(Sterling) Silver Lining

I get overwhelmed with a sense of guilt when I accidentally litter... maybe a gum wrapper falls out of my truck when I open the door up and blows across the parking lot and I wind up chasing it... or maybe when my tampon goes flying out the window and I wind up stopping and backing up (over it).  Point is, I hate littering, doing it or seeing it, especially cigarette smokers who fling their butt and don't think that is qualifies, but it does (with a $300 fine attached).  So it's very difficult for me, when I'm cutting grass to not pick up litter that I see... partly because I need all hands to continue what I'm doing and partly because the maintenance guys are supposed to do it but it would require them to pull their head out of their ass first to see it.

The other day, I was parking in the middle of the parking lot and pulled up next to a bag full of garbage.  Afraid that someone would see me blatantly not pick it up, I did.  Curiosity took over and I looked inside, expecting to see someone's leftover lunch or maybe an unwanted newborn, and I was surprised to see what was in there... 50 pieces of various silverware.  And upon further inspection, they were solid Sterling silver, and individually wrapped (like an unwanted newborn) in felt.  After asking several people if anyone reported them lost, I looked them up on the internet and they wound up being from a 1912 collection of Gorham silverware.  Banged up and tarnished, I decided to go the route of scrapping them and found a jeweler who does that.  When I realized that it weighted 69 ounces, the street value was $2,000, of which I was paid a little over $400 for my find (since they only pay out 20%)... I almost shit a brick (gold).

I never win anything... I wasn't born with a silver (Sterling or otherwise) spoon in my mouth and I'm not going to feel bad about my win.  Things happen for a reason... maybe I was rewarded for my litter congeniality.