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

[bc-chris]

when i was younger (early teens) i found a wallet (had lots of credit cards and a good bit of cash too). i took it home and looked up the guy's phone # in the phone book.
i gave him a call - he was so relieved that i had called
he came over right away to get it. i handed it over, he opened it up and gave me something like $50 - that was pretty cool

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by GGG

So do you look in the wallet and count the money?

absolutely... but it doesn't mean i'll keep it.

just makes for a better story when you are able to return it

[GGG]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

This is the real question. I'd say for most CPers, even a couple hundred dollars would not be enough to take to offset the guilt felt for doing the wrong thing. I'd guess that most wallets have less than $100 in them, and therefore easy to return without taking any cash.

Raising the stakes to $10k + and then things get interesting. What if you tried to track down the person but couldn't? Then what? When the money become substantial enough (and everyone has their own price), I think a lot of people would start to think twice about simply returning everything.

If it has a meaningful amount of money in it there is no way I would keep it. You could be destroying someone's life. I would likely use the Police because in general I don't think I want to associate with people who are carrying 10k around.

So I'm much more likely to take $20 as a finders fee for my inconvenience then take an amount that would destroy someone's life.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by bc-chris

absolutely... but it doesn't mean i'll keep it.

just makes for a better story when you are able to return it

It means it matters though, at some point you are at least going through the thought process of considering keeping the money if you take it out to count. At a minimum you are calculating how good you wil be by returning it. Which from a decision point in your brain the feeling you get from being good needs to outweigh the benefit of the cash.

So if you count it you are performing that calculus as opppsed to making a purely ethical decision.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Sliver

To an ethical person, the amount of money in the wallet is irrelevant.

A persons ethics are inversely proportional to the amount of money in the wallet.

[Hockey]

I found a wallet recently it had no cash but full of credit cards. I went to the persons apartment building, but he wasn't listed. I saw some lady in the lobby so I knocked and she gave me a weird look like I was gonna break in. She obviously said she can't let me in, so she went upstairs to see if he was home but he wasn't. She turned out to be very helpful and she kept the wallet and said she would give it him but took down my number. The next day the owner of the wallet called me thanking me and wanted to offer me something and wouldn't take no for an answer. He ended up getting me a $50 gift card to BCL.

[Amethyst]

I found a wallet on the street in front of my house and took it to the police station. There was a license with an address in a nearby area, but there were also a lot of appointments for therapists and stuff, so I decided to let the police return it, not myself.

It doesn't matter if no one would know. I would know.

[billybob123]

I used to work at a Provi-Soir in Ottawa aasa teenager (like Mac's with gas pumps). At the end of shifts, if the cash register was short we would be 'encouraged' by the manager to make it up ourselves. (is that even legal? I was young and stupid so I went along with it). Since then I am honest to a fault, I will point out errors on restaurant bills, register receipts, missed items at grocery stores etc. I know how crappy it is as a retail employee who is short in some way.

I'm sad to see people aren't honest like that either. I guess I also have too much hope in humanity.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by billybob123

I used to work at a Provi-Soir in Ottawa aasa teenager (like Mac's with gas pumps). At the end of shifts, if the cash register was short we would be 'encouraged' by the manager to make it up ourselves. (is that even legal? I was young and stupid so I went along with it). Since then I am honest to a fault, I will point out errors on restaurant bills, register receipts, missed items at grocery stores etc. I know how crappy it is as a retail employee who is short in some way.

I'm sad to see people aren't honest like that either. I guess I also have too much hope in humanity.

Well...making up a business' losses out of your own pocket is a bit extreme. Even if some of them are your fault, its still a stretch.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Wallet with $100 I'd return without a doubt.

How much would have to be in the wallet for you NOT to return it? I think that's an interesting question.

Like if there was somehow $10,000 in there?

$20,000?

I want to think I'd return it no matter what... but would I?

For me, the more money involved, the more effort I'd put into returning it.

If it was a wallet or something else that could help identify the owner, like an envelope with a company logo, I'd definitely return it regardless of what was inside.

If it was something where the owner would be difficult/impossible to determine, like loose cash lying on the sidewalk, then the amount would determine my response. Something small, like a toonie, I'd pick up and put into my pocket without hesitation. Even small bills, unless someone was around and obviously looking for it, I'd either pocket it or just leave it. If it was a plain envelope filled with a large amount of cash, I would likely bring it to the police.


About a year ago, I was walking down the sidewalk and saw a bunch of $20 bills scattered all over the ground. It was at least $100, possibly over $200. It was next to an alley that separates businesses from residential and there was no one around. It could have been dropped by anyone. It was a situation where it was enough money that I would have felt bad about keeping it, but finding the rightful owner would have been pretty much impossible. I ended up just leaving it and kept on walking.

[longsuffering]

That cash or slot machine tickets found on the floor in a casino are the property of that casino? There is no finders/keepers in play here. You are expected to turn it into the Casino.

A friend of my wife's was banned from Grey Eagle casino for cashing a slot machine ticket he found on the floor. Apparently after receiving a report from a person claiming he had lost the ticket, the casino was able to identify my wife's friend from a review of casino security footage. A week later when returning to the casino they were approached by Security and told they were banned over the incident. I couldn't believe this was a thing but an internet search seemed to confirm it was (IANAL).

It eventually made some sense to me when considering the private property aspect. If I found cash laying on the floor in a friends house, I wouldn't feel I could keep it.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by GGG

It means it matters though, at some point you are at least going through the thought process of considering keeping the money if you take it out to count. At a minimum you are calculating how good you wil be by returning it. Which from a decision point in your brain the feeling you get from being good needs to outweigh the benefit of the cash.

So if you count it you are performing that calculus as opppsed to making a purely ethical decision.

nope - not at all. i'd just be curious as to how much $ was in the wallet

regardless of the amount of cash it would all be returned to it's rightful owner. that's just the way my folks brought me up

[troutman]

A red car seems abandoned in front of my house for over a week now. Mine?

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by troutman

A red car seems abandoned in front of my house for over a week now. Mine?

No but you have the legal right to decorate it.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by troutman

A red car seems abandoned in front of my house for over a week now. Mine?

What if you find an extension cord on the sidewalk connected to that car?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by getbak

About a year ago, I was walking down the sidewalk and saw a bunch of $20 bills scattered all over the ground. It was at least $100, possibly over $200. It was next to an alley that separates businesses from residential and there was no one around. It could have been dropped by anyone. It was a situation where it was enough money that I would have felt bad about keeping it, but finding the rightful owner would have been pretty much impossible. I ended up just leaving it and kept on walking.

That's drug dealer money. You gather up those $20's and you go get some hookers and blow, and don't feel bad about it for a second.

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by GGG

It means it matters though, at some point you are at least going through the thought process of considering keeping the money if you take it out to count. At a minimum you are calculating how good you wil be by returning it. Which from a decision point in your brain the feeling you get from being good needs to outweigh the benefit of the cash.

So if you count it you are performing that calculus as opppsed to making a purely ethical decision.

Yeah, you said that earlier and I call BS.

Yes I look at the cash, and regardless of the amount I probably make some sarcastic remark, but I already know what I am doing with the wallet before I see how much money there is completely out of curiosity.

There is no part of my thought process that is considering keeping the cash depending on how much.

Maybe we can look at it that to me that is the price you (wallet loser) are paying for me getting the wallet, with cash, back to you. I get to snoop your wallet while trying to track you down.

And yes, I have a few stories where I returned wallets, with cash left in it. And I think I counted the cash and made some jokes about it.

[calgaryblood]

I just hope GGG isn't hungry when he finds my wallet. He might have to buy himself a meal using my money so he can have the energy to return my wallet over the 8 minute treacherous stretch on deerfoot trail.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by GGG

It means it matters though, at some point you are at least going through the thought process of considering keeping the money if you take it out to count. At a minimum you are calculating how good you wil be by returning it. Which from a decision point in your brain the feeling you get from being good needs to outweigh the benefit of the cash.

So if you count it you are performing that calculus as opppsed to making a purely ethical decision.

Maybe you need to just accept that most people have a different conscience than you?
Either own the fact that you'd be happy thief or re-examine the way you look at things.

Trying to justify it by convincing yourself others are "almost as bad" is silly and just not true.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

Nice play on words there. Have you ever considered changing your user name to Insufferable?

Feel free to post the last word.

You're not worth anymore of my time.

You going to send him threats via private message too?