This really happened in Columbia, SC. I couldn't believe it when I read it. It just goes to show that there are some honest people in this world after all.
Tammy Kong had more than 11,000 reasons to panic and very few to expect a happy ending.
But these days, the Columbia restaurant worker is celebrating her confidence in humanity and a new friend.
“I think God wanted me to meet her,” Kong said of Aden Elementary School guidance counselor Dale McLendon.
Earlier this month, McLendon found $11,192 in cash Kong had dropped in the Dutch Square Center parking lot while taking the money home for safe keeping from the Super China Buffet.
“I sorta had a feeling that someone was going to return it to me,” Kong said.
That someone was McLendon.
The two women’s story and their eventual meeting began the weekend before last when Kong was on her way home after her Sunday afternoon shift at the restaurant. She had agreed to hang on to the restaurant proceeds while her father-in-law, who owns the business, was out of town.
Kong said she normally put the money in the passenger seat, but a friend was riding with her that day so she set it on her left side. She thinks the money must have fallen out of her truck when she was trying to secure the door, but she did not discover that it was missing until later that evening.
Meanwhile, McLendon had gone to the mall with her son, Robert McLendon, to buy him some tennis shoes. She noticed a small pink bag on the ground in the parking lot, picked it up and discovered the money.
“We, of course, panicked,” she said. “My son immediately told me, ‘Mom, we need to take this to the police station.’”
McLendon contacted Columbia police, who she said initially suspected the money might have been stolen.
“When I found it, I didn’t think about that,” she said. “I just wanted to get it back to the rightful owner.”
Police eventually were able to trace the money back to the restaurant by tracking a BI-LO card that was attached to a key chain in the same bag.
They went to the Super China Buffet where workers identified the keys as Kong’s. After verifying the money belonged to the restaurant, police returned it.
But when Kong heard that a woman had found it, she wanted to meet her and asked police how she might contact her. Once she did, she invited both Dale McLendon and her son to the restaurant where she treated them to a meal and gave them gift certificates worth $100. She also purchased a necklace, bracelet and earring set for Dale McLendon and two pairs of shoes for her son.
“She really didn’t have to do that,” McLendon said, adding she only did what she hopes most people would have in the same situation. “I really wasn’t expecting anything.”
But Kong wouldn’t hear of it.
“If she had taken the money, she could have bought a lot more than that,” she said.
Kong said it would have taken her at least a year’s work to repay the money.
Both women have vowed to keep in touch, agreeing that the money was not the only treasure in their encounter.
“We spent so much time talking,” Kong said. “She’s just so kind and honest.”
“We are going to be the best of friends,” McLendon said. “When we first met, I could tell she was a special person. I’m so glad that things worked out for her.”
Tammy Kong had more than 11,000 reasons to panic and very few to expect a happy ending.
But these days, the Columbia restaurant worker is celebrating her confidence in humanity and a new friend.
“I think God wanted me to meet her,” Kong said of Aden Elementary School guidance counselor Dale McLendon.
Earlier this month, McLendon found $11,192 in cash Kong had dropped in the Dutch Square Center parking lot while taking the money home for safe keeping from the Super China Buffet.
“I sorta had a feeling that someone was going to return it to me,” Kong said.
That someone was McLendon.
The two women’s story and their eventual meeting began the weekend before last when Kong was on her way home after her Sunday afternoon shift at the restaurant. She had agreed to hang on to the restaurant proceeds while her father-in-law, who owns the business, was out of town.
Kong said she normally put the money in the passenger seat, but a friend was riding with her that day so she set it on her left side. She thinks the money must have fallen out of her truck when she was trying to secure the door, but she did not discover that it was missing until later that evening.
Meanwhile, McLendon had gone to the mall with her son, Robert McLendon, to buy him some tennis shoes. She noticed a small pink bag on the ground in the parking lot, picked it up and discovered the money.
“We, of course, panicked,” she said. “My son immediately told me, ‘Mom, we need to take this to the police station.’”
McLendon contacted Columbia police, who she said initially suspected the money might have been stolen.
“When I found it, I didn’t think about that,” she said. “I just wanted to get it back to the rightful owner.”
Police eventually were able to trace the money back to the restaurant by tracking a BI-LO card that was attached to a key chain in the same bag.
They went to the Super China Buffet where workers identified the keys as Kong’s. After verifying the money belonged to the restaurant, police returned it.
But when Kong heard that a woman had found it, she wanted to meet her and asked police how she might contact her. Once she did, she invited both Dale McLendon and her son to the restaurant where she treated them to a meal and gave them gift certificates worth $100. She also purchased a necklace, bracelet and earring set for Dale McLendon and two pairs of shoes for her son.
“She really didn’t have to do that,” McLendon said, adding she only did what she hopes most people would have in the same situation. “I really wasn’t expecting anything.”
But Kong wouldn’t hear of it.
“If she had taken the money, she could have bought a lot more than that,” she said.
Kong said it would have taken her at least a year’s work to repay the money.
Both women have vowed to keep in touch, agreeing that the money was not the only treasure in their encounter.
“We spent so much time talking,” Kong said. “She’s just so kind and honest.”
“We are going to be the best of friends,” McLendon said. “When we first met, I could tell she was a special person. I’m so glad that things worked out for her.”
:thumb:
just goes to show you that theres still good people around. 
