What would you do?

[Jethro Bodine]

Since we're all more or less anonymous on this board I thought it would be interesting to solicit some honest opinion on a particular senario.

This past Friday I stopped at my bank to cash a couple of personal cheques. As I'm leaaving I notice an envelope on the gound across the parking lot. I normally would have dismissed it, there's always some paper garbage in the back lot, but this day I walked over and picked it up. To my suprise there was $3300.00 US in it.
I looked around to see if anyone was leaving or around who may have dropped it but nothing.
I must admit for a few seconds I thought about just taking it and going on my way.
I also realized this is a lot of cash and likely someone would miss it very much. I took it back into the bank and gave it to the lady at the customer service desk who called her boss over. They were both actually quite amazed I brought it in.
Anyway I just got a call from them saying the owner had called them on Saturday morning and was very relieved they had it. Turns out it was a very elderly client who said they had taken the money out earlier that day. Didn't say what for and I didn't ask. Also I guess they had been to the bank around noon and I was there after 5pm. That envelope sat in the parking lot for 5 hours before I found it.
The owner is very happy they got it back and wants to give me a reward. I told the bank to tell her i don't need a reward but if she feels the need to do somehting nice donate wahtever she would have given to me to a local no kill animal shelter.

What would you do? Honestly!

Cheers

 

[michel]

I agree as well. You did a great thing and you should be congradulated for it. Good for you !

 

[Caramel]

I believe you'll get some good karma for it

 

[Aleister Crowley]

how many hookers and nice dinners and bottles of wine is that??
hmmmmm?
class act , good for you. the elderly person must have been sick with stress from it.
imagine how they felt when the bank told them someone found it and returned it?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

how many hookers

LOL! Gotta admit for a few milliseconds visions of titties were dancing throuhg my head.

 

[PlayfulAlex]

Nice job, Mr. Bodine. Your actions made me think about Uncle Billie, George Bailey, & Mr. Potter... I'm sure that the elderly couple will be forever grateful! And the shelter donation was a lovely touch!

 

[vancity_cowboy]

although i always fantasize about pocketing a fortuitous cash find like that, i had a similar thing happen to me, and i did exactly the same thing as you

turns out it was a young woman who had saved up the cash for a specific (quite honourable) purpose, and she dropped the envelope while getting into her car

apparently she was ecstatic about recovering it. i had told the bank to tell her that the finder wished to remain anonymous so there was no question of a reward

but the visions of the titties the cash would have paid for are still dancing in my minds eye...

 

[Toon]

I've done the same. Not quite that much, but enough that it seemed important.

 

[CJ Tylers]

Something like that, yeah, I'd turn it in... with the proviso that if it goes unclaimed, I have rights to it

If I found it in the middle of nowhere, I'd likely turn it over to the police with the same caveat.

 

[HankQuinlan]

Not sure what I would do if it was a lot more than that, though...a paper bag with $100,000.00 would almost certainly meet a different fate. Not sure where the cut-off to my honesty would be....50 Grand? Less?

 

[wilde]

It's nice to see so many good honest people on the internet...

 

[CJ Tylers]

Honesty nothing.... one or two things happens when you come across an envelope with a lot of money:

a) someone who needs it is looking for it (in which case, you will feel pretty damn good about returning it for karma)
b) some low life has lost it, but won't reclaim it from the cops if they can't give a reasonable accounting of it (in which case, you profit).

The selfish gene wins.

I lucked out once at a strip club, found some cash in the cash machine that I had picked up by accident with my cash. Didn't realize it until I had left... since I had been sitting beside the machine for over an hour, and nobody came near it during that time (and the bar had pretty much just opened), I didn't feel too bad. Wasn't much, but it replaced the $ that I had lost in a similar fashion at Brandy's many moons ago.

 

[CJ Tylers]

^ a very kind thing to do... they are lucky you were the next customer

 

[sensualsixty]

And sometimes honesty is not appreciated-

Many years ago I found a wallet in a snowbank during the spring melt. There was no money in it, but some documentation, including a driver's license, and a phone number. The not very grateful owner accused me of keeping the money that had been in it. He never considered the possibility that someone else had previously found the wallet, removed the money, and tossed the wallet.

Yes, I would try to return a wallet/money to the rightful owner, in spite of that negative experience.

 

[PlayfulAlex]

And sometimes honesty is not appreciated-

Many years ago I found a wallet in a snowbank during the spring melt. There was no money in it, but some documentation, including a driver's license, and a phone number. The not very grateful owner accused me of keeping the money that had been in it. He never considered the possibility that someone else had previously found the wallet, removed the money, and tossed the wallet.

Yes, I would try to return a wallet/money to the rightful owner, in spite of that negative experience.

Yeah, I found a Birth Certificate once; I looked the name up in the white pages, and called them, then I and mailed it to them...

 

[sevenofnine]

Return it.
Not enough to even worry about,
Not enough to change my life.
But say 100 k
I would have to think about it.


Here is one.
I caught a buddy at work stealing.
Caught him red handed.
Would you turn him in.

I never did, it would have ruined his life, the company I work for would charge him,
try and fiqure out how much he stole and get it back, and it could be a lot if he was at it for years, It would ruin him.
Maybe that is what he should get,
but its not going to be on my hands.

 

[*emmanuelle]

WELL I ONCE RESCUED A FAMILY AND THEIR 14 KITTENS FROM A HOUSE FIRE AND GAVE THEM ALL CPR BUT ONE OF THE KITTENS WASN'T GOING TO SURVIVE SO I STUCK A TUBE IN MY JUGULAR AND GAVE HIM A BLOOD TRANSFUSION RIGHT THEN AND THERE BUT THEN THE FAMILY HAD NOWHERE TO LIVE SO I WANTED TO BUILD THEM A NEW HOUSE BUT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO BUILD HOUSES SO I BECAME AN AMISH AND LIVED IN A COMMUNE FOR 3 YEARS AND LEARNED HOW TO BUILD HOUSES THEN I BUILT A HOUSE FOR THE FAMILY AND THE 14 KITTENS.

What would YOU have done?

 

[badbadboy]

When I was employed by a former employer they asked I go to Costco to buy some materials for the office. Somehow, their envelope full of cash fell out of my inside jacket pocket between my car and the store. I asked at their front desk and no one had handed in the envelope so I proceeded to buy all their stuff on my dime and hopefully they would understand my dilemma when I got back to the office. Surprisingly my office staff rebuffed my request and they said geez too bad, should have been more careful and wouldn't reimburse me for all their stuff. If I recall correctly it was roughly about $400.

When I got another job, I had no problem writing up my resignation letter, putting it on the manager's desk and walking out without any notice. The look on his face was fucking priceless. He asked me what the deal was and I said you stiffed me for $400, I don't owe you jack shit and I got a better job at the competitor.

 

[CJ Tylers]

WELL I ONCE RESCUED A FAMILY AND THEIR 14 KITTENS FROM A HOUSE FIRE AND GAVE THEM ALL CPR BUT ONE OF THE KITTENS WASN'T GOING TO SURVIVE SO I STUCK A TUBE IN MY JUGULAR AND GAVE HIM A BLOOD TRANSFUSION RIGHT THEN AND THERE BUT THEN THE FAMILY HAD NOWHERE TO LIVE SO I WANTED TO BUILD THEM A NEW HOUSE BUT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO BUILD HOUSES SO I BECAME AN AMISH AND LIVED IN A COMMUNE FOR 3 YEARS AND LEARNED HOW TO BUILD HOUSES THEN I BUILT A HOUSE FOR THE FAMILY AND THE 14 KITTENS.

What would YOU have done?

I'd be deciding whether or not a girl like that is someone you want to put a ring on, or run away from...

 

[yazoo]

Wasn't there a cop a few years back who um 'found' a million dollars in a bush while out jogging or walking his dog or something. He reported it as lost, and got to keep it when nobody claimed it.