No good deed goes unrewarded, the old saying goes. A less-old and more cynical variation ascribed to Oscar Wilde among others holds that no good deed goes unpunished. You can decide where along the continuum between reward and punishment a story out of Germany fits.
According to the German-language newspaper Bild as retold by Business Insider, a man named Anouar G., was on his way home from visiting his mother when he saw a piece of paper fluttering on the ground. He picked it up and found that it was a check made out to gummy bears maker Haribo from the German supermarket chain Rewe. The amount on the check was a staggering 4,631,538.80 euros, which translates to a tidy $4.8 million.
“There was such a large sum on it that I couldn’t even pronounce it,” Anouar G. is quoted as having told the German media outlet. He then contacted the candy maker, whose legal department instructed him to destroy the check — which Anouar G. did. He even sent a photo proof, as requested.
So how did Haribo thank the man for saving the company close to $5 million? They sent him a gift box that contained six (count ’em: 6!) packs of gummy bears.
