As a babysitter I loved New Year’s Eve. It was good money and not just because of the long hours. My regular families liked to combine all the kids at one house so they didn’t have to compete for my services. At my regular rate of $1.50 an hour, I could earn a whopping $20.00.
One year, three of my regular families combined their six kids to attend a large event in the city. It started to snow and they wanted to leave early so they asked if I could come before dinner and feed the kids. They came home at 2:30 a.m. after driving home in what turned out to be a big snowstorm. They pooled their money and the homeowner then reached into his wallet and handed me a $50.00 bill. It was the most I had ever earned in one night. As one of the parents was driving me home I reached for the money and realized that it was gone. I started frantically searching all my pockets and the he asked what was wrong. I told him I couldn’t find the $50.00 bill. He reassured me that it had probably fallen out of my pocket when I put my coat on and he would find it when he went back. When he dropped me off he replaced the money from his own wallet and said not to worry about it.
A few weeks later I babysat at that home again and asked if they had ever found the money. I felt terrible and asked her if she wanted me to pay it back but she said no. As we were walking out the door she warned me not to slip because it was icy. I looked down and there, under the ice just beside the porch was my hard earned and very cold cash, perfectly preserved.
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