Show Me Who You Really Are

Hello there. You’ve found me. It must be your lucky day. What you are about to unfold is meant for your eyes, and yours alone. So please, follow what I say exactly, and your reward will be generous indeed.

“Is this a joke? A game?”, Mr. Brown thought to himself. It was a gloomy Friday. While walking along his usual morning trail, he stumbles across a little black notebook, beautifully crafted with Italian leather, and in what seems to be pristine condition. After reading those words, his initial instinct is to put the notebook back where he found it; but curiosity got the best of him, and he continued on.

You have 24 hours from the time you open this notebook to complete the tasks below. Each assignment must be finished in the order I’ve outlined for you. There are no shortcuts. So let’s get started, shall we?

1. Purchase a black coffee and donut to-go at Jimmy’s diner.

As Mr. Brown finishes his purchase and walks away, he notices the cashier gave him way too much change back. He returns the money and the cashier feverishly thanked him for his honesty. She was new on the job and wanted to make a good impression.

2. Visit the bank on sunset drive and withdraw $100.

Mr. Brown pulls up to the drive-through ATM prepared to make his withdrawal but notices an all-black container on the ground with a label on top that read $10,000. He exits his vehicle, retrieves the container, and decides to take it inside to the bank teller. After a few minutes of investigation, the bank realizes this was missing from a cash deposit delivery early that day. They thanked him for his honesty. It could have been a significant loss for the bank.

3. Go to the local gym and workout for 1 hour.

After working up a sweat, Mr. Brown heads to the men’s locker room to shower. When he opens the locker, he sees a stunning gold wedding band inside. “My wife would kill me if I lost my wedding ring!” he thought to himself. He takes a shower, gets dressed, and turns in the ring to the gym manager. The manager thanks him for his honesty. The ring had a very unique design and it turns out he knew exactly who to return it to.

“Wow, I can’t believe I just shaped my whole day around some random instructions from a lost notebook!”, says Mr. Brown. “Wait until I tell my wife about this.”

Exhausted from the day’s activities, Mr. Brown returns home and begins to sort through the mail; which these days is nothing but a sea of letters stamped with the words “Past Due” or “Final Notice” in bright red ink. After Mrs. Brown fell ill and needed around the clock care, money was stretched thin. Mr. Brown let out a deep sigh as he went to prepare for bed.

It was now Sunday morning. The air was crisp and sun shining bright. Mr. Brown got dressed and went on his usual walk along the trail. As he approached the area where he had found the notebook just days before, he sees a man sitting on the nearby bench staring back at him.

“You don’t know me, but I’ve been watching you.”, says the man in black. “I had to be sure you were the one. You’d be surprised how much you can learn about a person’s character in just 24 hours.”

The man in black handed Mr. Brown a grey duffle bag and insisted that he not open it until he returned home. Mr. Brown complied, and when he saw what was inside the bag, his eyes instantly began to water. There was $20,000 and a note inside. The note read:

Thank you for staying true to who you really are.