04-07-2003, 05:38 PM
If it's just one dollar, I'd keep it. Any coinage worth more than a penny I'll pick up and put in my pocket. (I only pick up pennies if they're heads-up, and then I put them in my shoe.) Finding money in a bank is different than finding money lying on the ground somewhere. Anything more than a dollar, I would turn in if I found it in a bank. But if I see a bill just lying on the ground and it's not obvious who it belongs to, I'll keep it no matter what the denomination. But if there's any chance of finding the true owner, I'll try to do so.
I was once on the opposite end of the stick in this situation... I managed to lose my entire wallet with over fifty dollars in it. I was on vacation at the beach and I had just bought myself a kite (otherwise I would've lost over $100), and I made the mistake of jumping in the ocean with my wallet still in my pocket :( . In less than two minutes, I realized I forgot to leave it with the car but it was too late. The ocean had robbed me. I scoured the beach to no avail and basically gave up hope of ever seeing it again.
Several days after returning from the trip, I was just about to go get a new driver's license when I got a phone call from the beach's lost and found. Lo and behold, someone had found my wallet and turned it in, and they looked me up by the info on my license. It was then mailed to me fully intact, with every cent present and accounted for. I gleefully picked up the package from the post office and took it home, dumped all the sand out of my wallet, and laid it out to dry.
I later realized that I should've tried to find out who turned it in while I was on the phone with L&F, but I was too happy to think about it then. I woulda sent them flowers or something.
Thank God for the kindness of strangers. :)
I was once on the opposite end of the stick in this situation... I managed to lose my entire wallet with over fifty dollars in it. I was on vacation at the beach and I had just bought myself a kite (otherwise I would've lost over $100), and I made the mistake of jumping in the ocean with my wallet still in my pocket :( . In less than two minutes, I realized I forgot to leave it with the car but it was too late. The ocean had robbed me. I scoured the beach to no avail and basically gave up hope of ever seeing it again.
Several days after returning from the trip, I was just about to go get a new driver's license when I got a phone call from the beach's lost and found. Lo and behold, someone had found my wallet and turned it in, and they looked me up by the info on my license. It was then mailed to me fully intact, with every cent present and accounted for. I gleefully picked up the package from the post office and took it home, dumped all the sand out of my wallet, and laid it out to dry.
I later realized that I should've tried to find out who turned it in while I was on the phone with L&F, but I was too happy to think about it then. I woulda sent them flowers or something.
Thank God for the kindness of strangers. :)
--Copadope