By the time I finished, I had found fifteen coins. I placed them neatly on the table so the family could see exactly what I had discovered. I also found another small item that looked important, so I put it safely in a drawer and left a note explaining where it was. My goal was simply to leave the home clean, organized, and exactly as I would want someone to leave mine.
When the wife returned, she laughed and admitted that the family had deliberately hidden the coins to see how carefully I cleaned and whether I would notice them. She seemed a little embarrassed about turning the appointment into a test, but she was clearly impressed by the attention I had given to the job. Then she asked whether I would be willing to return and clean their home every two weeks.
I agreed, but with one condition: my rate would be twice what they had originally paid. I knew the value of my time, experience, honesty, and attention to detail, and I was not afraid to say so. The family’s little experiment may have been designed to test me, but in the end, it reminded everyone involved that trustworthy, careful work deserves to be respected—and properly valued.
