Considering that I’ve lost a fair bit of money in the vending machines here, I would take anything it gave me back, as I live on a fixed enough income that a quarter is actually somewhat important. Not to mention it’s all the washing machine eat, pickiest of eaters that is.
An extra 20 in the cash drawer, I’d give it to the highest up manager I could find with an explanation that they were stuck together. Although if there was a store policy, I’d follow that.
Wallets are no question. A found one goes back to the owner. Okay, so I might be nosy and look at the reciets in it, but other than that, I’d take it to the owner if they lived within half an hour of me or anywhere I was going that day and call them other wise. If neither of those were possible and I was in a business, I’d go to the service desk, or actually I might do that first. If that isn’t possible or doesn’t seem like a good idea, I’d take it to the police station. I would do that in hopes that someone would do the same for me. Actually, they did once. I was in Greece and I left my camera (a cheapy one from Best Buy, under 20 American) in a resturant. The waitress flagged me down in the square and returned it. I was thankful, not for the value of the camera, but because the roll of film in it was fully exposed and I would have lost the pics.
This is what I would do. With the added comment that as a cashier, it is my responsibility to detect the stuck bills when they were first given to me. It is not appropriate to spend it considering it was also my error. Just as it wouldn’t be appropriate to keep any extra money if my draw was over.
I think you should always choose to do the right thing - period. IMHO, this is an area that is strictly black and white, no gray involved.
My mother was the worlds worst example. All you could eat buffets? She would eat and then cram her purse full of food. Undercharged in the grocery store or the clerk misses an item to be rung up? She doesn’t say and word and thinks of it as a bonus. Many other examples come to mind, but I won’t waste the bandwidth on her screwwed up sense of justice.
In my late teens and very early twenties I did as she did. After all, I learned what I saw. Eventually, reality hit me right between the eyes when I became a parent and put thought into what I wanted to teach my children by my example. Suddenly, not being charged for dessert on my dinner in a resteraunt required that I make a decision … stay quiet or alert the waitress? I alerted the waitress. That bundle of grapes in my grocery cart that my purse was inadvertantly blocking from the cashiers view? Go right back into the store and pay for them. The extra change in the vending machine? Not mine, leave it there. Find something of value in the parking lot of Wally-World? Bring it back inside to the customer service center. I’ve done the right thing, it’s up to them what they do after that.
Now that 4 of our 6 children are grown and on their own, I see them make the same choices. Our 11 and 12 year old are just beginning to see the light and rightness and are making their own choices to do the right thing. Kids learn from their parents. I want to have a clear conscience when I put my head on the pillow every night, and I hope for the same things for our children.