Chick-fil-A Employee Returns Nearly $10,000 Found in Bathroom
An 18-year-old Chick-fil-A employee in North Carolina made headlines after discovering almost $10,000 in cash in a restaurant bathroom during his break.
On Good Friday morning, Jayden Cintron was on his typical shift when he stepped out to use the bathroom. He came across a startling find: two envelopes—one marked First Citizens Bank and the other Trust Bank—holding a total of $9,333.
His initial reaction? “Okay, no, that’s not going to happen,” he recalled, feeling something was off. Instead of keeping the money, Cintron chose to turn it in to the restaurant’s human resources department to ensure it was returned to its rightful owner.
After some back-and-forth, the owner, grateful for the employee’s honesty, offered Cintron a $500 reward. Though he initially declined, claiming he didn’t expect anything for doing what felt right, he eventually accepted after the owners insisted.
Cintron mentioned that he felt shaken when he found the cash, but he was certain about what was right. “Jesus wouldn’t have done that. That’s not what God wanted,” he said, reflecting on his decision.
This incident surprised many, including local police and the restaurant’s management. Kinston Police Chief Keith Goyette praised Cintron’s integrity, noting that many might have chosen differently in that situation. “I salute the Chick-fil-A employee. He definitely deserves to be compensated,” Goyette stated.
John McPhail, the restaurant owner, echoed Goyette’s sentiments, emphasizing that true leadership involves doing the right thing when no one is watching. “Jayden did that in this case and he should be commended for that,” McPhail added.
Though situations like this are rare, they do occur. In 2022, employees at a hardware store in Tennessee went out of their way to return $700 in cash to a customer who had lost it, while another good Samaritan in New York City returned a wallet containing $4,000 that a commuter had dropped in Times Square. These instances remind us that honesty and kindness still thrive in unexpected places.
