Would you hand in $30,000US?

[DawnHRD]

Story from Yahoo News today. How many of us would be as honest?

SoCal thrift store worker returns $30g Sun Mar 9, 6:13 AM ET



POMONA, Calif. - A thrift store worker in Southern California says she didn't think twice about returning $30,000 she found in donated clothing.

Barbarita Nunez was sorting clothes on Tuesday at the Veterans Thrift Store when she found a small box. Inside was an envelope of cash. Nunez said at first she thought the money was fake. But just in case, she gave it to her supervisor.

The money turned out to belong to a woman who had recently died. It was returned to her family, who gave Nunez a cash reward.

Nunez said she will send some of the reward to Mexico so her mother can have an eye operation and will use the rest to buy a digital camera.

[niggle]

I like to think I would hand it in but.... then again I'm damn sure I wouldnt

[redzonerocker]

i'm in agreement with niggle
though, if i found out she was still alive, i would have no hesitation in returning it.

[Governor]

When I working in London a chap who worked for me found a wedge of cash, a tad over £50,000, stuffed in envelopes at the side of the road, they were doing a three point turn and noticed it, he and his girlfriend handed it in to the police.

Some time later I asked if he had considered keeping it, he was a jack the lad and I was surprised and a little impressed by his honesty.
Considered he said, we took it to out flat and discussed it four hours. It was in Holloway North London and an area frequented by gangs and drug dealers, and they thought the money was a plant and they were being watched.

Anyway they handed into the police and the owner was traced with the help of local television station. It seems some nutter, I'm sorry someone with a mental disorder, had inherited the money, he drew it out of the bank in cash and threw it away.

The family were immensely relieved a Simon received a reward of £10,000, so not a bad days work.

[redzonerocker]

The family were immensely relieved a Simon received a reward of £10,000, so not a bad days work.

but not quite as good as £50k

on a more serious note, yes, the honesty of your workmate is commendable ,
but what if the money did belong to a criminal organisation & after handing it in to police he got zilch!?!
maybe i would sit on it for a while. the sums of money involved here are substantial, so it would make the news headlines if the person lost the money by some foolish error.
in which case no news would be good news , unless it turned into a the film 'shallow grave'

[Hobiecat]

Well I'm only as human as the rest of you. I'd be on the way to the pub and yes I'd have to live with it for the rest of my life.

[Vital Spark]

It's the devil and the angel thing, isn't it. Each whispering in your ear. I think I'd take the money, give some of it to my favourite charity (to salve my conscience) and have fun with the rest. Quite frankly, if the family of the deceased just bundle stuff into bags willy nilly then they're the ones that have thrown the money away. They didn't even know it was there, and they would have been none the wiser if she had just taken it.

VS

P.S. I hope this isn't some kind of test of my morality.

P.P.S. Did I fail?

[redzonerocker]

P.S. I hope this isn't some kind of test of my morality.

P.P.S. Did I fail?

yes it is & yes you did
but it seems you won't be alone in the burning fires of hell
maybe this should have had a poll??

by the way dawn, what would you do?

[DawnHRD]

What would I do? Hand it in. I know that makes me sound a sap, but my conscience would torment me if I kept it. I'd be very tempted, though.

[redzonerocker]

What would I do? Hand it in. I know that makes me sound a sap, but my conscience would torment me if I kept it. I'd be very tempted, though.

a sap? not at all dawn, each to their own
with a wad of cash of that amount sat in your hand, the temptation would be extremely testing for anyone, even for the most saintly person

i lost a wallet full of cash a long while back, approx £400. it wasn't handed in, even though my licence, credit cards & cis card was in there.
the dirty dogs even did a full shop in sainsburys & bought a microwave & toaster in currys on my cards!!

my mum once found a purse on a bus, she asked if i would take it into the bank for her. i checked it over & it had lots of credit cards, a travel card, gym membership etc, but no sign of an address.
i queried why someone carries so many cardsin her purse, but no address & no cash. my mum then owned up to leafing the tenner that was in there
i did take it in to the bank, with a tenner replaced from my own pocket.
not much of a deed i know, but i did walk out of that bank with a clear conscience & the honesty of the rzr family name still intact.
its quite funny, because nobody, not even my mum, knew i did that!!

maybe it was because i didnt want to look like a sap?

[Wanderlust]

Not on anywhere near the same scale, but the same principle - my (Thai) wife and I were in a pet supplies shop on Phetkasem Road north of town, with only us as customers and the two people working there who were hurrying and scurrying about. We bought some stuff, and then thought of something else to look for - by this time both of the staff/owner were not in sight. I spotted a 1000 baht note on the floor, and my wife picked it up, and we simultaneously said 'Give it to the shop owner', which we did. I think he was a little bemused to be honest!

[Big Boy]

Personally, if I picked up a 1000 Baht note in a public area it would go straight in to my wallet. Handing to the shopkeeper is only enhancing his profits for the day - there is no way that he/she would know who had dropped it.

Regarding the OP, I'm not sure what I would have done. I think I would probably apply a similar principal - could the owner be traced? Could the owner afford to lose it? Could I get away with keeping it? I would probably of hidden it somewhere for a while to see if anybody came looking.

[chelsea]

If it was me, I think I would hide the money away in my house for 4 weeks.
If someone honest had lost that money they would straight away go to the local press, TV and radio to tell of their loss.

If that happened I would look at the person who is making the claim for the money and the area that they lived in.

If they looked to be a battler and not have a lot of cash, I would return it to them. If they looked to be very rich and wealthy and lived in a good area, well stupid them for loosing it and I would keep it.

Only thing to remember if that sort of thing happens in Australia and you find the money, do not put it into your bank account in one go as it will be reported to the tax office, put into your accounts in small amounts of under $10,000

[(buffalo) Bill]

Many years ago whilst on school summer holidays in Dymchurch Kent, (I was about 12 years old) I found a purse belonging to an old lady. I wanted to hand it in and after a big argument and pushing and shoving with my friends, I did hand it in at the police station. I never heard a thing from the old lady that lost the purse which, at that time of my life, being a young impressionable person could, I think, have changed the way my life went. I never spoke to one of the so-called friends ever again, he went on to bigger things. In fact the last time I spoke to his brother Nicky, which was about 10 years ago whist he was visiting us here in Thailand, he told me that Eddie, his older brother, was in Parkhurst on the Isle Wight for robbery and drugs, and in fact two of the other guys are still to this day are up to no good.
BUT!
I think now if I was back in the UK and I found 50 grand with no address or obvious ID to whom it belonged. I would stick it straight in me sky and do a little skip and jump and think about the good time I was about to have.
After reading and hearing about how good honest hard working people get ripped and robbed out here by unscrupulous foreign developer and such like, these scammers who get to know, meet and romance there unknowing prey get away with it and sleep at night. I would have no qualms about finding money in the street pocketing it and then sleep like a baby that night, no problem.

[Governor]

Many years ago whilst on school summer holidays in Dymchurch Kent,

Dymchurch, now there's a blast from the past. Some friends and I used to take some kids to some camp there, bit of a dump but they enjoyed it, as did we.

I think now if I was back in the UK and I found 50 grand with no address or obvious ID to whom it belonged. I would stick it straight in me sky and do a little skip and jump and think about the good time I was about to have.
I would have no qualms about finding money in the street pocketing it and then sleep like a baby that night, no problem.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure that I believe you. Just because there are many rip off merchants about doesn't mean that you would act that way.