McDonald’s mixup: couple receives bag full of cash instead of their breakfast order

For most of us, having a rough morning means losing our keys and walking out the door in our slippers.

For one McDonald's employee, it means handing hungry drive-thru customers a bag full of cash instead of their breakfast order.

Tennessee couple Greg and Stacye Terry recently made their usual breakfast order at a Hermitage McDonald's drive-thru.

When they drove up to the window to collect their order, an employee mistakenly handed them a McDonald's bag stuffed with thousands of dollars, which had been set aside — too close to the drive-thru window, apparently — to be deposited at the bank.

"My husband opened the bag and discovered the money inside," Stacye Terry told News Channel 5. "He said, ‘You are not going to believe this.' Sure enough, it was their bank deposit money."

Fortunately for the McDonald's employee, who was able to track down the couple at their home nearby, the Terrys had no intentions of keeping the money.

"The second that he said it was their deposit, my first thing was let's get in the truck and take it back," said Stacye. "There is no other way to have it. I couldn't live with myself."

The couple did have some fun with the mixup, posting photos of the money on Facebook before returning it to the relieved employee. They say they'll return to the McDonald's, but, Greg said, "next time I'm sure we'll leave with our normal breakfast order."

McDonald's Owner and Operator Phil Gray issued a statement of gratitude in response to the Terrys' actions:

"We are looking in to why this mistake happened, but what is most important to us is knowing that we are part a community with the values that were evidenced by this person's actions."

We have a theory as to "why this mistake happened," and it involves leaving cash in to-go bags near the drive-thru window.