So you find a stranger's wallet... What do you do?

[You Need a Thneed]

When I left my wallet on the train a while back, I picked it up the next day at CT's downtown office. Nothing was touched.

This isn't a hard question - B, without hesitation.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Imported_Aussie

Find a wallet with ID - return to individual/take to police
Find a wallet without ID - take to police/lost and found in that area
Find loose cash, with no way to identify owner = that one is not so clear cut. I have in the past spent half, donated half to charity.

In the loose cash case I've taken the cash for safe keeping and left a note.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by Pizza

That's the idea of an anonymous poll because as good as B sounds,
I dont think many would honestly choose B if that situation presents itself, especially in this economic climate where many are living in financial hardship.

Who's the say the cop or building receptionist won't pocket the money themselves?
And if you honestly would deliver it to the owner at their address, would you make a half hour drive to their home?

I think your post is much more a reflection of your values rather than the values of others.

[rotten42]

I found a Visa sticking out of an LRT ticket machine during Stampede. I went through the effort of tracking the guy down through Facebook. He thanked me for the process but had already cancelled the card.

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Let's up the difficulty...what if you just find $100 between the cars, no wallet?

No difficult. Pocket the $100 if theres no identity. What are you gonna do ask random ppl if they dropped a hundy? First person will say yes. Now if I saw it falling out of someones pocket then I would stop the person and let them know or get it to them.

As for the wallet, easy option B. You'd be a dick otherwise. $100 is not worth putting someone through the trouble of cancelling credit cards, new drivers, new health care card, some cherished memory etc etc.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Pizza

That's the idea of an anonymous poll because as good as B sounds,
I dont think many would honestly choose B if that situation presents itself, especially in this economic climate where many are living in financial hardship.

Who's the say the cop or building receptionist won't pocket the money themselves?
And if you honestly would deliver it to the owner at their address, would you make a half hour drive to their home?

I think you're wrong. most people are decent and I really feel a large majority would do the right thing and turn in the wallet.

all this question and your comments show is your values and views of society.

my personal experience.
two years ago at the folk festival, I realized I had lost my wallet and went to the lost and found. wallet was there, everything was still in the wallet, including all my cash and all my beer tent tickets.

In the past year I've twice found wallets where I could have stolen the contents without being caught.
I turned the wallets in without hesitation, and I'm not exactly floating in cash myself.
just the right thing to do, and doing so didn't make me feel special as I knew the majority of people would do the same thing.

[speede5]

I have lost a wallet and had it returned weeks later intact sans cash. Was happy to get the id back but always thought it was a dick move.

Funny story. Sat down in a booth at a busy pub one afternoon and noticed a leather pouch on the seat. One of those legal size ones. Next time the waitress came by I gave it to her, she put it behind the bar. Halfway through our meal an elderly gentleman comes in and goes to the bar, recovers his portfolio. He leaves, and I see him and his group through the front window open the portfolio and proceed to remove a huge wad of cash. Had to have been several thousand dollars. I don't know if it was his vacation cash, proceeds from some charity fundraiser or drug money, but they were sure relieved. He came back in and paid our tab and left without saying a word.

That was almost 30 years ago and I still feel good about it. If I had gone a different direction I would probably still remember the event but it would be a shameful memory.

Do the right thing.

[GGG]

So for all the no question 'B's. Would you look to see how much money there was? Because the only reason to look is because some part of you is interested in keeping it.

I'd like to say I would do B and either track the person down on Facebook and give it back contents intact. And if there were a meaningful amount of money in it like the stories you here of people's rent money being in their wallet I would no question return it with the money.

But if there was $20 in it and I didn't have my wallet on me for some reason and I was hungry I'd probably get some food on the way to returning it. So I guess I can put myself in a situation where I likely would spend a small amount of the money in the process of returning it. And I certainly wouldn't ever use any cards

On the other side my expectation of a person finding my wallet is for them to keep the cash and return everything else. And I would be quite happy just getting the wallet and ID back.

[Hockeyguy15]

When I was a kid we were on vacation, I found $20 in a ziplock bag floating in the ocean while I was swimming. I took it to my dad all excited, he went and bought my mom and him beer.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I think it is interesting that some people are speculating that in some
Situations they "might" do something other than B, or (in one case) that most people would pocket the cash. But almost all of the anecdotes are of people doing the right thing. I think most people do option B. I would do (and have done) option B, and I'm not special. It's just not that difficult to make the right call.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

When I was a kid we were on vacation, I found $20 in a ziplock bag floating in the ocean while I was swimming. I took it to my dad all excited, he went and bought my mom and him beer.

you didn't even get an ice cream out of the deal? that really sucks.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by driveway

I'm gonna look through the business cards/errata/random stuff in the wallet and establish a points based system for judging them as a human in order to inform my decision.

EG: Business card for pet grooming? Responsible pet owner +2 points. Professional portraits of self and pomeranian? Insufferable twat -3 points. Multiple Capital One cards? Probably in debt and needs a break +2 points. Multiple Gold/Platinum Cards? Eff you, 1%er -4 points. Flames memorabilia +10 points. Oilers memorabilia minus one billion.

For me its B all the way unless I can find the person and get to them easier (address/ID, etc)

I quoted you because I read a study about this and if there were family photos and that sort of thing people were more likely to return the wallet with everything there. It's a little different than your scale, but people actually seemed to factor this kind of thing in when deciding whether to be kind and helpful or not.

[Huntingwhale]

I would return it untouched. With social media, it would be pretty easy and quick to cross reference the person's name and photo. Send them a quick message, and they will pick it up themselves.

They likely have a business card in their wallet. You could call their credit card company and report the lost card, leaving it to them to track it down. There are a dozen ways to track someone down these days. Pretty much no excuse to not return it intact. But if some ####ty teens or hobos found it, I doubt it would get returned. But I'd have faith that the majority of Calgarians would return it intact.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by GGG

But if there was $20 in it and I didn't have my wallet on me for some reason and I was hungry I'd probably get some food on the way to returning it. So I guess I can put myself in a situation where I likely would spend a small amount of the money in the process of returning it. And I certainly wouldn't ever use any cards

Will you be trekking this wallet back across the Atlantic? there is absolutely zero reason you should spend a penny out of a wallet that isn't yours.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by driveway

I'm gonna look through the business cards/errata/random stuff in the wallet and establish a points based system for judging them as a human in order to inform my decision.

EG: Business card for pet grooming? Responsible pet owner +2 points. Professional portraits of self and pomeranian? Insufferable twat -3 points. Multiple Capital One cards? Probably in debt and needs a break +2 points. Multiple Gold/Platinum Cards? Eff you, 1%er -4 points. Flames memorabilia +10 points. Oilers memorabilia minus one billion.

You forgot if the girl is hot or not.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by oilfanforever

Mine would be a variation of B, before B. After seeing the person's name on their ID, I'd first look to see if they're on social media and could send a direct message saying I found their wallet.

I'm surprised anyone would do anything different as well. Who wants that sort of karma?

I agree with this. Before contacting the police, id try the more practical options.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I would return it untouched. With social media, it would be pretty easy and quick to cross reference the person's name and photo. Send them a quick message, and they will pick it up themselves.

They likely have a business card in their wallet. You could call their credit card company and report the lost card, leaving it to them to track it down. There are a dozen ways to track someone down these days. Pretty much no excuse to not return it intact. But if some ####ty teens or hobos found it, I doubt it would get returned. But I'd have faith that the majority of Calgarians would return it intact.

I once saw a panhandler chase someone down to return a wallet. They don't steal either.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

When I was a kid we were on vacation, I found $20 in a ziplock bag floating in the ocean while I was swimming. I took it to my dad all excited, he went and bought my mom and him beer.

When I was a kid we went on a trip to Barbados. We would go swim in the pool, and my brother and I would constantly come up with change. It was like a free money extravaganza. My mom was baffled as to how that money would appear when we would go to the pool, and no one else got it. Well it turned out my dad always had change in his swim shorts, and every day he would loose it all. By the forth the day he realized we were just collecting his money! He let us keep a token amount, but took the rest back that we hadn't already spent on candy.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

When I was a kid we went on a trip to Barbados. We would go swim in the pool, and my brother and I would constantly come up with change. It was like a free money extravaganza. My mom was baffled as to how that money would appear when we would go to the pool, and no one else got it. Well it turned out my dad always had change in his swim shorts, and every day he would loose it all. By the forth the day he realized we were just collecting his money! He let us keep a token amount, but took the rest back that we hadn't already spent on candy.

I was waiting for you to say you were swimming in a fountain.

[Swarly]

Option D every time, no question. If I ever lost a wallet and had my ID and CCs returned I'd be more than happy enough. The lost cash is paying for your stupidity, lesson hopefully learned.