Found Money

[Bijou]

I once found $20 on the ground at a gas station. I kept it: there was no way to tell whose it had been, and I worked at a neighboring station, so I knew the employees were not always the most scrupulous.

A couple days later, I came out of work to find a woman parked next to me with three tired kids in the car. She asked if I had any diaper coupons - just that. But she looked so sad and tired that I couldn't imagine she was in a good place.

I gave her $20.

I say, if they do give you the money (or you find some and keep it), pay it forward.

I like what you did with the money.   
I'm a big supporter of paying it forward, although I thought that refered to something you received and benefited from, then passing the good fortune on to someone else.
We found 14 dollars in the alley and years later still have it paper clipped together.  I guess the owner wouldn't be asking if anyone found it at this point, so it's time to donate it to something.  We figure on giving it to the food bank or maybe the hospitality house a block up from us. 

[RebeccainGA]

I've found money of note (more than a quarter) only once - I found a twenty dollar bill on the floor in an empty corridor when I was volunteering at the hospital in high school. I asked the volunteer coordinator what I should do with it, and she said I should keep it, as there was no way to know who dropped it in that spot - it was a high traffic corridor, but empty for long stretches between rushes.

That funded my lunch for five days in the cafeteria. That was five days mom and dad didn't have to pay for me to volunteer. It worked out very well. :-)

[sweetonsno]

I can't answer whether or not the money is "yours" if nobody claims it. This may in fact be a legal question as well as an etiquette question. Rather than speculating on the legal bits, I encourage you to look up your local laws on found property. (Some of them are rather surprising.) For instance, when I was in my early teens, I found a money clip with cash in it at a local park. I have no idea how much was in there, but the police said that if I wanted to be able to claim it, I would have to post an ad in the paper for two weeks. That is what constituted a "good faith effort" to find the owner.

I think that the proper course of action is to find out what the law is in your area and then approach the manager. If you are legally entitled to keep the money,mention it and ask that they keep your information in the event that nobody claims it, or (if you must turn it in to the police), ask that they do that. I don't see anything wrong with calling the police station and explaining your situation and asking them what your rights are in this situation, either.

[fnygrl]

Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions.  I'm sorry for my delayed response.

I frequent this coffee shop at least once a day, so there was no need for them to ask for my contact information, as they'd see me anyway.  I have seen the manager who I handed the money to, but there was never an apporpriate time to ask him about the money as he was busy with other costumers or duties in the store.
I have asked a few workers if they know or had heard if the person came back to claim the money, but they either answer with an, "I don't know" or "no".

So nothing has changed since I last posted.  Just wanted to say thank you and "updated" you on the matter.

Thanks for listening!

[gramma dishes]

It's such a tough question.  You KNOW you are honest, but you can't always know for sure if the person you turn the money over to is as honest as you.

I think I'd probably keep the money, but I'd tell the store manager that I found some (not exactly how much) and that if someone came in and inquired, to please get contact information and you'd take it from there.

It's a hard call. 

[Lynn2000]

Honestly I think I personally would just step over the money and keep walking... I actually did that the other day, to a dollar bill on the ground. I don't need, financially, to pick up dollar bills from the ground; maybe the next person who comes along does, and it will be great for them. Unless there's someone five feet further on, digging frantically in their purse, there's very little way to accurately determine who the cash belongs to--not by me, the police, a nearby store manager, etc.. And that's assuming everyone involved is completely honest and invested in returning the money. So basically it's a choice between me keeping money I know isn't mine, or me giving it to other people when I also know it isn't theirs (like a store manager). Or, you know, just stepping over the money and walking on.

Plus, honestly, I think I've just seen too many heist movies.  I watched a really lame one the other day where a guy found literally a suitcase full of cash--a hundred thousand dollars or whatever--on the side of the road... the same day as a bank robbery nearby... and he promptly decides to take it home and spend it with his wife upgrading their dingy lives, with this "miracle money." I was really kind of rooting for the robbery-associated hitman in the end... Granted, I don't think times are hard enough yet to send a hitman to retrieve a dollar bill, or even a hundred dollars.

[fnygrl]

I wanted to update you all about the "found money".  My husband stopped in the coffee shop the other day and had the opportunity to talk with the manager whom I gave the money to.  My husband was told that, as it turns out, the cash register was short almost one hundred dollars and it was their money after all.  Of course, there's really no way that in the place and way I found the money could it have ever come from their register (it would almost be like the "magic bullet" and "grassy knoll".  Ah well.  It wasn't mine to begin with, so it's no loss on my part. 

Thank you all for your help and input!  I appreciate it!