# Would you have given back this $50? Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148 "2011-07-07T05:58:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/61 "2011-07-08T11:12:01Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Flipside is, once you’ve left the store, had they given you $50 too little you’d be shit out of luck. I don’t know about this. Twice, I have bought groceries, then after getting home, realised that I’d left a bag behind. One of those times I was with a group going camping, and we bought a lot of steaks and other expensive items…and I didn’t get back to the store for several days after returning from the camping weekend. In neither case did I have a receipt, and in both cases I was told to just go get whatever it was I’d left behind. I showed the bag to the manager and just walked out of the store. It occured to me that I could have taken advantage and filled the shopping bag with steaks and expensive things. I was surprised they were so trusting! Two different chains, too. King Soopers in Colorado, Kroger in Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/62 "2011-07-08T15:16:11Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Yes, and I understand you can’t afford them if you’re really poor. First: the OP never said he was _utterly impoverished_, skin hanging off his bones, no idea where he’ll sleep tonight or what he’ll eat in the morning. He said he’s “pretty poor right now” and gave examples of what that means. Second: it costs _nothing_ to go hiking besides a bit of gas and some water. I’ve known people who genuinely were in some strict sense impoverished (under the poverty line) and yet, say, had access to cable TV; I don’t think a hike is going to require a second mortgage. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/63 "2011-07-08T15:28:26Z")
I would have returned the money. I wouldn’t have turned right around and done it, but I would have taken it back at my first opportunity. I don’t feel right keeping money that I know isn’t mine. I’m not religious so it has nothing to do with that–I just have an overdeveloped conscience most of the time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/64 "2011-07-08T15:41:30Z")
> [@markdash](#): > > Had I caught the mistake while in the store, I would have returned the money. > > But my laziness would overwhelm my moral compass in your exact situation. This is me, too. I know it’s wrong and would hand it right back if I had caught it right away (which I have done in the past), but if I’m being honest, I have to admin that I really don’t think I’d take the time to turn around and go back if I had already driven away. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/65 "2011-07-08T15:52:27Z")
Before reading any other replies, I will give my reason for saying “yes.” 1. Ethics/morality. It is wrong to take something that doesn’t belong to you, even if it was given to you by mistake. (Exception: Unsolicited stuff mailed to you to try to get you to pay for something you never asked for.) 2. Law. IANAL but I believe [you could be accused of theft](http://www.walletpop.com/2009/12/09/bank-deposit-error-in-your-favor-give-it-back/)if anyone figured out what happened. Yes, you didn’t steal it out the of the cash drawer but it was an error and you knew it was an error. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/66 "2011-07-08T16:30:30Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Yes, and I understand you can’t afford them if you’re really poor. Hiking is _free_. The exception being if you have to pay for gas to get somewhere or you’re going to a park that requires you to pay for a day pass. If you’d read the OP again, you’d see that he was just saying that while not starving, $50 would go a really long way for him right now. He wasn’t “laying it on a bit thick” or looking for a “pity party”. Perhaps you should take a break from the computer and go on a little outdoor walk yourself because your cynicism is pretty biting right now and is making you look a little unreasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/67 "2011-07-08T16:33:01Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I once found $400 in cash, in a little change purse, walking home from my job. All the way home I wondered what I would do. I went to see my now husband who was still working, his response was, “I’m not going to tell you what you should do, as I’m sure you know what the right thing is!” > > I called the police, who took hours to come collect it (and I’d found it at midnight!). The officer who came and took the details admitted he didn’t know what he’d do if he found cash in the street.\ Finding cash is funny - you can’t give it back because there’s no identifying marks, you don’t want to give it to anyone else like a lost-and-found because it tends to disappear and no one knows about it, it’s hard to advertise for who lost it - I think I might have put up a poster where it was found that went something like, “Found - Small Green Change Purse. Call xxx-xxx-xxxx if this is your change purse.” with no mention of the cash - the person who lost it knows what you’re really advertising. ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/68 "2011-07-08T16:38:27Z")
when I worked a register, the $50 would have come out of my pocket ☹ I’d have taken it back at once. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/69 "2011-07-08T16:40:42Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > I left, went home and looked at my receipt. It was off by a lot. Like over one hundred dollars a lot. > > I immediately called the store and explained that Cashier John was going to be short but I would bring the money back tomorrow as I am 30 miles away from the store and don’t feel like coming back. The manager ORDERED ME to come back right now or I would be stealing!!! I was shocked and angered at the same time. I hung up the phone and never did return the money. I expected her to be thankful that I pointed out the error but I guess her nightly balancing of receipts was more important than being polite to a customer. I hope John didn’t get fired. WTF? Man, if that was me, I’d try to get in touch with someone at the head office (if the store was some kind of franchise), explain what an asshole that manager was and if they wanted _their_ mistake corrected, they could pay for a courier to come out and pick it up. ETA: > [@Cat Whisperer](#): > > Finding cash is funny - you can’t give it back because there’s no identifying marks, you don’t want to give it to anyone else like a lost-and-found because it tends to disappear and no one knows about it, it’s hard to advertise for who lost it - We’ve found a sum of cash and didn’t trust the security guard nearby. I mean, we know that we’re on the up-and-up but I know diddly about the ethics of the rent-a-cop who spends his days snoozing in that lawn chair. We figured people would be much more helpful if they weren’t tempted. So we had left our names and contact info at a couple of nearby stores. The person who lost the cash called 20 minutes after we got home, identified the exact amount and where she thought she lost it, so she was reunited with her dough. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148/70 "2011-07-09T21:14:18Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Yes, and I understand you can’t afford them if you’re really poor. I also understand “poor” people don’t have vast amounts of loose change. The economy is bad and the OP should be glad things aren’t worse for them. I didn’t say “really poor,” I said “pretty poor,” btw. Poor people also don’t own computers, or post on internet message boards for that matter. I did get really drunk last night though. That seems to be something poor people do quite often. Also, I _don’t_ have vast amounts of loose change. In case you missed it, _I just used it all_. Can I be poor now? I’m not sure what you have in mind when someone mentions a hiking trip(you do seem to have an overactive imagination), but this trip consisted of me driving 20 minutes down my street and walking around for a few hours. I did splurge on a bottle of Poweraid at the Wal-Mart, for which, of course, I feel extremely fortunate. Eventually I hope to rehire my throne bearers, flower ladies, and royal penis washer. It’s really not a proper hike without them. But, all levity aside(god I feel so cool when I say that!!) I feel my use of the word “poor” was entirely appropriate for the situation. If we were having any meaningful discussion about poverty or privilege, we would be in complete agreement about how to use the word. I live a privileged life and do not consider myself to be poor in that sense. I do feel a casual use of the word poor(“having little or no money” seems to be a pretty common definition) in informal situations should not be offensive to anyone but the most hypersensitive. In those rare cases it seems like more of a personal problem for the offended. I find it ironic how whiners whining about other whiners(a meta-whine if you will) whine so much more than the whiners about which they are whining(omg). So in the interest of avoiding a meta-meta-whine(whining about whiners who whine about other whiners who…omfg!) I’ll stop and just tell you to go take a hike. Really!!! Its healthy, its almost free, it gets your endorphins going, and it takes your mind off of self righteous jerks you run into on the internet. Better yet, _ **you can still do it even if you’re poor** _!!! So visit your local forest preserve and take a nice refreshing hike, it looks like you could blow off a little steam. Your Most Humble and Obedient Servant, IKN [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-given-back-this-50-why/588148.md?page=3)