There's an old country saying around here..."found money's a curse" or "don't spend found money." Something like that. I hear that ancient civilizations used to respect their elders for the knowledge they possessed, so there could be something there...
That been said - when I was seventeen, me and my friends found $250 a few days before our summer trip to the beach. The only discussion was which type of beer to buy, not whether to give it back. At the time, it seemed like it was destined for us! But in hindsight I think not, since we literally pissed it away on the beach.
Nowadays I would return it, if at all possible. But if there isn't an obvious way to give it back...I got kids, man.
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I've found money several times and a purse in my shopping cart just last week. You turn in it hoping it gets back to its rightful owner. I used to be so poor I had to steal food. I always think about that and wonder how big a loss the amount might be for the person.
As for the police in this case they should have just had the lady pay the 20 pounds back and not wasted taxpayers money.
What a whole lot of bull, haha.
This is just a succession of senseless might-as-wells. I lost $20, might as well go back to the few places I've been today. I was in that one specific shop earlier, might as well ask the clerks if they saw my money. The clerks are excessively accommodating and have way too much time on their hands, might as well sit with them and watch what the security camera filmed during the last few hours. The clerks recognize the woman who took the bill, might as well call the police. Police officers gladly responded and have absolutely nothing better to do than investigating a mundane $20, might as well bring the woman in for questioning. The woman admitted to taking the money, might as well charge her with a criminal record.
The end result is that at least 3 persons took at least 2 hours of their time to investigate a silly $20 bill, a good chunk of that time being financed by taxpayers' money. And a woman got a criminal record for doing what every sensible human being would have done, including the hypocritical clerks of that store themselves.
In my view, dropped money stops being your money the moment it exits your pocket (unless others nearby see it happening, obviously). The person who lost the $20 might have dropped it in an obscure/irretrievable place, and he/she would have had no way to ever backtrack it (in the middle of a windy public place or right over a manhole, as examples). Why anyone would expect the entire world to investigate to who an anonymous dollar bill belonged to is way beyond me. Just be mindful when handling money and you won't have any issues; I don't recall ever losing any sum of money myself.
A similar situation happened to me a few years ago in college: I spotted a $20 bill in a crowded cafeteria, right between two large tables where 12+ students were sitting (at each table). Sure, part of me wanted to do the charitable thing and find out who was the rightful owner of that money, but how exactly do you achieve that in such a crowded place? And how do you verify any claims made? Any rapacious idiot could easily have claimed the money as his/her own. Tenderly asking a throng of spendthrift students if they lost $20 wouldn't have been the virtuous thing to do; it would have been the dumb and naive thing to do.
Finders keepers: you dropped it, you lost it.
"insensitive prick!" – Danielle Algo
If I found a somewhat considerable amount of money and I would not be able to find the owner myself I'd call the police and tell them I found it and that if the person who lost it turned up that they could come and collect it. I would not hand it over to the police though.
=== Not ALL LIVES MATTER until BLACK LIVES MATTER ===
I don't think a charge of theft would stand up against someone finding money lying on the ground in a public place.
I've "found" money several times, not counting the odd change or dollar here and there. Once it was in a wallet in a restroom, another time a purse left in a shopping cart. Both contained ID, so I contacted the owner and returned it. I've also found just cash, a $20 bill drifting on a reef while snorkeling (kept it) and 3-$50 bills outside of a restaurant that someone had obviously dropped from a pocket. I gave my name and number to the manager in case anyone came looking, and if they could have told me what they lost I would have returned it. Nobody ever called.
I also had my bank hand me a wrong deposit bag for my business one time on a Monday; mine should have contained only validated deposit slips, but when I got back to work I had one too many bags for the previous weekend, and it was full of cash. I don't know how much, but it looked like several thousand, and a Safeway deposit slip. We didn't sign for empty bags at that time, so they would have had no way to track it, but I took it back immediately. There was never any question; the tellers were all very nice ladies and I'd known them for years, and it was just a dumb mistake.
if i find money thats not mine i generally put it in charity or if im in the vicinity of where i can return it i will. its not because a i a goody two shoes, its because i believe in karma.
We manage a lot of rental properties, commercial properties, and apartment complexes, so we occasionally get lost money, credit cards, and other valuables brought into our offices by the people who found them. We call the police if it's a large amount of money, or check through our records if it's a credit card, to locate the owner. We also have laundry concessions at some of our properties, and the resident managers go through the machines and find lost bills and coins which are impossible to trace, unless someone comes forward, so we hold onto it for a couple weeks, then put it in petty cash. But at least it's laundered money! :-)
Working in the hotel industry we find the most amazing things left behind. At the present time we would have hundreds of phone chargers in the lost property. Anybody who claims to have left one can have their pick.
We dont see a lot of money/wallets but occasionally some expensive jewelry. Anything not claimed after three months is sent to the auction houses and the money donated to charity. Oddly enough we get some very expensive alcohol left in rooms. Normally we drain it if it been opened as we cannot be sure it haunt been contaminated. Unopened - well that can always find a home - and usually given to the cleaner as a bonus and recognition of their honesty. This way we always have a record of it if there is a claim - and no recriminations.
The biggest problem is used condoms left at the side of the bed for the cleaners to remove. Most unpleasant. Drugs are often found and destroyed. Unless it is a considerable quantity we dont report it.
Porn movies are often found in the DVD players and we have to check them in case a child turns it on if a family occupies a room the following day etc. Its not only children that can be offended either.
All clothing that is probably wearable is given to a charity who launders it and distributes it. Underwear quite a bit) is always garbaged.
I personally have found wallets and purses, watches etc when I jog and generally can find the owner from id in them. If I cant identify or contact the owner personally I hand it to the police.
On a couple of occasions I have been rewarded and or received a note in the mail.
