Honesty is still the best policy......

I love the "friends" series. One episode comes to mind today. I remember an episode where Phoebe ends up with money accidentally being deposited into her bank account, and when she calls customer service to rectify the situation, instead of withdrawing the accidental cash, they end up depositing the same amount again doubling her accidental increase. She was frustrated because she didn't want the extra money and nobody at the bank would take it back. That is what has happened to me-------kind of. When my kids finish summer school the money they earn is put on a debit card credited with the amount of money earned. Shawn and I don't want our kids to think all money is just on cards, so we give them the cash and then use the cards ourselves. I went to Walmart wednesday night. My total was $58. I used the card I had for $75 leaving me with a balance of $16. Last night I went to walmart to buy some things for our trip. My total rang up to $94. I was planning on using the balance on the one card, and then just paying for the rest with another debit card. When I swiped my card and signed my name, the card took longer than usual to clear. When it cleared it came up as paid in full. I mentioned to the cashier that my card only had a balance of $16 and I owed her a lot more money. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It cleared. If you really want to I guess you can go to customer service". She made it sound like I should just be happy it cleared and leave the store. I can't do that. My conscience won't let me. So I head over to customer service where they tell me to call the number on the back of the card, maybe there was more money on it than I thought. I called the number on the back. The customer service rep told me their services were down and I'd have to call back tomorrow. Today is tomorrow, so I called back. They told me they have no record of last nights transaction and that I have a balance of $16. Okay, I still can't let it go at this point. I call Walmart. I tell my story to 3 different people and am then passed onto accounting. The lady in accounting tells me there is nothing I can do. Maybe they don't understand people trying to give them BACK money when most of their litigation suits are due to people wanting money back themselves? I've tried everything. Apparently nobody wants this $94 that is floating around somewhere in space unclaimed. I suppose I could take a check for the amount owed and try to give it to a clerk, who in turn would question me as to where the goods were I intended to purchase. I feel that now I owe it to myself to have a clear conscience because I've exhausted my efforts. Secretly, a part of me is thinking of what else I should have bought last night that would have cleared on that card. I guess I'm honest, but I'm also human.