Honesty poll

luckat

I'm just curious. A friend left his expensive digital camera on the bus and was in no doubt whatsoever that he'd get it back. He's in Japan.

If you found a camera, would you had it up? What about a €20 note? A €50 note? An address book? Would you walk to the Garda station to hand it in? Would you expect a reward? Shoud you?

frodi

If I couldn't identify the owner myself directly then I'd bring it to a Garda stn.
Reward: a nice "thank you" would do.

therecklessone

luckat wrote:

I'm just curious. A friend left his expensive digital camera on the bus and was in no doubt whatsoever that he'd get it back. He's in Japan.

If you found a camera, would you had it up? What about a €20 note? A €50 note? An address book? Would you walk to the Garda station to hand it in? Would you expect a reward? Shoud you?

Anything valuable I'd hand in. Phone, camera, mp3 player, anything like that.

In fact, when I worked for Aer Rianta in Dublin I was always finding stuff. I always handed it in (got to claim most of it after 3 months anyway )

Cash-wise, anything under €50 I'd either pocket or throw in a charity collection box, unless I had an idea who'd lost it (if I found it on a bus on the ground near where an old biddy had been sitting), or I found it somewhere where it would be easy enough to identify the owner (like in work). Above €50 I'd hand it in to the relevant body.

doh.ie

When I lived in the UK, I found someone's wages in an soggy envelope on a miserable rainy morning - hard to believe some still pay in cash!. There was over €400/£300 in it, and once I found out who the owner was, I had no qualms finding her (worked for a local pub) and giving it back.

Reward, same as Frodi - a lovely thank you (and a great offer of as much free drink as I wanted whenever I was in that area again.)

monkeyfudge

I've handed things into the bus driver on several occasions that I've found on the bus... from phones to wallets.

Not sure if the bus driver hands the things on though... ha

I remember when I was younger I had just bought a new CD and had the thing stuffed in my jacket pocket, when I got on my bus home I sat next to someone I went to school with and hadn't spoken to in a while. I got up and left the bus at my stop, not knowing that the CD had fallen out of my pocket.

And from what the guy I knew from shcool told me afterwards, someone else sat down in the same seat after I got off. And then when she got up she to leave the bus, the guy I knew saw the CD on the seat and asked if it was hers and she said 'yes' and took it. Now that's really cheeky... it's one thing to take something that you found lying on the bus, but another to lie in order to get it.

Sleipnir

I wouldn't hand in cash that was 'loose', i.e. if it's not in a wallet.
If you brought cash into a police station it would most likely end up
in a copper's pocket.
Anything like an iPod I would definately hand in.

So I couldn't vote in the poll.

monkeyfudge

Sleipnir wrote:

I wouldn't hand in cash that was 'loose', i.e. if it's not in a wallet.
If you brought cash into a police station it would most likely end up
in a copper's pocket.
Anything like an iPod I would definately hand in.

So I couldn't vote in the poll.

Same here. I wouldn't hand cash in. I found €60 just before christmas last year. I put €40 in the charity box and bought a round of drinks for my friends with the rest.

seamus

I'd hand it back depending on the effort it would cost me -v- karma. If I found a wallet with nothing in it but a few pieces of paper, and a crap ID card, I'd throw it in the bin. If it has Credit/ATM/VHI cards in it, I'd make an attempt to get it back to its owner. I have returned phones to their owner (even posted one to the north, out of my own pocket), and would do the same for anything else valuable I found.

Money under €50 would go in my pocket, unless it was in a wallet with other things, as Sleipnir said.
Afaik, if you find money, you're obliged to make a reasonable effort to reunite it with its owner (ads on signposts or something) if the owner doesn't reclaim in a certain amount of time (think its a year) you're legally allowed to keep it.

woosaysdan

yeah im the same as most people if there was a 20 of a 50 euro note no the ground and no one around i'd put it in the back pocket, butif it was something expensive likean i-pod, camera or the wallet then id deffinately hand it into the garda station!!!

doh.ie

Think the poll is slightly off - I probably wouldn't hand in a loose €10 note if I found it simple because you'd never be able to reliably track down the owner, and secondly it's just not a lot of money, really.

An iPod is very different, though. It'd be much more possible to track the owner, or have the owner prove their ownership through a serial number or wot-not.

So shouldn't the poll really be iPod vs €100, or more?

RuggieBear

I'd be the same....small sums of money with no obvious owner, i'd keep but any valubles would be handed in.

Actually, the other day i found a battered old paperback on a bench in college. There was a postcard with an address in it, being used as a page marker. i sent the book to the address (somewhere in Limerick). With just an anom. note saying found this is Trinity....they were only half way thru and it was a classic

doh.ie

RuggieBear wrote:

I'd be the same....small sums of money with no obvious owner, i'd keep but any valubles would be handed in.

Actually, the other day i found a battered old paperback on a bench in college. There was a postcard with an address in it, being used as a page marker. i sent the book to the address (somewhere in Limerick). With just an anom. note saying found this is Trinity....they were only half way thru and it was a classic

If there wasn't an address in it, I'd have thought it was that project they're running in Britain, a sort of Pay It Forward, with books. As far as I recall, you buy a book (or choose one you like a lot), read it, and leave it safely in some public space with the project rules stapled inside (basically read it, enjoy it, buy another, pass it on etc.). Quite clever, but I don't know how widely it took off.

fletch

I wouldn't hand in stuff to the gardai cause they're so corrupt they'd prob jus keep it for themselves. If I could track the owner and I was 100% sure it was theirs, then yeh I'd give it back. Found a few phones over the years & always got them back to their rightful owners. Just hoping that someone will do the same for me one day if I lose anything.

robbie1876

Years ago I lost my wallet on a bus, and the bus driver returned it to me in a very unusual way. I lived in a housing estate at the time, and when there was someone at the door, I opened the door to the bus driver and behind him on the street was his double decker bus.....WITH PASSENGERS ON BOARD!!!! It was very surreal, they were all glaring at me like it was my fault the bus driver decided to veer off the route to get my wallet back to me, making them all late.

The bus then had to reverse all the way up the street cos it was a dead end and he couldn't turn around. There was over a grand in cash in my wallet at the time, every penny of it still there, so I was unbelievably relieved to get it back, although somehow I knew I would.

Afterwards I was thinking about it, I'm sure some of the passengers would have reported the driver for going off the route and making them all late. Fair play to the driver for risking his own job to get me back my wallet, which he knew from the cash in it was important to me. I traced the driver to the Ringsend garage and sent him a Christmas hamper, cost me €150 but well worth it I tell you. He dropped in a thank you card afterwards, but I don't know if he had the bus with him the second time or not.

Robbie

luckat

Doh, that's why I put the small sum in; I'm curious as to the level at which honesty kicks in.

As for "the Gardai are crooked", hmmm. They're crooked, so that's an excuse for us to be? Does that work, morally, you think?

(By the same token; I've several times handed stuff up to Garda stations and later got notes of thanks from their owners when they claimed them - in one case, a pensioner.)

buddy

If it was something small I'd give it back.

Due to several credit/debit errors in Tommy's Wonderland I ended up with nearly €2000 credit on my card.

I waited a few months for them to contact me and when they didn't I went back in and explained what happened. They charged my card and thanked me profusely for my honesty!!

Hagar

robbie1876 wrote:

I opened the door to the bus driver and behind him on the street was his double decker bus.....WITH PASSENGERS ON BOARD!!!!

Brilliant.

As a mark of respect I'm not going to take the p1ss out of Dublin Bus on the Boards for the rest of the day. But tomorrow....


BTW Did anyone lose a bundle of 20 Euro notes rolled up in a red rubber band?
PM me. I think I found your rubber band

Raskolnikov

Loose money I'd generally keep, if it was anything over €50 I'd probably hand it into the police or make an effort to find the owner. I've lost my bus pass, ATM cards, etc on the bus once, they gave me a call and I was able to collect. Despite what they say about the bus service, people there are pretty honest.

On the other hand, while in France last week, a wallet which contained my passport, money, ATM card, etc, slipped out of my pocket while I was buying a baguette at a stall. Five minutes later, I realised it was missing and knew that I must have dropped it while at the stall. Rushed back to see a young woman pick it up and pocket it. She then refused to acknowledge that she even found the wallet! Luckily, a policeman was walking by and with my best French I explained the situation. She 'found' my wallet and that was the end of that.

BEAT

I would turn in material things found. If I found money though..and no one was around it is thereofre mine. If there is soeone close by I will ask them if they dropped something and hand it over as I have done in the past.

I have gone through an entire parking lot looking for someone who left an envelope in my office with his wages in it. Found him in his car getting ready to leave...He didnt seem to thrilled to get it back but I felt better.

Funnily enough, I only seem to find money on the ground when I am in dire need. A bit strange isnt it

Verdammt

robbie1876 wrote:

Years ago I lost my wallet on a bus, and the bus driver returned it to me in a very unusual way. I lived in a housing estate at the time, and when there was someone at the door, I opened the door to the bus driver and behind him on the street was his double decker bus.....WITH PASSENGERS ON BOARD!!!! It was very surreal, they were all glaring at me like it was my fault the bus driver decided to veer off the route to get my wallet back to me, making them all late.

The bus then had to reverse all the way up the street cos it was a dead end and he couldn't turn around. There was over a grand in cash in my wallet at the time, every penny of it still there, so I was unbelievably relieved to get it back, although somehow I knew I would.

Afterwards I was thinking about it, I'm sure some of the passengers would have reported the driver for going off the route and making them all late. Fair play to the driver for risking his own job to get me back my wallet, which he knew from the cash in it was important to me. I traced the driver to the Ringsend garage and sent him a Christmas hamper, cost me €150 but well worth it I tell you. He dropped in a thank you card afterwards, but I don't know if he had the bus with him the second time or not.

Robbie

It's nice to see that there are people out there like that. Heart warming story.

therecklessone

BEAT wrote:

Funnily enough, I only seem to find money on the ground when I am in dire need. A bit strange isnt it

I've told you before, its called a wallet, and its not finding, its stealing...

flogen

If it was a small amount of money like a tenner, and I didnt know who owned it (so it wasnt in a wallet, or I didnt see who dropped it), then I wouldnt hand it in. I mean, if you give a €10 note into the gardai, or a bus driver if it were on a bus, what are they going to do with it? Wait until someone rings saying they lost a tenner, so they can ask them what it looked like? tbh if I lost a tenner, I'd be pissed, but I wouldnt go mad looking for it, even though I am poor!

something like an ipod, I'd be so tempted to keep, but I wouldnt, I'd always think "how would you feel if it was you".
A friend of mine found an envelope with a couple of grand in it once in a shopping centre. He brought it to the security, and had it announced, the guard told him he'd mind it until the owner came for it, but he said no. Turned out it was belonged to a group of foreign girls and it was their spending money! I cant blame him for not handing it over to the security, whatever about the police, theres a much higher chance of a shop security guard (and no offence to any here) being a bit dodgy. My experience with them while working has been that theyre nice guys, most do their job (and its not an easy one), but theyre a pack of chancers.

flogen

therecklessone

robbie1876 wrote:

Years ago I lost my wallet on a bus, and the bus driver returned it to me in a very unusual way. I lived in a housing estate at the time, and when there was someone at the door, I opened the door to the bus driver and behind him on the street was his double decker bus.....WITH PASSENGERS ON BOARD!!!! It was very surreal, they were all glaring at me like it was my fault the bus driver decided to veer off the route to get my wallet back to me, making them all late.

The bus then had to reverse all the way up the street cos it was a dead end and he couldn't turn around. There was over a grand in cash in my wallet at the time, every penny of it still there, so I was unbelievably relieved to get it back, although somehow I knew I would.

Afterwards I was thinking about it, I'm sure some of the passengers would have reported the driver for going off the route and making them all late. Fair play to the driver for risking his own job to get me back my wallet, which he knew from the cash in it was important to me. I traced the driver to the Ringsend garage and sent him a Christmas hamper, cost me €150 but well worth it I tell you. He dropped in a thank you card afterwards, but I don't know if he had the bus with him the second time or not.

Robbie

Post of the year!

Our local driver (we used to ahve two/three regulars on our route) was reknowned for dropping people to their doors, and once reversed up our cul de sac to drop my mum back at our house cos she'd forgot something.

Now that was service.

leeroybrown

If I found €10/€20/€50 in the street and there wasn't obvious whose it was I'd keep it. If I saw someone drop money, I'd pick it up and give it back to them. Likewise if I found a wallet/purse that obviously belonged to someone then I'd return it, etiher myself or via the Gardaí.

Verdammt

I found a handbag with a couple of thousand pounds in 20's in it when I was about 12 , to this day I'm sorry I handed it up. Should of buried it and went back for it a couple of years later.

SantaHoe

luckat wrote:

As for "the Gardai are crooked", hmmm. They're crooked, so that's an excuse for us to be? Does that work, morally, you think?

Works for me.
A friend of mine found a big roll of 50's in a petrol station forecourt, handed it in to the people who worked there... came back a few days later asking if anyone had claimed it, and they hadn't the slightest idea what he was talking about... seems like the money never even made it to the lost and found.
Sure, he can have a clear consience knowing he did the right thing and handed it in, but a lot of the time handing things in like this is just pure futile... so you have to ask yourself if handing something like this in is going to do any good before you start worrying about morality.

I'd definitely return something that I could, like a wallet where there are cards that identify the person or a laptop that I could boot up and look for an address... but I'd do it myself, I wouldn't trust some shopkeeper to bother his arse doing it... and the Gardai have better things to be doing like policing sporting events and driving government ministers.

Hagar wrote:

BTW Did anyone lose a bundle of 20 Euro notes rolled up in a red rubber band?
PM me. I think I found your rubber band

LOL
So true.

Flukey

As is the general consensus, some items you would hand in especially if the owner could be identified. You could even directly contact them. Cash is a bit different. It is nearly impossible to return, but sometimes you can. I was queueing for an ATM one time and the girl in front of me walked off leaving the cash still in the slot waiting to be taken. I spotted it and went after her and gave it to her. Opportunities to return it like that don't often arise. If you don't see the person losing it and don't want to hand it in because you think it will go into somebody's pocket you could always give it to a charity the next time you come across someone collecting for one.

ando

luckat wrote:

If you found a camera, would you had it up? What about a €20 note? A €50 note?

no no and no

robbie1876

ando wrote:

no no and no

Well that's pretty honest. This thread is full of happy stories, so fair play to you. Have a green pill under your name.

ArthurDent

I'd try to return it to owner - not sure if it was a small amount like a tenner if I'd give it to the guards - more likely put it in a chairty box somewhere.
Once when I was a student a taxi driver drove back to my house with my wallet containing my last £20 and a women found my wallet in the supermarket trolley once and rang me so i know how greatful people are to have things returned - it does restore your faith in the inherent goodness of strangers.

Smellyirishman

Ye i`m in the same boat as everyone, would hand it to the person if I saw them drop it or knew it was thiers but otherwise its all mine!

But in regards to actual "belongings" I would definitly try to find an owner, although an iPod would be very hard to resist. Recently my GFs cousin found a phone, basically it was offered to everyone in the family but I told them to use one of their sims to open the phone and then check for numbers that were saved to the phone. Anyway eventually they did this and found the girls mam`s number and blah blah.

I was surprised that the parents didnt say much to my GF or her cuz as they were just doing nothing about it! I mean my phone is a pile of crap(33 something, dont ask me what model), turns off when I answer it, turns off for no reason, doesnt turn on, But I still have a load of numbers etc.. that I cant get again, and IF it went missing I would like to have it returned to me ( and im sure nobody would actually want it ).

Oh and this one time a woman`s baby dropped its soother and I picked it up and gave it to her, I mean if thats not samaritanism at its best I dunno what is