An 18-year-old Chick-fil-A worker in North Carolina made a surprising call after stumbling on nearly $10,000 in cash left behind in the restaurant’s bathroom during his break.
Jayden Cintron was working a routine shift on Good Friday morning when he stepped away and headed to the restroom — and after spotting the money, quickly decided he would return every dollar.
There were two white envelopes near the toilet, one labeled First Citizens Bank and the other Truist Bank, containing a total of $9,333.
“My first thought was just like … ok, no, this isn’t happening,” he told WITN.
“Something is wrong.”
Instead of pocketing the cash, Cintron turned it over to the restaurant’s human resources department so it could be returned to its owner.
Cintron said the discovery initially left him shaken, but his next move came easily.
Asked why he didn’t keep the money for himself, he said: “That’s not what Jesus would’ve done. That’s not what God would’ve wanted.”
The decision stunned those around him, including local law enforcement and the restaurant’s owner, who both said many people would have made a very different choice under the circumstances.
“A lot of people will … unfortunately, take that money and run with it,” Kinston Police Chief Keith Goyette said.
“Kudos to that employee at Chick-fil-A. He definitely deserves a reward.”
The restaurant’s owner John McPhail added: “True leadership, you know, true integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.
“Jayden did that in this case and he should be commended for it.”
The rightful owner later retrieved the envelopes and offered Cintron a $500 reward for his honesty.
The teen initially refused, saying he didn’t expect anything in return for doing what he believed was right.
After multiple attempts by the owner to insist, Cintron eventually accepted.
Cases like this don’t happen often, but they’re not unheard of.
In 2022, workers at a Tennessee Home Depot tracked down a customer who lost $700 in cash meant for Christmas gifts after an envelope was found on the floor of an aisle.
“We wanted to do the right thing,” Alissa Rocchi, an operations assistant and store manager at Home Depot in Bellevue, said.
In New York City that same year, a good Samaritan returned a wallet containing $4,000 in cash after it was dropped by a commuter in Times Square.
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