Tonight after me and Judah left youth church we stopped at Fred Meyer. I got out of the van and after getting Judah out I noticed a few dollars on the ground. I looked closer and it was a 5 and a 1. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I just went in and grabbed the things I needed. I considered my options the whole time I was shopping. I could take it and turn it into customer service. But then would anyone really go in search of a missing $6? Or I could pick it up and keep it. I really didn't feel right about that option either. I couldn't picture myself bending over to pick it up and then put it into my pocket or purse.
So...I left it there. I don't really feel that was the "right" decision either. But is there really a "right" decision? I don't know.
What would you have done?
8 comments:
If it's less than 20 dollars, it's finder's keepers...20 or more and I feel it's an obligation to turn it into the nearest store (usually which will let you keep it if no one claims it within 30 days). Too bad I'd be to late to be the next finder :( haha!
[childhood story]
one time i was walking to the library after school [freshman year?] and right next to kapiolani medical center in the grass lay a $100 bill.
i looked around. no one was there to claim it. it was not near a pathway or an entrance.
i picked it up.
it was almost mother's day, so i used the money to buy my mom a mother's day gift. maybe some sort of a jewelery type of thing... i don't remember, it just seemed like the thing to do.
then, i remember a few days later while kawena was mad at me for some thing or another he accused me of STEALING THE $100!!!
from where? i don't know.
why? don't know.
it was totally out of the blue and out of his anger for me for whatever it was that i did... probably not picking up the dog pooh well enough... whatever. he was pretty jacked up most of the time.
[/childhood story]
Why wouldn't you pick it up?
I mean either you pick it up and pocket it (finders keepers type rule, if it's a purse or wallet, different story, but cash... not exactly "identifiable") OR you decide to turn it in to the local store who will typically hold it for 30 days, if no one claims it then you can go and claim it.
But to just leave it there... I doubt the next person that sees it will let it sit, and if it's laying on the ground, I suspect the person who lost it doesn't know WHERE they lost it, so turning it into the store would help them find it.
I would pick it up for sure... what I did with it after that, I am not sure. It would depend on the amount, if it was a couple of bucks, I don't think anyone would even go to the store to see if someone turned it in but if it was a hundy or something, I definitely turn that into the store because someone (who might need it for food) might come and ask if someone had turned it in.
Just my .02
I'd have probably picked it up. If I saw someone looking around for something, I would have asked if it was theirs. If not I might have turned it into the store, or I might have kept it, although that always feels a little weird to keep money that I find. Not long ago, I left my wallet in the grocery cart at Fred Meyer. A guy from out of town found it, looked up my name in the phone book and called me. Every single thing was still in it. It pretty much restored my faith in the decency of the average guy.
hmm. i think i would have just left it too. if i had taken it, i think the guilt would have driven me crazy. yes, i have a very guilty conscience. i think the whole rest of the day i would have been wondering if it was a little kid who lost the money.. or a really poor person..
so, i personally think you did the right thing. or.. maybe i would have turned it into customer service... but, i think you did not need to do that since you have a small child and are pregnant. you are excused. :)
maybe next time go ahead and pick it up and save it to give to the guy with the sign that sits at the corner. you both bennefit from the act of kindness.
i think i would have put it in the little "give money to _insert sad story here_" bottle they always have at the end of the check out. Or I would have left it there.
random story:
one time when i was playing tennis i found $6 (why is it always $6??? i was a bit wierded out when i read that!!!), and i picked it up and decided that i would drop it off at the office so someone could get it. (i figured that whoever lost it probably didnt even know it, and probably wouldnt get it...but i knew id be racked with shame if i kept it. lol...)
So, i brought it home and put it in an envelope and set it on the desk by the front door to drop off tomorrow when the office was open.
i forgot it the next day...and the next, and the next...
it sat there for about 6 months with me totally spacing it to drop it off at the office.
So, finally, when i realized that it was still there...i sort of shrugged and put it in my wallet....becuase there was no way anyone would claim it a half of a year later.
apparently i should have just pocketed it right away...since that was what i ended up doing. haha.
Post a Comment