I was backpacking in India in 98 and arrived in a small town called Hampi. I was running low on cash so I went I search of an ATM which was not exactly easy in this town I eventually managed to fInd a merchant that charged my card and gave me a wad of rupees that was from memory about $50usd.
I then caught an autorockhaw back to where I was staying. I had been in the room a few minutes when there was a tap tap at the door. There was the driver who had follewed me in with... my wad of cash, which had fallen out of my pocket somehow. I made sure I used that driver every time i needed a rickshaw after that , and tipped him accordingly. I was amazed at his honesty. And yes I would do the same thing.

I would give it back to them, who wouldn't?

I have very strict rules about finding money.

If I see someone drop it, no question about it..I alert them or pick it up and hand it to them.

If I find some money on the ground and no one is around (small amount), finders keepers.

If I were to find a large amount of money with no one around, I would place an ad and ask for details if someone answered. I would not turn it into a customer service desk. I have worked CS before and many people have no problem pocketing it.

If I were to find a wallet with ID, I would go to great lengths to return it to the owner intact.

I'd give it back with no second thought.

All you have to be is empathetic. Put yourself in that persons shoes: You are walking and about to get on an elevator, you reach in your pocket to pull someting out and a $10 bill falls out and you don't notice. Now, two things can happen:

1. You find out far later in the day you are missing your $10 dollars and have absolutely no way of knowing when you lost it so you rip apart your house/apartment, your car etc. looking for it, and never finding it, not knowing the second after you dropped it some greedy bastard got his hands on it.

Or 2. The nice person behind you who saw it drop was a good enough person to let you know.

I'm the latter.

Also, it doesn't matter how much money it is. If it's $10 then my reward is doing something nice. If it's $1,000, then my reward is doing something nice (and maybe 15 bucks from the person lol).

Just my opinion though.

Taking something that isn't mine is something I would never do.... I can't count the times that someone has told me that I was too honest.... When I was 11 years old a neighbor accused me of taking a pair of pliers he had been using on his lawn mower when I stopped and talked to him....He was quite insistent that I had taken them and refused to believe I didn't..... One day he knocked on our front door and I answered, he handed me 2 50 yard line tickets to the next Dallas Cowboys game in the Cotton Bowl and apologized profusely.

I once saw a young woman's wallet fall out of her purse. She didn't notice, so I told her.

I don't believe in that "finders keepers" BS and would never abscond with something that didn't belong to me.

10 or 20 bucks i'd give it back, but anything more i'll have to keep it, sorry but i could really use it at the moment................ Survival of the fittest (or quickest haha)

You give it back.....especially if you see where it came from.......

Honesty begets more honesty

As a kid I would have taken it, as I once did when someone dropped £20 while in the queue at McDonalds. If it were to happen now (I'm in my mid-20s), I would not hesitate to give it back.

I think that's how the majority of very wealthy people attain success lol.

Originally posted by Ben81
but better feel proud then ashame

What would you have done in my place ?

Give the $10 back of course, it's only paper.

Like you say, better to feel proud than ashamed.

I was out at the bar last week and a woman reached into her purse to get a cigarette. When she pulled one out a BIG wad of cash fell out. Now, I was pretty certain she had felt it but as she kept smoking I realized she hadn't so I let her know and she was very thankful. Personally, I would've felt awful if I or anyone else had stolen that money.

I don't care what amount of money it is... one dollar to a sack full of millions

If you're aware of who dropped it, give it back

If you're not aware of who dropped, keep it

One caveat: if someone places an ad, or lays claim and verifies the amount, give it back



I once found six hundred dollars in a small pink change purse at a truckstop. I couldn't
find the owner even after traipsing into the women's restroom and looking around.

So I go and ask the cashier if she would ask if anyone lost a change purse. Nobody
came forward. So I here, hold this for me in case someone claims it, I'm gonna park and be right back
to look more for the owner--BIG truckstop I was in.

So I park and come back, and the night manager has taken control of the purse. Won't give it
back to me, won't hardly even talk to me...starts treating me like I am a damn thief, So I go
to call the Sheriff because if it was unclaimed I wanted it, and find out the damn manager
has the sheriff on the phone talking crap about me...I was stupefied.

Ends up the law in that state....

If it is dropped, finders keepers
If it is lain and forgotten, store/property owner keeps unless claimed.

Sheriffs judgement, store keep purse until claimed...no mention what if unclaimed

Anyway, my point, do the right thing. If you are unable to do the right thing, keep it for yourself.

I remember once while we were on holiday when I was a kid, my dad found a purse full of money, maybe £200 or £300, which in those days was quite a chunk of money. This was in the days before credit cards and cash cards if you can remember that far back.

We weren't exactly poor, but we weren't well off either, and my dad was seriously tempted to keep the money.

But when we looked in inside the purse there was just a photo of a woman & 2 kids, no name, address, license, etc, but it seemed pretty obvious that she was a single mother on holiday with her kids.

So we took it to the Police station and handed it in.

About a week after we'd got home from holiday we got a lovely letter from the lady who'd been in pieces having discovered she'd lost her purse, it was all of the money she had, and if she hadn't got it back it would have ruined their holiday, it would have been the end of their holiday.

She went to the Police station to see if anyone had handed it in, not really expecting it to be there, and was over the moon when it was.

She even sent £20 in with the letter to "get something for the kids!"

That felt good.

I'm Scottish so the note would land straight on my hand as my subconscious natural reflexes wont let money hit the ground, depending on who dropped it would determine whether they got it back.

I must say, I am happy to see that there are so many honest people in this thread. The world needs more people like you. I have given each and every honest person a star