Person Finds Wallet, Keeps Money, Sends Hilariously Honest Note

'I've never been so conflicted about a nice gesture'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2016 6:56 PM CST
Updated Feb 21, 2016 9:39 AM CST
Person Finds Wallet, Keeps Money, Sends Hilariously Honest Note
Stock photo   (Shutterstock)

A New York City resident was either the victim of an incredibly polite thief or the beneficiary of a terrible Good Samaritan, depending on your point of view. The New York Post reports Reilly Flaherty lost his wallet during a Feb. 5 Wilco show in Brooklyn. According to NBC New York, that would typically be the last Flaherty saw of his wallet. "Then, a miracle happened," USA Today states. "Well, a sort of miracle. A very New York miracle." Two weeks after losing his wallet, a plain white envelope showed up in the mail. Flaherty opened it to find his driver's license, credit cards, and a note. Flaherty thought the note was so bizarrely honest that he posted it to Instagram.

"I found your wallet, and your driver's license had your address, so here's your credit cards and other important stuff," the note reads. "I kept the cash because I needed weed, the MetroCard because, well, the fare's $2.75 now, and the wallet cause it's kinda cool." The note was signed "Toodles" from "Anonymous." "I've never been so conflicted about a nice gesture," Flaherty tells USA Today. Whoever found the wallet also apparently kept Flaherty's $10 Barnes & Noble gift card and loyalty card for a shoeshine business. "It speaks to the New York mentality: I'm going to be nice, but there's going to be an asterisk," Flaherty tells the Post. He had already replaced the license and cards by the time the note came in the mail, but it wasn't a complete loss. After hearing his story, the venue where Flaherty lost his wallet has offered him free tickets—and told him to leave his wallet at home this time. (More New York City stories.)

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