DEAR ABBY: Honesty pays. I received a call today from a gentleman who had picked up a large cardboard box that I had left at the recycling center.
When he removed the Styrofoam "peanuts" to pack his merchandise, he discovered a large summer sausage from a well-known company. Instead of playing "finders keepers" and enjoying the sausage himself, he took the trouble to look at our address on the packing label and find our telephone number in the directory.
How fortunate for him that he was so ethical! The sausage had been a Christmas gift from 2004, which we had overlooked when we unpacked the box. It sat in a storage area, unrefrigerated, for a year when we decided to recycle. Had he munched on that morsel, he would surely have gotten his "just desserts."
Instead, he received a nice chocolate fudge cake from us as a reward for his courtesy. -- OVERHASTY RECYCLER IN NEW MEXICO
DEAR OVERHASTY: Yes, honesty pays. And the man received a sweet payoff for his virtue. Thank you for relating a morality tale we should all digest.