social media site and waited. Many people wrote to me but the following message was the most outstanding:
  — Hi, you posted that you found a phone. Where can I pick it up?
  — Please come by this address and make sure to bring the documents for this phone.
  — I don’t have the docs.
  — Well, I hope you know the code to unlock the phone?!
  — No.
  — What do you mean?
  — It’s not my phone.
  — Wait, it means you want to take a thing that isn’t yours?
  — Yep...
  The end. © Uramer / Pikabu

• I found a cat on my porch that was a lost animal once. I called the owners to come pick it up and told them to hurry because I couldn’t get near the animal. It would hiss and try to scratch me every time. The owners came and got her, and it turned out she had given birth to kittens under a flower trellis, that’s why she was so pissed every time I came near. She scratched the s*** out of her owners when they went to pick her up. They did not offer a reward, but they asked if I wanted a kitten. I ended up with a small male kitten to gift my cousin. I really wanted to keep the little guy, but my dogs did not like cats at all. © Samgarrison / Reddit

• About 20 years ago, I found a very expensive platinum, diamond, and sapphire “tennis bracelet” while shopping. I picked it up, examined it, and put it in my pocket. It had to be worth thousands of dollars. What to do? I really wanted to keep it. I could sell it and use the money. I knew, however, that someone was likely completely devastated by losing this valuable item. I went home and then called the store and left my full name and my telephone number in case the owner came to them. About a week after, I got a phone message from a young woman who described it, so I gave it to her. That’s the end of the story. No regrets, no reward (I didn’t really care, although it would have been nice) and that was the end of it...or so I thought!
  Fast forward to about 10 years later. I’m working out, lifting weights in my local gym. I’m talking to a man named “Sam,” a super nice guy who was a former secret service agent. He asked me what I did for a living. I told him my name and that I was a trial lawyer handling accident, injury, and malpractice cases. He suddenly looks straight into my face with a look of shock and surprise. “Did you find and return a tennis bracelet about 10 years ago?” Whhaaaat? You have got to be kidding me, I thought. “Yes,” I replied. “That was my daughter whose bracelet you returned!” Wow! Instant friends. Instant respect. Instant “street cred.” Amazing, true story! © Daniel Buttafuoco / Quora

• Oh, I’ve returned lots of things to their rightful owners. One time, I found a purse containing $680 in CASH. I found the driver’s license, got the name and address, looked it up in the telephone directory, called the person...and returned the purse, and EVERYTHING that was in it — and I was glared at for going through her purse. A “thank you” would have been nice. © James T. Bawden / Quora

• I found a golden earring at a bus stop and decided to find its owner. I put ads in various online public groups and said I would give it back if they provided the photo of the same earring or its match. So I get a message saying it was their friend’s earring who lost it at the same time and was in the same place but she couldn’t send the photo because her phone didn’t have a cam. I gave her my address. In the evening, a 50-year-old woman came to me and gave me a box of chocolate candies.
  “I would first —” I tried to start.
  “Take it, take it. I bothered you so much. Here is the second earring,” and she showed one.
  It was the same earring! I gave the one that I had found and we said goodbye to each other. The nice thing about this situation was that I had been given chocolates before she found out whether it was her earring or not. I didn’t ask for this woman’s name but I am thankful to her for having such a nice approach. © volchek1024 / Pikabu

• It happened in 1975. I found a wallet. I came home with it and didn’t know what to do. My father took the wallet and we went back to the place where I found it. When we went back, we saw a man running around in his underwear. Turns out, his kids threw out the wallet, which had the money for a car in it. We returned the wallet and the man was extremely happy. My dad passed away 16 years ago but we still keep in touch with that man. © Lira Sultanova / Facebook

• I was coming from the airport with little kids and huge bags — we were moving to a different city. We found the taxi driver on the street. Eventually, I forgot my bag in his car that had all our money in it — $25,000, golden jewelry, and documents. The driver was searching for our apartment all over the building until he found me. He stretched out his arm with my bag in it and only at that moment did I realize that I had left my bag in his car. He turned around and ran away, while I couldn’t even process things. I was tremendously shocked. I wanted to find him later by putting ads in newspapers but settling in my new place took too much energy. Anyway, I wish all the best things for this person. Let his kids and grandkids be the happiest and let him meet people only as good as he is. © Dilbar Zeynedenova / Facebook

Have you ever found and returned other people’s belongings?