SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

It was one of those days when you are going from one point to another and your mind is somewhere else. All the time, there are little worries. The question of whether I would have enough money to pay for the repairs was running through my head, so I went to the ATM to withdraw some cash.

As I approached the ATM, a man walked past me. He walked with hesitant steps, looking at his bag and phone in a somewhat confused manner. He looked like someone in a hurry, but something unexpected came his way and diverted his attention. Almost unconsciously, I glanced at him briefly. He didn't seem important to me. He was just one of the many faces you see and then quickly forget about.

I took a few more steps and turned the corner of the bank to the ATM. The ATM screen was on and it said: Do you have any other services to offer? For a moment I stood there in surprise. I hadn't inserted the card, I hadn't touched anything. In that moment, I was startled. Someone was just here. They had withdrawn money or performed some other service. There was no money in the slot, but there was a question waiting for me on the screen.

For a moment my heart jumped a little; not out of fear, but out of sudden clarity. Like when a picture is put together before the mind becomes aware of it. Someone had forgotten their ATM card. Maybe the man who walked past me, maybe someone else. Actually, it didn't matter. What was important was that the decision of what I was going to do now was in my hands, because the property of the person who had forgotten the ATM card was offering itself. Without thinking much, I pressed the key. No on the screen.

The cash machine buzzed. A foreign bank card peeked out of the slot. I didn't even check the name on it. I just squeezed it in my hand and inserted my bank card into the machine. A small piece of plastic, but it carried someone else's world inside it. His identity. His security. His effort.

After the transaction and the withdrawal with my card, I immediately put the stranger's card in my bag. I looked around. There was no one approaching the ATM. No one looking around in confusion. And even if I had seen someone like that, I wouldn't have handed over my card to a stranger, because I know that the bank knows who owns it. Because I know that they can call him from there right away. Because I know it's the right way to go.

I took the card straight to the bank branch where the ATM was located. Fortunately, it was open. If it hadn't been, I would have taken it to the police.

The bank was quiet. I was the only customer. Two bank employees behind a glass partition were dealing with a case. One of them was familiar to me, as she had helped me last week to sort out an app on my phone. I walked up to her and handed her my bank card, saying: »Someone left this card in the ATM. I interrupted the transaction and brought it to you right away.«

She took it, read the name on the card, then looked at me. I saw something in her gaze that you don't often see; gratitude and concern at the same time. It was as if a stone had been rolled away from her heart for a moment, but at the same time she was aware of how quickly this story could have ended differently. She nodded slightly and waved the card, saying that it would be in the right hands.

As I headed back to the car park, I felt no pride in myself for what I had done. I did not feel like a hero. I felt at peace. That deep, quiet peace that comes when you know you did something right, even though no one is watching and you could have chosen differently. It never occurred to me for a moment to pick up other people's money, even though I could have. Because it's not mine. Because someone worked to earn it, just like I work to earn mine. 

For me, honesty is an inner attitude that my parents instilled in me from a very young age. Even today, in middle age, despite life's many trials and injustices, I have not forgotten it. Integrity is choosing to do the right thing, even when you have the option to do otherwise. It is being true to yourself. And when you close your eyes at night and know that you have not taken what does not belong to you, you understand that this is one of the quietest but most powerful forms of wealth. Wealth that you can't get at any ATM.

Silva Pozlep