The luck changed for Billy Ray Harris one day last month when the usual tinkling of coins being dropped into his beggar's cup on a plaza in Kansas City was punctuated by a slightly heavier clunk. A few minutes later he looked inside and spied a woman's engagement ring with a tidy-looking rock.
The first thought of a man begging to survive might have been to run to the nearest jewellery shop. And that is what Mr Harris did. But when he was offered $4,000 (£2,600), a better instinct took charge. He kept it in case the owner came back.
Thus began an urban fable that has captured the hearts of America. Whatever impelled Mr Harris to turn down the cash – he has attributed it to the pastor grandfather who raised him – he has been repaid. Six weeks later he has been reunited with long-lost siblings, he has a home, a job, and enough money to retire from begging.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/luck-changes-for-billy-ray-harris-the-homeless-man-who-returned-an-engagement-ring-dropped-into-his-beggars-cup-8548963.html
Comment left on article, here copied not to bum the party, but to ponder:"So sharing wealth with one deserving person make Americans feel all warm and fuzzy, but sharing wealth with the other thousands of people on their streets would be pinko commie socialism?"
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