I am not going to lie, when I am busy with work, my training and my social life, I tend to be forgetful. My mind is racing and I am always thinking about other things rather than the simple fact to pick up my jacket from the chair or my wallet from the table. I have been fortunate and lucky that nothing significant has been taken when I have left it or it is still there when I go back to collect it. I get mad and frustrated at myself for leaving these things behind and I am constantly working on it.

Two weekends ago, low and behold I left my wallet at a restaurant. Due to my forgetfulness, this is why I do not carry cash in my wallet. Unfortunately, my friend had just paid me back $200 in cash (20’s to be exact) the night before and it was still in my wallet, plus all my credit/debit card, care card and driving license. I did not realize I had left my wallet at the restaurant until a couple hours later. After turning my house and car upside down looking for the wallet, I called the restaurant to see if it was there. IT WAS. Thank Goodness! I told the owner I would be down to the restaurant in 15min to pick it up. I arrived at the restaurant, was handed the wallet and everything was there except the cash. I was devastated. $200 is a lot of hard-earned money. The owner could see that I was upset and did not know what to do. Fortunately, a waiter was still at the restaurant that was there when the wallet had been handed into another waiter. She specifically said that she had seen the money and had put the wallet in a draw out of sight. So now what? I now know that when the wallet was handed in the money was in there; the owner also realized this and is now in a very difficult position. The owner called the other waiter who had received the wallet, and she admitted that she had seen the money in the wallet. The owner made the executive decision that the two servers would split the money to pay me back. I felt bad as these girls had worked an 8hr shift and had to give there hard-earned tips away. Once the other waiter returned to give me back the other half, she was much more determined to keep her “money”, she questioned my story, she guilt tripped the owner to suggest that I had gotten half of it back which was good enough, who then went on to say that these girls worked hard for their $1 tips. I was flabbergasted, as the owner had done a complete turnaround due to this one server. I held my ground as I felt it was unfair for one server to pay and the other not to pay. What was I to do? Eventually the server took a nonchalent attitude, pulled out a stack of 20's and gave me $100. This whole situation is crazy and nothing matched up. I was extremely suspicious of this second waiter because she had given me her $100 in $20 bills (which looked identical to what my money looked like), where the other server gave me her tips in $5 and $10 dollar bills. In addition, the reactions of the two waiters were completely different. The first waitress was close to tears when she gave me her money and the second waitress did not care at all (she had gained $100 out of it)
Before I left, the second server gave me the number of the customer who had found the wallet on the table. I immediately phoned her, as I honestly did feel bad that they had given me there tips especially the first server. She began to tell me that she did see the money in the wallet and is why she gave it in right away. She said she new exactly who had stolen it, as her server was the second waiter. She told me that she was going to go back to the restaurant and explain her situation from her side.

The following day the owner called me and apologized for his actions. He had handled the situation very badly and had fired the second server. I appreciated his phone call and that lessons were learned on both sides of the situation.

First Lesson:
Never have a large amount of cash in your wallet.
Second Lesson:
Remain calm and confident when you come across conflict. Listen to all sides of the situation and provide your response in an ethical manner.
Third Lesson:
Always inform your manger or boss of difficult situations, whether it is a wallet being handed in, a customer complaint, or a problem with a fellow co-worker. They are in that position for a reason.
Fourth Lesson:
Whenever I leave a place, I will always to do a mental checklist to make sure I have everything. I am extremely lucky and the next time I may not be as fortunate.