We all teach our children not to talk to strangers, or not to answer the phone alone and definitely not to answer the front door to strangers.
Melissa Vang is a parent who has thought her children just that, however, she too abides by her own rule; she doesn’t open the door to strangers either.
We’ve all heard the horror stories of scam artists or general gallivants trying to cause trouble by going around to people’s houses. The elderly have often fallen victim to strangers calling to the door, who see them as an easy target.
However, not all strangers who knock are bad news. In fact, as Melissa Vang found out, sometimes the lone stranger is there for good.
Melissa and her two young children were home when they heard someone knocking on their door. She ignored the caller and was anxious to answer as she wasn’t expecting anyone. “I don’t open the door to strangers or anyone really that I don’t know or recognize,” Melissa said.
Her house has a security camera set up at the front door, so she knew she could check the camera to see who was at the door. When she did check the camera, she was pleasantly surprised at what she saw.
Standing at her front door was a teenager, who, having seen the security camera showed his intentions by waving a wallet in front of the camera.
As it turned out, Melissa’s husband had dropped his wallet in their driveway while getting into his car. Not only did he loose his wallet, but it contained $1,500 cash along with all his credit cards.
Tyler Opdyke was in the neighborhood handing out flyers for his uncle’s pest control business when he found the wallet, cash and cards intact. And so as an act of kindness and integrity, Tyler knocked on the Vang’s front door to return their possession.
Tyler knew there was someone inside the house as he could hear the two young children, however, when no one answered, he held the wallet up to the camera to show them what he had and then put it down on the front door mat for them.
Speaking to KXTV about the incident, Tyler said “I’ve been raised in the Church all my life and I just felt this is not mine.” He never once contemplated keeping his findings for himself.
Melissa retrieved the wallet and was able to meet up with the teenager, “I later found him. Thanked and rewarded him for his kind gesture,” she said.
As it turned out, Melissa’s husband had been collecting money for an event and had been given a lot of cash from family members. Having lost such a large sum of money the family was thrilled to get it all back from the teenager who again proved that there is still some good in this world.
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