Thrift Store Worker finds $30,000 cash and turns it in.

I know the politically correct thing to do - and say - is to turn it in.

But ya know, I hate being politically correct.

I wouldn't turn it in. I would tuck it away for a few weeks, keep working my job there, then do something to get fired or even quit. Go on a few vacations, get myself enrolled in school so I don't have to work at thrift stores, and end up getting a better job in the end.

If this person is keeping $30,000 in an envelope, chances are I need it more than they do. So it becomes finders keepers at that point.

That's not quite so 'heartwarming' but what ever. Sue me.

Originally posted by NovusOrdoMundi
I know the politically correct thing to do - and say - is to turn it in.

But ya know, I hate being politically correct.

I wouldn't turn it in. I would tuck it away for a few weeks, keep working my job there, then do something to get fired or even quit. Go on a few vacations, get myself enrolled in school so I don't have to work at thrift stores, and end up getting a better job in the end.

If this person is keeping $30,000 in an envelope, chances are I need it more than they do. So it becomes finders keepers at that point.

That's not quite so 'heartwarming' but what ever. Sue me.

This is horrible! Absolutely deplorable! But happens to be one of the funniest things I've heard all day.

AAC

she was obviously rich or incredably stupid. I definetly would have known what real money looks like. who looks at money and thinks its fake. someone realy really really rich who doesnt care to look. she prob doesnt know what year it is either.

Originally posted by AnAbsoluteCreation
This is horrible! Absolutely deplorable!

Thanks!!

I believe in things happening for a reason, and I believe in looking forward rather than looking in the past, so I say, if I stumble upon $30,000, maybe I was meant to find it, and I shouldn't look back and try to undo what's done (i.e. this person losing their money). Instead, I should look forward and do what is in store for me with that money.

It's weird, but so is the concept of time. If you try to go back and undo whats done in the past, I believe in the possibility that doing that will throw off the future.

Of course I could continue on with this philosophical talk just to cover up the plain and simple fact that I'd just be greedy if this situation ever happened upon me, but I figured I'd say it anyway.

It's a story like this that brings hope to humanity. Not everyone is a greedy shill that will step on their mothers back for an easy payday. This woman in my opinion is herself rich. Definitely rich in honesty and integrity.

I certainly hope good things come to her for her honest actions. I can't say honestly if I would have been this forthright in giving back the money. And then to top it all off she takes the money she got as a reward to further help someone else? To take her mother to get eye surgery? That is yet again remarkable. What a selfless person. If there is a heaven ill be willing to bet she gets in quickly.

If she would have bought the bag? of stuff it would have been her loot legally.

I would have looked for the person. Seen what the circumstances were . Then made my choice i suppose.

Originally posted by ColdWater
If I worked in that thrift store the headline would read:

Thrift store worker finds $20,000 cash and turns it in

Wink Wink

You guys are all saints. If that was my store there would be a headline concerning a mysterious empty envelope.

WOW! I couldn't quite understand what all the fuss was about ... until I read the rest of the posts. I must admit that the thought of keeping the money never even entered my head. My first thought was for the poor (or rich) person who "lost" the money in the first place. If the person was poor or should I say not rich, they would be absolutely beside themselves with worry and I would hate to be responsible for that. If the person was rich, they would probably blame whatever home help they have working for them and then someone innocent would be in trouble which I wouldn't be able to live with either. So, the only choice really would be to return it.
Nothing good could come from keeping money obtained in that way.

Well this thread really shows some people's true colors.

You all know the right thing to do is return the money!

It doesn't matter who it belonged to, rich or poor, the only thing you should do is give it back.

Shame on you all who say you would keep it.

My family is poor, but we get by. I would have given it back too. I know some of you might say it's easy to say without being in that situation, but in my heart I know its true.

That woman really did the right thing, it is a heartwarming story.

reply to post by MrDead


I like your post, but your Avatar is blinding me. (j/k)...

Thing is, it's interesting to analyze what 'right thing' means.

For me it's the right thing because of emotion and empathy.

I know I'd be devastated if that happened to me. I'd be traumatized knowing that this was probably occurring to the person who misplaced it. I go nuts trying to find something simple, like my glasses.

I'm not going to say I have some higher 'moral' value. Maybe some people do.

It would make me feel 'good' to have this money - I'd give half of it away to my family if I kept it (say we couldn't find the original person).

But I don't know the source of the moral choice all the time.

For me, I admit it would be empathy and guilt. I don't need that. You know always looking over your shoulder, fearing it was Mob durg money or something...

I do agree that by law if you 'buy' something and look inside and there's a box with something valuable in it, it might be considered partly yours.

Maybe it would make sense to contact one's lawyer and find out what the right thing to do would be by law.

Anyway interesting and thought-provoking.

if I found it,

I would cut it up into a million pieces an give everyone I found a piece......



Nah id turn it in but require someone to call me an verify that it was theirs..... then I would want letters to see how it affected them an the people they knew.....

either that mexican surgery cost 29,800 or that women bought an expensive cam..... they are like 99 bucks now. for Sony!

Anywho, I dunno what eye surgery cost cept laser an thats 3k a eye.

lets all photocopy our money an give it to the world!!!!! an pay 5 billion for a loaf of bread.

Id sit on it a few weeks and see what happens...

No one comes forward with adds or a news headlines saying they lost 30k, then well, I'm keeping it.

reply to post by LovingSoul


Well the original owner of the money is deceased so I don't think they would miss it. It is however great that this Thrift Store Worker was kind enough to return the money she found to the family.


reply to post by MrDead


Now how can we say what is right and wrong in this situation. The person that the money belonged to is dead. Therefore they have no need for the money anymore. This person was kind enough to return the money to family members of the deceased. They were not missing the money nor were they expecting the money to turn up to begin with. So is it wrong for those of us that thought that it would benefit our lives to keep the money to do so?

Morally this person did a great service, it is noted. However can one say that it would be wrong to keep money that no one would miss? The article did not suggest that this money was reported missing nor did it mention that the surviving relatives of the deceased expected this money.

In truth this was an overly kind act by an overly honest person. She in my opinion would have done no wrong by taking the money herself to help out her family which is what she has done through the reward.

A monetary gain found by anyone that no one would miss? How could that be reprehensible? The owner of the money is deceased They obviously have no further use for the cash. One could even conclude that it was good karma or by the grace of god that this money fell into their hands. If god handed you or your own good karma handed you a windfall of this per potion in order to help yourself or you family or to reward yourself for a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice who is to say that the right reasoning is to keep the money for yourself or your family.

Originally posted by MrDead
Well this thread really shows some people's true colors.

Would you rather we lied about what we would do?

Everyone's situation is different. Maybe one of us, if we found it, would need it more than the person who lost it. Maybe it would change our lives. Maybe it would save someone's life in our family.

So given that, is it still the 'right' thing to do to give the money back to someone so careless, and apparently so well off, that they would keep $30,000 in an envelope, rather than putting the money to good use and possibly saving a life?

The 'right' thing shouldn't be if you give it back. The right thing should be whose life this money ends up positively changing the most.

Now, see, if I was a rich philanthropist, Bill Gates, or somebody who cares about seeing kind people rewarded, I'd write a check for $10,000 and send it to this person who turned it in.

I mean to a billionaire, that's like $10-$100.00 would be to a regular middle class person.

To the person above, isn't that a bit like situational ethics?

If it's not yours, and the legal definition might vary, depending on if you bought the item and found money inside.

Maybe the best thing to do would be the shop owner to give her a $10/hr raise. After all I'd think the notoriety would draw clients to her store.

At the minimum, it couldn't hurt to talk to a lawyer, hypothetically, and say 'If I found, x dollars in something I bought, probably a mistake, is this money mine, legally? Ethically?'.'

I believe I heard is that you turn it into the cops, and if there's no claimants within a set period, the money is yours.

Plus, if you keep it and say nothing, and the IRS sees you spending a bunch of money, then you get nailed that way.

If you 'win' it, due to no claimants, then you'd put it on your taxes, legally, NP.








[edit on 10-3-2008 by Badge01]

reply to : whatukno and NovusOrdoMundi

Yes, I understand your point of view entirely, and I believe it is wrong.
First, it doesn't matter who owned the money, if they were rich, or poor.
Second, the money wasn't known to have existed to them. It belonged to their deceased relative, and so it did belong to them. You could have kept the money and they would be in the same situation they were in before, or you could do the right thing and return it.

I'm sorry, but nobody will convince me that keeping the money is ok to do. Especially a large sum like $30,000. That is a life changing windfall.

As you mentioned, yes I do appreciate the honesty that you would keep the it. It's better than lying. lol

As a side note, I also believe in things such as honest thieves, and good criminals. If you're guided by your moral compass, laws are partly irrelevant, and will sometimes conflict with what is right. In every case, you should do the right thing.
I said I don't think anyone will convince me it's ok to keep the money, the right thing is to give it back. And I still would say, even if the money came from Hitler himself, it's wrong to keep it, but here's my exemption: If it's someone who is evil then you're doing the wrong thing giving it back, because you're causing bad things to happen.

To benefit from someone else's misfortune is wrong. For something like that, I'd say go help someone get the operation they need. Donate it to a charity. Buy Christmas presents for poor kids. Anything but profit yourself. You have to look outside of your own life, and how you might change someone else's. Help out someone less fortunate than yourself.

I guess we could argue forever over all the various factors which might make it ok to keep this money.

Some people would keep it, some people would give it back. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise, I'm just saying what I think is the right thing to do. I don't think you're a bad person for those of you saying you would keep it, either. It is very tempting. I just think we should try to be less selfish, and the world will be a better place for it.

I don't know if you see my point of view or not. I guess we agree on some stuff, and disagree on others. Anyway, thanks for your honest replies.

~edited to put in who I was replying to - it's kind of to both of you, but when I wrote it out you guys merged into one reply, and I don't want to go through and edit my post to pick out what is for who lol, sorry~

[edit on 10-3-2008 by MrDead]

Did people ever beg the question why there is $30,000 in the envelope in the first place? I think maybe the individual who "lost" their money, was actually a philanthropist trying to contribute back to society.

Anywho I applaud the worker for returning the money. If I were her, I hold the money until someone claim they miss $30,000. Some sad people wouldn't think twice and would falsely claim it's their $30,000. I'd hold it for a money, and if no one claims it, I'd give it to charity.

But dang, I'll hide the freakin money, I had some people actually steal savings from my room, around $200. And I suspect they were friends of family friends, but I never said anything about it, because heck I'd just cause more tension in the house, and $200 isn't worth that. P.S. I'm by no means wealthy though.

reply to post by skyblueff0


You hit it head on. WHAT IS granny doing with 30 grand.

Maybe bootlegging a little hooch or running an over the hill call girl buisness?

Or was she known as the White Dragon Lady on the street?

We need a background check on this sweet little old lady. If you or I were in the newspaper with 30,000 cash the IRS and Homeland Security would visit us.

Originally posted by ColdWater
If I worked in that thrift store the headline would read:

Thrift store worker finds $20,000 cash and turns it in

Wink Wink

That made me laugh until I cried real tears. I hope I don't think about that again... later, when I'm at the supermarket

reply to post by jensouth31


Your risque' avatar reminds me of the roaring twenties. The best of the best wrote during that period if you ask me.

Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pound, Stein, Dos Passos and many others.

What I would give to be in Paris circa 1921. Sigh.