[Error: unknown template qotd]
Library, diner or pub, it makes no difference--it's not my money. I would hand an employee my phone number and tell them that I had found some money, and that if anyone came in to claim it in the next two weeks, I'd happily return it. When that call came, you'd better believe I would ask how much they'd lost and in what denominations. I'm honest, but I'm also wary, because people are bastards when it comes to money.
I wouldn't hand the money itself over, because I have seen clerks at some stores accept found money and then pocket it, and I've seen management slip it in the till. I also wouldn't ask if anyone had lost money, because I've seen multiple folks call out "Yes!" and watched people try to guess how much had been found, like it was the goddamn lottery. Like I said, bastards.
That said, this isn't a hypothetical question for me. I found $150 on the floor of a video shop once. I did hand it to the clerk in that case, because she was a friend of the family and I trusted her. Two weeks later, no one had made any inquiries and lo, it was mine. Yay!
And in that vein, I would happily pocket any money found outside, because I have no way of knowing where a person was coming from or headed to when they dropped it, or even if they dropped it at that spot or if it was blown/tracked there. We used to live beside a vacant lot that was a common neighborhood short-cut, and we found dropped money there all the time--usually $1 or $5 bills, but once in a blue moon there would be a $20. Schweet!
Library, diner or pub, it makes no difference--it's not my money. I would hand an employee my phone number and tell them that I had found some money, and that if anyone came in to claim it in the next two weeks, I'd happily return it. When that call came, you'd better believe I would ask how much they'd lost and in what denominations. I'm honest, but I'm also wary, because people are bastards when it comes to money.
I wouldn't hand the money itself over, because I have seen clerks at some stores accept found money and then pocket it, and I've seen management slip it in the till. I also wouldn't ask if anyone had lost money, because I've seen multiple folks call out "Yes!" and watched people try to guess how much had been found, like it was the goddamn lottery. Like I said, bastards.
That said, this isn't a hypothetical question for me. I found $150 on the floor of a video shop once. I did hand it to the clerk in that case, because she was a friend of the family and I trusted her. Two weeks later, no one had made any inquiries and lo, it was mine. Yay!
And in that vein, I would happily pocket any money found outside, because I have no way of knowing where a person was coming from or headed to when they dropped it, or even if they dropped it at that spot or if it was blown/tracked there. We used to live beside a vacant lot that was a common neighborhood short-cut, and we found dropped money there all the time--usually $1 or $5 bills, but once in a blue moon there would be a $20. Schweet!
no subject
Date: 2009-09-09 06:38 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2009-09-10 03:15 pm (UTC)From:Also, that most times when I find more than $20 lying on the floor of some business, I very quickly find someone running around with their purse open looking for that lost money, so it's not usually an issue. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-09 07:33 pm (UTC)From:When I worked at the coffee shop, I was digusted to discover that someone who worked there stole money out of a wallet that someone had left behind. I had found it, and put it in a drawer behind the counter until the guy remembered it. I checked up on it a few days later to find the cash in it gone!
Lesson learned; after that I always wrote down the contents immediately after finding it. :(
no subject
Date: 2009-09-10 03:20 pm (UTC)From:(iamsuchadork)
That one's a new low for me there. Loose money was found money, but out of a wallet? That's scummy....