We all have our methods at work, and usually, they get the job done even if they seem like madness to other folks.

This woman wasn’t thrilled to have to put her routine aside to search for (supposedly) lost cash, but the customer comes first, yada yada.

Read on to find out whether or not she found what the lady was looking for in the end.

$450 In A Purse Donated “Several Weeks Ago”

It’s my Monday back at work and find a note on my desk. The Thrift Store Manager apparently was contacted by a customer over an item that had been donated.

Apparently it was a red purse of unknown make, unknown condition, but apparently very important to the customer that it be found.

All she could do was laugh.

Apparently, she is missing approximately $450 cash, and fears that it had been stashed into the purse. It was apparently donated “several weeks ago,” and she “just got back from vacation,” or else she would have realized the accidental donation earlier.

Okay, I know you’re all likely laughing by now, and to be honest, I kind of was too.

Here’s the skinny on her workflow.

Item #1: The Task

My In-Bin is a very large wooden bin. To give you an idea, my bin is 6′ Long x 3′ Wide x 3′ Deep. Donated shoes and purses are basically stuffed into plastic tubs and stacked inside.

As it is now Spring Cleaning season, my having had two days off work means that what was once an empty In-Bin is now heaped into a 6′ high mountain, which does in fact happen to be taller than my 5’3″ fragile human body.

In order to locate the supposedly lost purse, I would need to sort through all the donations in search of this mysterious purse. (Because at the donation door, we are too busy to worry about putting all purses in one tub and all shoes in another).

Laughter = a bit hysterical.

She had to figure out how to change things up.

Item #2: The Math

I work 5 days a week, for 7 1/2 hours. During this week, each day (not counting that half hour lunch) also gives me 1 hour at the Donation Door, and 2 1/2 hours at the registers.

This leaves me with about 3 1/2 hours available in a day to do one of two things: restock, OR tackle my In-Bin. Because I cannot do both in the same day.

I stagger my workday tasks to every other day. My Monday means my shelves have been picked over for two days straight and there are gaps, so I usually completely ignore the mountainous In-Bin and simply restock my section from my already-sorted shoes.

This makes room for me to then tackle my in-bin and store the shoes and purses that pass the test.

This also means that my In-Bin is ignored for three days worth of steady donations, and is guaranteed to overflow. There is little I can do about this, because my storage space is kinda limited and in order to take more crap in, I have to first clear some stuff to the floor.

Laughter = a bit MORE hysterical.

Might as well go ahead and get it done.

Item #3: The Time Frame

Since my In-Bin is completely and thoroughly emptied every other day (almost), her donation “several weeks ago” is LOOONG since gone. And yes, I open every zipper, check every pocket, do a thorough looking-over of every purse before it hits the floor.

My record find is finding four $1 bills, over the usual loose change. We have a jar for that, and all donated change is donated to our Animal Shelter charity.

If I had found $450, not only would that have been incredibly noticeable, but I would have called The Thrift Store Manager, trumpeting the discovery and had her hold it in her office because SOMEBODY would have missed it.

I haven’t. Therefore, said customer either lost it elsewhere (like on vacation maybe?!), or else has no concept of time.

Laughter = a bit scornful.

So she went ahead and dug in.

Item #4: The Hunt

Bless The Thrift Store Manager, she doesn’t care HOW it’s done, so long as it is and we keep on top of our area. So there really is no actual pressure from above to jump on this. We’re treated like adults and left to our own paces so long as the job gets done in a reasonable time and product moves.

No whip cracking, no drill sarge yelling, no “meetings” about “how to make ourselves more efficient.” (You really have to mess up for that. In my case, that would likely involve something that would violate OSHA’s rules about walk space, fire hazards and the building’s structural ability to handle weight-per-square-feet.)

I look at my In-Bin and sigh deeply. Yeah, it’s Monday. Yeah it’s usually a re-stock day. But in the past, people have claimed “weeks” and it turned out to be “days” and an accidentally donated purse WAS returned to the customer. There IS a chance that “customers can’t tell time” situation is happening, and I MIGHT find the missing money.

IF I do this nonsense and get it over with, The Thrift Store Manager will have an answer for the customer the next time she calls. I know customers, and I know that the ones who think they lost something valuable will be very persistent. By sheer luck, this wailing cry from the customer came right after a big shoe sale, and I DID happen to have the storage space.

Laughter = resigned.

I dig in. Multiple garbage bags of rejected shoes later, my in-bin is completely empty.

Surprise, surprise, she found nothing.

Is the purse there? Of course not. Nada. No sign. I figured it wouldn’t be, since she went on freaking vacation and that’s where any and all money will likely be spent. Buuuut, we can now tell the custy that we don’t have it, and handle things appropriately from there.

I wearily alert The Thrift Store Manager that it isn’t in my area. We do not have the $450. Too bad, so sad.

The Thrift Store Manager thanks me for taking the special time and assures me she’ll let the customer know and field any persistence on the customer’s end. I know I can trust The Thrift Store Manager to have backbone and Mama Bear protective instincts for this nonsense.

sigh Back to the regularly scheduled routine.

Reddit is loving her storytelling.

I feel like this person has had similar experiences.

You never know.

It was rather fun.

It shouldn’t be but it is.

Customers are all the same.

It’s the laws of the universe.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.