No good deed goes... unrewarded?

Good job, little boys and girls. Put away your toys, don't fight with your siblings, respect your parents, don't steal.

Don't steal. We are taught that at a young age. One of the commandments in Jewish law is to return a lost object that you found to its rightful owner. The law is so intricate, in fact, that if you see a loaf of bread lying in the street, you can not just pass it by, you must take it and find its owner. Only if you are certain that the owner has given up all hope of ever finding the lost item may you keep it.

Read this article about a brother and sister who found a large sum of money on the street, and returned it to its rightful owner. Clap clap clap. Yay them. Except, they weren't little kids. They were 21, and 25 years old. So what is so special about doing the right thing?

They were rewarded, they were praised, they were offered jobs and given $200 gift cards each, and an anonymous person bought the girl a laptop. All for doing something that is morally correct, and halchically required. The children's father even said that he 'was "in awe" of what they did.' Why? Why is it so shocking that 2 people would do the right thing instead of, say, keeping the money for themselves?

I think I will go around doing good deeds just to get noticed. And hey, a new laptop wouldn't hurt.