By Catharine Huddle
The Lincoln Journal Star
LINCOLN, Neb. — Every now and then a bright spot appears in a world where the news is mostly grim and it seems winter will never end.
Retired Lincoln firefighter Mark Munger got home from running errands the other day and realized he’d lost a $100 bill.
Even though he knew it was a lost cause, he called the store he’d been in to see if anyone had turned in a bill bearing the likeness of good old Ben Franklin.
“Then, a couple hours later a 308-number popped up on my phone and ... this gentleman, this young kid named Paul Hamilton from Sidney ... was saying he had found it.”
Hamilton, a junior marketing student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a high jumper on the track team, had spotted the bill while stocking up after Christmas break.
“I saw it and I had to look twice, and I thought, ‘Geez, what do I do? I don’t want somebody else to pick it up,’ because right away I figured I’d call the next day or something,” Hamilton said.
First, he called his mom, who, of course, advised him to do the right thing.
“My conscience, I would have been bothered if I hadn’t made an attempt,” Hamilton said.
So, even though he admits keeping it did cross his mind, he made the call.
A delighted Munger picked up the Ben Franklin and handed over an Andrew Jackson to reward the young man from Sidney.
“My thoughts were ... there’s so much pessimism in this world and this kid, I thought his honesty was over the top,” said Munger.
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