You’re walking along the street, in the town or city where you live. You look down and spy a black leather wallet, just lying on the ground. You take a quick look around - there is no one else in your immediate vicinity. You pick up the wallet and take a look inside. Inside, you find:
Credit cards
Platinum Amex
Lawyer’s business card
$500 in 50s
What do you do? I don’t mean “what is the right thing to do?” or “what would you like people to think you would do?”. I mean, if this really happened, what would you do?
This thread is not designed to catch people out as being dishonest. In fact, true honesty is seeing beyond what is considered socially and morally correct, and speaking from the heart. Let no one here be judged, lest we are prepared to be judged ourselves.
I found a wallet at a bus stop with $700+ and credit cards et al.
I took the bus home (I was bussing tables for the summer), used the phone book to find the owner, called him and waited for him to show up and claim it. We talked for at least an hour.
I also wouldn’t hesitate to contact the owner, and I would not be tempted to keep the cash. (If offered a reward, I’d say that it’s really not necessary…but I wouldn’t mean it. )
Why the detail about the lawyer’s business card? Are we supposed to be more inclined to rip someone off if he’s a lawyer?
No question - I’d return it. I’d like to think someone would do the same if I lost a wallet. Regardless of a person’s occupation or my perception of whether they “deserved” to have that much money, I’d get it back to the owner one way or another.
smarm was probably going for the “well if he is a lawyer, he is probably wealthy and wouldn’t miss $500, but I REALLY could use that money, so…” line of reasoning.
Me, I would return the wallet, and now armed with a lawyer on my side, go after some other schlep and really take him to the cleaners
Honestly? I would probably take some (if nto all) cash, and turn it into the police or the ownerm saying I found it as is. I would try not to give my name, if possible, because then I’m suspected of taking the money.
The thing is, taking only a little money is actually more incriminating than taing all of it. If you found an empty wallet, that’s not unheard of, even if it had money someone just took it all and dropped it back on the ground. But who would just take $100 and then drop it back on the ground? Better off taking all or none.
Absolutely no question…I’d return the wallet with everything intact. I’d probably stare longingly at the cash as well, but I am a firm believer in “what goes around, comes around”. I’d also feel too guilty to take it.
Having lost my wallet before, and it returned to me with contents intact, I’d be doing the same thing for the owner of your hypothetical wallet. Karma and the rule of three’s and all.
Take the wallet home, put on some gloves, examine the wallet thoroughly, copy the card and drivers license, remove the cash, wipe the wallet with a light coat of WD-40 (remove fingerprints) lightly buff every possible imprints (including the cards) put wallet in a zip lock sandwich bag. Take wallet to the next town and drop it in a neighborhood mail box squeezing it out of the zip lock bag to avoid putting on prints.
Keep the cash for 3 months. If I feel bad in 3 months, I’ll send the money back. If not, I spend it.
I’d take it home then call or e-mail the owner for it. I’d expect some sort of finders fee but wouldn’t mention anything about it and would think bad thougths about the person who doesn’t give one.
I would tell the story for the rest of my life in the aw man sort of way.
I did find the keys to a brand new Pontiac sitting in a car lot back in 1990 when I was 16. While it was never my intention to steal the car I did get in and turn on the engine just to see if I could. I fantasized a week over those keys before I returned them. Wondered how much I could sell them for to some crooked kid. That kind of stuff. The dealer never even noticed they were gone. When I did return them he was quite rude about the whole thing.
)