in america

So I had lunch today at the little place where I often go. I had a Korean noodle soup, and it was good.

When I was sitting there waiting for my food the lady came out from behind the counter to ask me if I had dropped $20 as I was paying for my food. I was pretty sure I hadn't, but I checked my wallet anyway. No, wasn't mine. I told her so.

At that moment the guy sitting at the next table asked where the bill had been found. She told him on the floor. He said he thought it was his; he had kept $20 in his pocket but hadn't been able to find it when he was going to pay so he had had to use a credit card instead.

Great, guy got his money back, everyone was happy.

The American part of this story? After he had gotten his money back, and he had put it away, the guy turned to me. "Thank you for being honest", he said. "I really appreciate that." And I said that of course I wasn't going to take money that wasn't mine, blah blah. And we told each other to have a good rest of the day and then he left.

Americans like to thank each other for things. I really like that habit. It only takes fifteen seconds but it makes a world of difference.