There are honest people after all!

[greensinestro]

Last night, I went to Lowe's for some air conditioning filters. Now, before I go further, I should point out that the self check out lanes are, what I thought, were just that - SELF CHECK OUT! Yet, the moment I got to the register, this lady employee hovers over me, grabs my stuff, scans it, punches in how I want to pay, etc. She then left to help a couple at another register, and I was finishing up with getting my receipt. Half way home, I realized I forgot my $8 in change! I was too far to turn around and go back, so I decided to call the place.

I spoke to this nice man named Rob, who checked to see what may have happened. After less than five minutes, he called me back at home and told me some honest customer used the same machine and saw my money in it, so they turned it in to the customer service desk! My name was put on the envelope with the money inside, and I'm able to go claim it.

It's nice to know there are people out there who are honest like this. There are many others out there who would have said "Hey! Free money!" and run off with it. I have actually had this happen, and I always looked at it as "What would I do if I were in that person's shoes? I would hope they would turn it in!"

Nice world we live in after all.

[PepperElf]

I try to do stuff like that too - especially if i ever find a wallet - cos... if anything i need the brownie points with God, especially with how many times i've lsot stuff. i lost my wallet in japan once...and it showed up where i worked with all the money and cards in it, all untouched.

[greensinestro]

i lost my wallet in japan once...and it showed up where i worked with all the money and cards in it, all untouched.

I saw something on one of those news magazines on something like that. They took a wallet, filled with $30 in cash, and a card that said something to the effect where it was a present to a child from their grandmother. Some returned the wallet to the address inside it, and then there were others who found it, would have a look of striking it rich on their faces, and never turn in the money. I think the network lost over $100 in this experiment.

On the other hand, way back in 1983, my brother lost his wallet in the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. He was frantic about it, because it had $20 in it, which was a lot at that time. When we went to the lost and found desk, my mom had to prove it was his wallet being it had the same pictures in it that she had in her purse. In the end, some honest person turned this wallet in, when they could have been $20 richer.

[Tria]

I try to do stuff like that too - especially if i ever find a wallet

I'm the same way. As long as I have some way to ID the owner. A wallet on the ground with ID means it goes back to its owner untouched.... But if I find a ten on the ground and no way to ID the owner.... Free food.

[Peppergirl]

I turn money in that I find too. But not because I'm a nice person...it's that I'm too afraid of Karma.

[rerant]

I found a wallet with about $50 in it not too long ago and did everything I could to try and get it back to the owner.
It belonged to a girl who was about 15, and the only reason I know this is because of the strip of photobooth pictures that were in it.
No ID was in the wallet at all, but there was a gift card with her first and last name on it.
I called everyone in the phone book with her last name, left messages on answering machines, ad eventually ended up calling about 45 people to no avail.
I even posted an ad in the Lost and Found section of Craigslist, also to no avail.
For as much as I felt bad, after two weeks of letting the wallet sit there waiting for its rightful owner to claim it I decided I'd tried hard enough and I was never going to find this girl. So I kept the money.
Maybe I was shitty, maybe not. But the way I see it I did everything I could to get it back to her.

[greensinestro]

Maybe I was shitty, maybe not. But the way I see it I did everything I could to get it back to her.

Nah, I don't think you were shitty. You did more than the average Joe would have done to get that person's money and wallet back. I probably would have done the same after that amount of time.

[Lingering Grin]

But if I find a ten on the ground and no way to ID the owner.... Free food.

Damn straight.

I saw something on one of those news magazines on something like that.

I saw something similar. Except it wasn't to see who would keep the money. The guy doing it was a master of interpreting and manipulating human behavior. He wanted to show how to manipulate people into not even TOUCHING the wallet.

He put the wallet down on a BUSY street corner, drew a circle around it using chalk, and left it there for an entire day. When he came back to get it, the wallet hadn't even moved. People either didn't even notice it, or those that did notice it, just stepped over/around it. Only one person actually investigated it, but he just stopped to look at it for a second, and then went on his way.

[Tria]

I turn money in that I find too. But not because I'm a nice person...it's that I'm too afraid of Karma.

The wallet is a karma credit, money by itself is a small withdrawal.

[Ree]

I turn in money that I find because I always hope that, if I lost my wallet, the person who found it would do the same, and also because the money isn't mine and I don't feel right keeping it.

If I had exhausted every option I could think of to track down the owner on my own, I think I would take it to the police station lost and found and wait for someone to officially give me permission to keep the money.

Even at that, it would depend on how much money it was, and just how broke I was, but I would probably use it to buy food for a shelter or food bank, or give a donation to a charity.
I would probably have a really hard time spending it on myself.

(Yeah...I'm a big old wuss filled with Catholic school guilt. )

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

One time at work I found a bill laying on the floor. I forget if it was a ten or a twenty.

I turned it in to the service desk and they put it in an envelope with my name on it.

After two weeks passed and nobody came to claim the money, I got it.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I turned it in to the service desk and they put it in an envelope with my name on it.

After two weeks passed and nobody came to claim the money, I got it.

We did that at my work, too. I made 10 bucks that way once.

I lost my wallet once, but I never got it back. I was at school, and had gone to a choir concert a couple of my friends were in (it was right before Easter weekend). It was at a church that was about 3 doors down from my dorm. I searched along the whole route I took (in pouring rain) several times, went back over it the next day in the light, checked at the church to see if someone had turned it in...nothing. If someone found it, they would have found my school ID in it and would have had no problem getting it back to me. If someone stole it, they did it in a church and that's just sad. Luckily I didn't have any credit cards at the time, but I did have to cancel my bank card, and replace my license, SS card, and school ID. Not to mention the $40 cash I had in it. And since I didn't have ID, I couldn't even cash a check at the business office at school. I actually wrote a check to my friend and had her cash it for me, just so I'd have 10 bucks to pay my ride home.

My brother once lost his high school class ring on the beach in Wildwood, NJ. Someone actually found it, and tracked him down through the school (it had his signature etched on the inside) and returned it to him.

[Becks]

If I found a wallet, I'd do my best to return it. At work? Turn it in to customer service. Out and about? Look for some sort of ID.

After two weeks passed and nobody came to claim the money, I got it.

The wait time at my place of employment is either one or two months. I don't remember because it's been a while since I found money.

[Imogene]

Only one person actually investigated it, but he just stopped to look at it for a second, and then went on his way.

I think I've seen that video. However, I remember at least one person picking it up, and walking off camera, and then suddenly taking a flying leap back in camera, and dropping the wallet back into the chalk circle, as if it'd hurt him.

[Lingering Grin]

I think I've seen that video. However, I remember at least one person picking it up, and walking off camera, and then suddenly taking a flying leap back in camera, and dropping the wallet back into the chalk circle, as if it'd hurt him.

Might be a similar video. The one I saw was on TV, the guy doing it had a very short lived show on Sci-Fi.