I arrived in Europe, where I was planning to stay permanently. I still didn't know in which country I was going to live. I thought I would like to live in Switzerland. There were mountains and three different languages were spoken there. But there was no ocean in Switzerland. Perhaps I could live on the Mediterranean where France and Italy bordered each other. There I would have the sea and there would be two languages to speak.

At the moment I was standing in front of a store in a city. I was carrying my luggage with me. I stood here thinking for a while. Another problem was that I didn't have much money. I could have lived longer in Mexico. And my father had counseled me not to go to Europe. It would be terrible if I now had to return to the United States.

Finally I began walking again. I hadn't gone far when I realized I didn't have my billfold in my back pocket. I experienced a moment of panic, turned and ran back to the store. I ran part of the way with my luggage, finally set them in the street and ran on unencumbered. When I arrived at the store, I saw four or five men standing where I had been in front of the store. One of them had my billfold in his hands. It looked as if he were just about to distribute my money among the others. I stepped up and said, "That's mine."

I grabbed the billfold and he let go without resistance. It looked as if there was a lot of money in the billfold, although actually there was only $500-$600. I was very relieved to have the money in my hands. It was all the money I had and I didn't know what I would have done if I had lost it.

The men spoke. Clearly they wanted me to give them a reward for having found the billfold. I didn't want to give them anything, but I felt obligated. I was uncertain whether I should give each of them $10 or $20. The thought bothered me, because that money would represent 10% or 20% of all my money. All because of my stupidity.