What's wrong with the world...

I am trying not to let things like this get to me, but they do. The other day my friend was telling us a story about a time when he was standing behind a man in line somewhere and the mans wallet, stuffed with bills, fell out of his pocket and he didn't notice. My friend picked it up and gave it back. The man said 'thanks' and went about his business. My friend was upset that this man didn't give him a reward, after all he could have just kept it.
I think that doing a good thing with the expectation that you will immediately get something in return negates the goodness of the act. He may as well have picked up the wallet, tapped the man on the shoulder and said 'I'll give you this back if you give me some of the money.' At least he would have been honest about his expectations.
There are so many factors in something like this. That may have been all the money that man had. He may have just lost his job. Maybe it's his kids christmas present. Maybe he just robbed a bank. But none of those things matter to me. Don't give expecting to get. You will always get something in return for doing a good thing, but you'll have to pay attention because it could happen any time, any place, in any form.
This same friend made the comment 'I'd be rich if I wasn't such a good honest person'. Not doing bad things does not make you a good person in and of itself. People who have these attitudes also seem to be the same ones who say yes to every favor anyone asks of them and then act as if it were a burden. Don't say yes to doing someone a favor if you don't want to do it. Saying no to something doesn't make you a jerk. Saying yes to something and then flaking out or making that person feel like a burden does make you a jerk.
I guess the bottom line here is, if you find yourself complaining about what a nice person you are, you're probably not.