Shopper returns clerk's lost diamond,ring donates reward to charity

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Posted on Fri, Dec. 23, 2005
Shopper returns clerk's lost ring
CUSTOMER TO GIVE REWARD TO CHARITY
By Kimra McPherson
Mercury News

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/13472786.htm

Wanda Estrada's diamond ring spent almost a week at the bottom of a paper bag. Now it's back where it belongs: on her finger. A San Jose woman returned the ring Thursday afternoon to the See's Candies store in Saratoga, surprising Estrada with the three-diamond band she'd feared was gone for good. ``I'm on cloud nine now,'' Estrada said. ``I'm going to be smiling all day.''

Thea Sawyer said she was buying Christmas gifts at See's last Friday, the same day Estrada noticed the ring had slipped off her finger. Estrada was sure it somehow dropped into a bag of candy she filled during the holiday rush.

It had actually fallen into the paper bag Estrada had given Sawyer to carry a gift basket out of the Prospect Road store. When Sawyer took the basket out of the bag Wednesday, she spotted the ring underneath. `I just by accident looked in the bag,'' Sawyer said. ``It was a lucky break.''

The story of the search for the ring had garnered national attention, and a jeweler, Helzberg Diamonds, had offered a $2,500 ring for anyone who came forward with Estrada's missing band. But Sawyer said she doesn't care about the reward, but would accept it if she could donate it to charity. She's just happy she saw Estrada's ring before the bag went in the trash.


Wanda Estrada calls her daughter, Lori Estrada-Kim, to tell her someone returned the ring she lost earlier this week. Estrada lost the ring when it apparently slipped into a customer's bag at the See's candy store where she works in Saratoga.

:toast:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Thank you for the great story, my dear Bush_Eats_Beef!

I always see these as evidence that people are much better, and more altruistic than we generally give them credit for.....

GREAT story!

:applause: :applause:

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. Yes, we need more stories like this...

...especially at this time of the year. So many people depressed, fed up...there ARE good people out there. On some days it seems like they're all in hiding, but they are there.

:toast:

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Most people are decent.

We tend to forget that when we hear about the human detritus and its activities.
The See's worker obtained the ring from her now dead sister and it had greater sentimental value than monetary worth.

[lovelaureng]

4. I really like this story.

It's nice to see someone do the right thing for a change without thinking about what's in it for me