Would you take the wallet or give it back?

whatsamsn

You are walking along the street and some guy drops his wallet. You are in a position to take it. No one is going to see. Contents of wallet are unknown.

So what do you do?

(A) pick it up for yourself
or
(B) inform him he dropped his wallet and give it back.


Morality test time boards :pac:

Kojak

What about the "Completly ignore what just happened" option?

Jesus Wept

In before 'karma' gets mentioned. I'd give it back because I am a decent individual (in those situations anyway).

whatsamsn

Kojak wrote: »

What about the "Completly ignore what just happened" option?

When faced with a financial gain. No one is that ignorant A choice is made

DEFTLEFTHAND

I would give it back of course, I was raised better to do otherwise.

later12

I wouldn't give it back for karma.

I'd give it back because I've been that guy who has lost or dropped his wallet and it's a really shit thing to happen to you.

puzzle factory

whars the option if there was sumit init?

Chuck Stone

I'd shout HEY! you dropped your wallet there you stupid CUNT.

Then he'd have conflicting feelings of being grateful and being insulted by a complete stranger.

whatsamsn

later10 wrote: »

I wouldn't give it back for karma.

I'd give it back because I've been that guy who has lost or dropped his wallet and it's a really shit thing to happen to you.

Now we are getting deeper and thats morality. But also "side of the fence".
We can all understand of being on the side of loosing a wallet. There for its the right thing to do to give it back.

However, we as people also take into account the aspect of 'if the shoe was on the other foot'

Ficheall

whatsamsn is clearly one of the great thinkers of our age.

whatsamsn

Ficheall wrote: »

whatsamsn is clearly one of the great thinkers of our age.

:pac:
But i bet you voted "give it back" even tho in reality you would actually think about it. I'd be willing to bet you'd take it mate Of course, no one wants to admit to being the bad guy

zenno

If i was homeless on the street i would keep it but if i was surviving and was managing just about then i would give it back.

Ficheall

whatsamsn wrote: »

:pac:
But i bet you voted "give it back" even tho in reality you would actually think about it. I'd be willing to bet you'd take it mate Of course, no one wants to admit to being the bad guy

I didn't vote.
And I gave the bus driver back a fiver extra change he gave me today. Though in retrospect that may not have been the best decision.

SV

"Thou shalt not steal if there is direct victim"


I'd give it back, regardless who the person was.

henryporter

Ficheall wrote: »

whatsamsn is clearly one of the great thinkers of our age.

If great thinking is banging a few unrelated clichés togetherness, then yes:D

Of course you'd give it back, you'd want to be some colossal boll1x not to. Now if I were a banker or a fianna failure politician I might do otherwise...

TeddyTedson

Definitely give it back.
Happened to me recently actually at the bar of a certain night club. After handing back to the guy he tried to buy me and a buddy a ridiculous amount of drink where he'd have probably been better off if we'd kept it. I'm sure he was glad the day after knowing we talked him out of it...If he even remembered :pac:

Tipsy McSwagger

I'd give it back but if I found a bundle of 50 euro notes on the street I would keep them.

franciebellew

This type of thing i have witnessed a number of times.

People dropping money or leaving passports behind etc.

I would just ignore it. I would never keep someone else's belongings but would just walk on.

phasers

franciebellew wrote: »

This type of thing i have witnessed a number of times.

People dropping money or leaving passports behind etc.

I would just ignore it. I would never keep someone else's belongings but would just walk on.

why wouldn't you give it back?

Ellis Dee

In fact, it has happened to me a couple of times. And the look of thanks on the person's face and the good feeling you get is worth more than any amount of money that the wallet is likely to contain.:):)

Sunnyisland

At this time in my life I would give it back, but there was time when I would have kept it,well the cash part anyway.

token101

In my current state, single no responsibilities, relatively well off considering the state of the place I'd give it back probably chase up the person if he/she was gone.

But.....if I was a single parent genuinely worrying about where the next meal for my kids was coming from and some guy like I am now dropped his wallet with a few quid inside and there didn't appear to be anything particularly sentimental or valuable, I'd be pocketing it in all honestly and I doubt I'd lose sleep over it.

Edit: I just remembered it happening to me actually!! I lost my wallet at Sziget festival in Hungary two years ago, had about 50 euro and about 10 euro worth of Hungarian Forint inside, but it had my college ID, bank cards, and the wallet itself was a present so it had some sentimental value. Went to the lost and found and amazingly it was handed in!! They only took the Hungarian money, which didnt bother me at all considering it was probably the price of the drink I'd have gotten some fella anyway.....but they took the condom I was carrying aswell!!! I found that hilarious in all honesty, especially considering it was a festival and they were handing them out like smarties!!

mattjack

I'd keep the wallet,I need a new wallet ...I'd give the cash and any cards back,might even give back his pic of his wife too.

tan11ie

I'd give it back without a doubt! I'm a big believer in Karma.

Seomra Mushie

Give it back, I'm not a knacker.

Seachmall

It had been raining for days and days, and a terrible flood had come over the land. The waters rose so high that one man was forced to climb onto the roof of his house.

As the waters rose higher and higher, a man in a rowboat appeared, and told him to get in. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the rowboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and suddenly a speedboat appeared. "Climb in!" shouted a man in the boat. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the man in the speedboat went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.


The waters continued to rise. A helicopter appeared and over the loudspeaker, the pilot announced he would lower a rope to the man on the roof. "No," replied the man on the roof. "I have faith in the Lord; the Lord will save me." So the helicopter went away. The man on the roof prayed for God to save him.

The waters rose higher and higher, and eventually they rose so high that the man on the roof was washed away, and alas, the poor man drowned.

Upon arriving in heaven, the man marched straight over to God. "Heavenly Father," he said, "I had faith in you, I prayed to you to save me, and yet you did nothing. Why?" God gave him a puzzled look, and replied "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"



I always have faith God will provide me with the means to buy a taco-chip.

dxhound2005

Apparently there was research done on this. 95% of people said they would give an item back but when asked how many other people they thought would do the same they said about 50%.

Seachmall

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Apparently there was research done on this. 95% of people said they would give an item back but when asked how many other people they thought would do the same they said about 50%.

Boom.

Everybody thinks they're fantastic, we're all actually a bunch of idiots with little to know self-control or ability to reason in stressful or unusual situations, let alone act as we think we would when thinking about hypothetical scenarios.

theteal

If you saw it happen and he was still just in front of you, I would almost regard that as stealing to not give it back.

dxhound2005

theteal wrote: »

If you saw it happen and he was still just in front of you, I would almost regard that as stealing to not give it back.

It would be stealing. There is a concept in law called stealing by finding.

gcgirl

Give it back without a word of thought, I know the few times I have mislaid my own wallet it's frantic but luckily I have not lost any of them
And it also happened to me some chap walk out of the local Chinese he had drop his wallet he had just got in a taxi luckily I stopped the taxi to give him his wallet back and that was my good deed for the day done

AnonoBoy

Funnily enough when there was more money around I would have been more inclined to keep it. Now that I'm a bit more strapped for cash I think I'm more conscious that other people are too so I would definitely give it back.

Of course maybe it's just that I'm growing up.

Novella

I would definitely give it back. Wouldn't even think for a second about taking something that wasn't mine.

boobar

whatsamsn wrote: »

You are walking along the street and some guy drops his wallet. You are in a position to take it. No one is going to see. Contents of wallet are unknown.

So what do you do?

(A) pick it up for yourself
or
(B) inform him he dropped his wallet and give it back.


Morality test time boards :pac:

I'd give it back every time.

I was walking down Grafton Street one day, and a guy dropped a large wad of notes out if his pocket.

I picked it up, and politely asked him if he had lost anything. He said no and looked at me like I was a complete nut and was actually quite rude. I had to persuade him to check his pockets.

I could have easily walked on when he said he hadn't lost anything, and I'd have cleaned up.

Abi

Give it back without hesitation. So many times I've copped people leaving wallets, purses, phones and bank cards behind. I would have a sh1t haemorrhage if I lost anything like that, do the right thing and give them the heads up.

df1985

give it back, majority of people wouldnt carry wads of cash. its just a headache for people to cancel cards etc when they lose wallets.

I know people said dont mention to karma, but i found an ipad on the train at xmas and found the owner. recently lost my iphone and the person got it back to me. its the decnt thing to do!

Daniel S

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

I'd give it back but if I found a bundle of 50 euro notes on the street I would keep them.

That's a tricky one. If I knew who owned it I'd give it back straight away. I'd probably think of a way to let the gaurds know a sum of money was found, but I would be hanging on to the money if nobody calls about it.

languagenerd

I'd definitely give it back. People have done that sort of thing for me, so I'd always try my best to get anything I find back to its owner.

Lost my phone in college last year and the person who found it sent a text from it to the last person I'd texted, telling them that they were about to hand the phone to security desk in the Arts building and that I should go there to get it back. So nice of them, it had fallen out of a loose pocket and I wouldn't have known where to start looking for it!

So yeah, I'd do the same for anyone else.

5T3PH3N

Found a wallet with €2,500 in it when I was about 16, and gave it back, owner gave me a 50. About 2 weeks later I won €1,500.
I'd do it again even if I got no fifty or won the 1,5k cause it felt good handing it back!

Seachmall

5T3PH3N wrote: »

Found a wallet with €2,500 in it when I was about 16, and gave it back, owner gave me a 50. About 2 weeks later I won €1,500.
I'd do it again even if I got no fifty or won the 1,5k cause it felt good handing it back!

Do you know what else feels good?


Head from a €2,500/hour hooker.

You seriously missed out man.

Local-womanizer

I'd give it back. I wouldn't miss the contents of the wallet as I never had them.

It's a pretty ****ty thing to do considering if you seen the person just drop it.

Just because Karma doesn't exist it would still make you an arsehole for taking it.

audi a4 2008

i was in my loved city (cork):D,just walking around when i was crossing the road when i got pushed from the back from a person rushing for the bus.
and with that his wallet fell on the ground,picked it up started to call out to him anyway got his attention he came back and snapped yes snapped it out of my hand. :mad:

no thanks no speech out of him at all.now he was a ungratefull git but at the same time it was his .i would allways hand in anything i find as i find you will be rewarded later in life:).

Tar.Aldarion

given them back before, would do again. Was hard enough as a kid when it was hundreds of pounds and I'd never seen so much

im invisible

I cant be the only one who thought 'Id take it and give it back'?

Johnny Foreigner

I would keep it.
His loss, my gain.
A man should take care of his wallet.
I found an iphone once, sold it for 300 Euro. Then I flew to Ibiza for the weekend, had a free night out.

goat2

i would always err on the side of honesty, i would feel sorry for anyone who dropped their wallet, as they have cards. identity, driver licence in there,
i also believe in the saying,
what goes round, comes round

TheMilkyPirate

If the person was walking in front of me and they dropped it i'd call him and give it back, If i found a wallet in the street with money in it i'd keep it.

saa

I would give it back, I'm not looking for a few quid thats nothing compared to someones life that basically condensed into a wallet.

This has got me thinking a wallet I would go out of my way to give back but If I found a tenner on the ground I probably wouldn't bother if there was no there obviously I know thats terrible but the person probably wouldnt go to the gaurds, but then I thought you don't see [sober] people dropping notes anymore really do you.

dxhound2005

saa wrote: »

I would give it back, I'm not looking for a few quid thats nothing compared to someones life that basically condensed into a wallet.

This has got me thinking a wallet I would go out of my way to give back but If I found a tenner on the ground I probably wouldn't bother if there was no there obviously I know thats terrible but the person probably wouldnt go to the gaurds, but then I thought you don't see [sober] people dropping notes anymore really do you.

Probably not but apparently thousands of euros are left every year in ATM's by absent minded people.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0516/aib.html

TheZohanS

Johnny Foreigner wrote: »

I would keep it.
His loss, my gain.
A man should take care of his wallet.
I found an iphone once, sold it for 300 Euro. Then I flew to Ibiza for the weekend, had a free night out.

Hmmm...I hadn't completely made my mind up about you...but I have now.

johnty56

I was going to edinburgh a few years ago, around 2002 when the euro had just come in, and I found a wallet in the airport with around 1500 in it and the boarding pass of its owner.. he was on the same flight as us. I asked someone working in airport where the security desk was so I could hand it in and they said I would have to go back out through security so, rather than do that I went to my departure gate and asked them to call the guys name so i could give it to him... they called a few times and he didnt come so I gave the wallet to the serviceair guy at the desk at the departure gate to give to the guy if he came as we had to get on the plane.. long and short of it , the dudes face lit up for that split second that he couldn't hide when he visualised the 'coke and hookers' weekend he was going to have.
I looked around the plane before we left, no empty seats so the owner of tjhe wallet obviously got the flight.. no smiling , relieved faces either.
I often wonder if he ever got the money:)