The other day I got a letter from my university that said that I had a check that had never been cashed. It didn't say why it was issued, it just said that it was for $100.
So today I go to the accounting office and ask what it is supposed to be about. They tell me it is for a class I was in. But when I was in the class I had a special role and didn't travel, while all the other students did, which is what I supposed the money was for. In any case, my professor had never mentioned anything about money to me, so I thought I probably didn't deserve the money.
However, the lady at the desk said I had to turn in the form to claim my money, so I filled out the form, turned it in, and then went to find my professor.
I talked to him about the check and he seemed confused at first, but then I reminded him what class I was signed up for. His first response seemed to be, 'oh well, enjoy your money,' and that he didn't want to be bothered with the trouble of fixing the issue, but I told him that it seemed wrong to take money that was clearly for travel expenses that I never incurred. He ultimately agreed and said that I should go down to the accounting office and explain the situation, which I did immediately after.
I wasn't going to share this story, but then I thought of all the crap we usually see online. Too often people think too much about 'what's in it for me' and don't care about what is right or wrong morally, just what they can get away with legally, and stories of that get posted all the time. We need more people to stand up and represent what they believe to be right, even if most of these people would think it to be 'bragging' or 'self-righteous.'
So I hope some people like me read this and have their courage bolstered to do the right thing, even when it isn't the easiest thing to do. Communities like this are full of people who do the right thing, people who do giveaways out of their own pocket, and share with those who have less, and give good deals on hardware because they know it will go a good place, even if they know they could get twice as much or better on eBay.
That's all. I'm not so good at endings.