Angut Kiest, an unemployed Greenland-er, found himself in an
interesting predicament. In 2008, unable
to find a job, he went to the bank in to close out his account and
hope for the best. What he found,
instead, was a tempting situation. His account had been credited with
approximately 180,000 euros – or as we like to say stateside, “A whole lotta
cold, hard cash.” (For those of you
doing the conversion on your iPhones even as we speak, that’s almost a quarter
of a million dollars.)
Instead of reporting the overage to the bank, Angut turned
into an angel. He gave some money to his
family, also unemployed and hurting. He
gave some money to his friends, who found themselves to be in the down-and-out
position as well. He even took some
excess cash to the supermarket and, instead of purchasing groceries for
himself, he gave some money to the beggars who positioned themselves outside
the store hoping for an extra can of something or an extra loaf of
anything.
Eventually, of course, the bank realized their mistake and
froze his almost empty account. They
ordered Angut to pay back the money and pay it back now.
Angut stated that he thought the extra cash came from a German lottery
winning (that he hadn’t entered - but that’s his story and he’s sticking to
it!). The bank told him he’d have to
return or sell the items he purchased and pay back the money or they would
prosecute him.
The trouble was this:
Angut didn’t have “things” to show for his withdrawls, unless you count
the food for the hungry and the heat for the cold. So, the bank took the modern-day Samaritan to
court and the Danish high courts (which govern Greenland) ordered Angut, still
unemployed, to pay the money back and to serve 100 hours of community service.
Angut insists he’s not a crook. I believe him. His intentions weren’t malicious. He could have withdrawn the money and treated
himself to a one-way ticket to Vegas and an endless stream of shows on the
strip. He could have snatched the cash
and disappeared to the neighboring country of Iceland, which I hear is much, much
nicer to look at than Greenland. He
could have done any number of things that would certainly land him with the
title of Selfish Samaritan. But he
didn’t. He chose to use the unaccounted
for windfall to encourage others – even if through one meal.
I’m not advocating that when the banks make an error, we
should all cash in and head out. I am
advocating for a little justice for Angut.
He was wrong – that’s not up for debate.
But, to ask the unemployed to pay back that which he doesn’t even have
and is not capable of having is only digging his hole deeper. Instead, maybe he could be sentenced to work
in the government, and he can help determine appropriate ways to work with those less fortunate. I think he’ll
probably start with the actions he knows best: generosity and kindness.
