Hidden cash Twitter hunt mystery comes to Vancouver
The hidden cash hunt that began a week ago in San Francisco seems to have spread to Vancouver and Toronto.
Two days ago, Twitter user @HiddenCashYvr started tweeting locations of $100 bills and Vancouverites have been cashing in.
But when RinaYoussef was picking a table at a Vancouver cafeteria to eat her lunch, she had no idea an envelope with a $100 bill was hidden underneath until she got a nudge from a CBC reporter.
"It's fun," she said. "Free lunch! Thank you. Everyone loves finding money."
When asked what she would do with it, Youssef replied, "Spend it. I'll probably go shopping."
Fellow Vancouverite Britanya Hodge found her cash envelope hidden in a bush.
"In among the cigarette butts, I see a little of the manila envelope from the dirt. It said congratulations on it so a bit of excitement.
"Hopefully it spreads," she said, "and you start seeing a little bit more energy in the city and see people getting involved."
Hodges says the find was definitely "better than Easter eggs!"
Since its appearance in San Fransciso, the hidden cash phenomenon has spread to several other California cities including Los Angeles.
It has also spawned copycats in other U.S. states, including Texas, Florida and Colorado.
And Toronto also has its own hidden cash tweeting benefactor.
But unlike his Vancouver counterpart, Russell 'the Cashman' Oliver of Oliver Jewellery is far from anonymous.
Oliver says he hopes his Twitter treasure hunt encourages people to learn about the city he loves, and they remember to share the wealth that he has come to enjoy.
"The more buzz, the more I'll increase amount of envelopes and the amount of cash in them!" he told CBC News.
Paying it forward is a key component of the exercise and seems to be the motivation of Vancouver's hidden cash benefactor — who unlike 'the Cashman' doesn't want any attention at all but who does promise, "there will be more tomorrow."
