A couple of theologians were talking about finding a million dollars with the understanding that there would, for whatever reason, be no possibility of returning it to its owner. What should they do with it? Should they keep the money (which they sorely needed); or should they give it to their respective church? One said, “I would draw a circle on the ground and throw the money into the air. Whatever money landed inside of the circle, I would give to the church.” The other said, “I would draw a circle on the ground and throw the money into the air. Whatever money landed outside of the circle, I would give to the church.”
I said, “I would draw a circle on the ground and throw the money into the air. Whatever money God wanted to go to the church, he could take!”
Found a crisp, foldeded $50 bill under a barstool one time. I was all set to keep it but then I saw some dude looking all panicky and getting his friends to help him look around. I asked him if he lost something, and he said he lost a $50 bill. I gave it back to him. Situations like that, I’ll return it. Had I not seen him looking around, I would have keep it.
Some friends of mine had an apartment several years ago, and the one kids grandmother had recently passed. They got a recliner from her house when his parents were cleaning it out. This recliner sat in their apt. for several months, until a friend’s keys fell out of his pocket and down into the recliner. they went digging around inside it and came up not only with the keys, but with a white business envelope containing about $2400 in cash. They pre-paid their rent for the next 4 months with it.
Cash by itself and cash in a Wells-Fargo bag are two different things. I would definitely turn in even a small amount of cash found in a container of any sort, either to authorities or to the nearest retail establishment or something.
The question is how much cash by itself, uncontained, would I keep? I think I would keep even large amounts, but keep it safe at home and watch the news for a while.
If it was anything substantial. More then 20 bucks, or with ID I’d give it to authorities/store manager. There has been the odd time I’ve found money… but never more then 10 bucks. Last time it was when I was working at a store. A lady came up to me and said she had found it on the ground and gave it to me. I would’ve pocketed it except about 10 minutes later a young girl (maybe 8) came up to pay for something and started getting upset that she’d lost the money for her Mom’s Christmas gift. So I gave it back.
Working in stores I have found some money… once I found a wallet with a Bay card that had a name on it and a bill in French money. I’ve found five bucks (when I was doing opening rounds in fact. Nobody had set foot in that area of the store since the day before so I bought lunch with it ) but that’s the most I’ve kept.
I was driving along one day and a green piece of paper flashed by my windscreen. “That’s a twenty!” said I. I made a U-turn and picked up the note at the gutter. It was indeed a double-sawbuck.
The funny thing is that it flashed by so quickly that I could not see what it actually was. I just knew – as a fact – that it was a twenty.
I must be weird, but if there’s the smallest chance that someone would come back and claim it, I’d turn it in. Couple weeks ago at the gym I found three quarters lying next to one of the machines. I gave it to the girl at the desk.
OTOH, if it was at the fair, or the Superdome or something, I would keep it. It might still bother my conscience, tho.
I used to work at [a major theme park]. If I found any money I would turn it in, because if security saw you pocket any cash, you would be fired for theft and possibly prosecuted. Every time I took a bill to lost and found, they would take my employee ID info. A few weeks after the park closed for the off season, I was pleasantly suprised to get an envelope in the mail with all of the cash that I had turned in, and a nice note from the security supervisor.
Back when I worked at a convenience store, I found about $100 in ones, fives, and tens on the check out counter, hiding next to a candy display. After counting out the cash register at the end of my shift (to make sure I didn’t somehow lose it while getting quarters from the change drawer or something), I put a note on it for the other clerks saying to hold it for me if it wasn’t claimed within a week. Store policy was that found money is kept by the store, but the manager agreed that this was a stupid policy and let me have it when it wasn’t claimed.
And to the poster above who said she’d pocket the money from a found wallet…wow. That’s disgraceful.
I found $150 on the ground in front of a florist shop. I turned it in to the manager, who was a friend of mine, with the understanding that she would give it back to me if nobody claimed it. The rightful owner called about 15 minutes later and described the bills exactly. I am sure she was relieved. The most that I have found on any other occasion is $1, and I always stick those in the next charity jar I come across.
I found a wallet at a bus stop outside the restaurant I worked at when I was 19. It was in a wallet that still had the drivers license in it.
When I got hom I looked the name up in the phone book and called him. It was about 11PM. He drove over to pick it up.
I gave him some water and we sat down. He opened a hidden flap and pulled out 7 $100 bills. Said he’d been buying a car for cash today and ate in my restaurant. Figured he’d lost the wallet there and someone had carried it to the bus stop and cleaned out the normal compartment.
Then he gave me a $100 bill, thanked me, and left. He stopped in the next day to mention it to my manager. Nice guy.
Someone found a $20 bill on the sidewalk at the college I went to. They taped it up on the wall, in plain sight to hundreds of students passing daily, with a note: “If this is yours, take it.”
It stayed there untouched for two weeks.
By a strange sychronicity, just today I found a wallet filled with money in a parking lot. I didn’t bother to count how much, but I turned it in to the customer service desk.
I wouldn’t try to return change or a bill I found on the ground – too hard to find the owner – but if the money was over, say, $10 and there was some indication of an owner, I’d return it.
No. You’re thinking “UL,” and perhaps so. I read about it in the school journal–you can probably find the article in a back issue. As I recall, there were quotes from several alums who remembered the event. If you’re interested try this. It was discussed sometime in the past year, I think.
I did experience similar events while I was there, so I feel no reason to question its verisimilitude. For example: no one locks his bicycle, most dorm rooms stay unlocked all the time, self-scheduled exams, open library, and yes, cash gets returned.
A friend of mine was on the tram in the city one day when she noticed the fella sitting across from her who had just gotten up for his stop had left his wallet behind. She picked it up and called out to him to give it back to him.
All of a sudden, three people descended upon her, including the guy whose wallet it was. They were university students studying ethics (or something similar), and were recording the number of people who returned the wallet (which was empty - but she didn’t know that). They thanked her for her honesty and clued her in on their study.
Apparently they’d had to approach a number of people who had pocketed the wallet and kindly ask for it back.
) but that’s the most I’ve kept.