Welcome to the Hot Seat! Each week, I give you a situation to ponder. Some will be silly (this is me, after all). Some will be serious. Some will be though-provoking (but not many... I mean come on. You know I can only go so deep). I am going to give you several possible responses and you can choose one, or of course, leave your own. It's just a fun little social experiment and a way for us all to get to know each other.
Now, here is your fourth scenario:(this has actually happened to me...)
You are strolling through a parking lot when you spot a fifty dollar bill lying on the ground. There is a group of people walking a few feet in front of you.. did they drop it? It looks like it's been there awhile. Do you ask them, or just take it? What do you do?
a. Woo hoo! Free money! Grab it and run directly to Target.
b. Ask the group of people in front of you, who, of course, say that yes, they did drop it. They snicker amongst themselves and you are left feeling like they were lying and just took your free money.
c. You conscious will not let you pick it up.. it feels like stealing.. what if someone comes back looking for it?
d. Stalk the money for a few minutes behind a car to make sure that no one is playing a trick on you...(like the ones on TV where they attach fishing line to it and you are left chasing the fake money through the parking lot.Then Howie Mandell jumps out and laughs at you.) Slowly and casually, you saunter past the money and try to look shocked. Say very loudly "Oh my, fifty dollars!! I better hurry into this Starbucks and see if anyone lost it!... If not I will donate it to poor starving children in Africa!" and then walk off, pretending to pray.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Pick it up and keep walking!!!!!! I have done this several times with a $20.
ReplyDeleteFolks will say yes - it is mine. BS!!!
If a student comments they lost money, I will cough it up. Or a TI graphing calculator without a name on it. But... they need to ask. I can't just say I found a $20 or a calculator ($120)
I would have asked them if anyone dropped some money. If someone can figure out the exact bill I am hiding, then I will give it to them. If they hem and haw, I will say "sorry" and walk off.
ReplyDeleteI'd ask the people ahead of me, even if they take it and i feel like they lied. at least thats on their conscience and not mine. besides maybe they needed the money more than me. (i've actually done this a few times)
ReplyDeleteI would do #2 - ask the people in front of me.
ReplyDeleteI would ask the people in front of me and hope that they would be honest. Oh, man I would love to find some money on the ground right about now.
ReplyDeleteI would probably ask the people in front of me and hope they are honest. I like Erin's idea about seeing if they know the exact bill amount. $50 is tempting though.
ReplyDeletepick it up
ReplyDeletePick it up. I've asked too many times, and hell, I may as well benefit, cause you know they'd lie. gee, when did I become such a nasty untrusting person LOL
ReplyDeleteOh that's not even a question, and has also happened to me. Situation was a little different though. I was a bartender and off on this particular evening. I found what looked like a $20 folded up and picked it up thinking, "Hey that'll buy a few drinks." Then when I unfolded it, it was a $20 and a $50. I kept it. Bought a few drinks for some friends and everyone was happy. I may have even bought a drink for the one who lost it, don't know. But more than likely they were so drunk they didn't remember losing it to begin with so like I said, everyone was happy. Most of all me, because I didn't spend a penny that night (which I probably wouldn't have anyway since I worked there, but you know what I mean).
ReplyDeleteA. In a situation like this, where there's really no one to turn it into, I wouldn't feel guilty taking it.
ReplyDeleteI would ask the people in front of me. Then sit back and wait for the Karma.
ReplyDelete@kymote: I would do the exact same thing and feel the exact same way about it!
ReplyDeleteI would ask the people ahead of me. They'd probably say it was theirs, but you never know, people can surprise you. I would walk away from the money neither poorer or richer than before.
JM
B) I would ask if anyone dropped "some" cash. These things are subject to my own personal moral code... if I am in the parking lot, loading my bags into the car and I see that there is an item still in the basket or the clerk under-charged me, I have to go back in. Otherwise (to me) it's stealing.
ReplyDeleteIf I discover it at home, I call the store and tell them. They usually sound as if I'm a wacko-crazy person and say "just keep it" But either way, I can sleep well.
And ya, karma.
I would pick it up and promptly leave the park. Free Money! Finders keepers....
ReplyDeleteCome pick up your blogging award at my blog my dear!
I chose option D.
ReplyDeleteA couple of years ago my daughter found $100 bill in a grocery store parking lot. They turned it into the customer service desk. I am sure the clerk kept the money for themselves. I worked in retail, I know that clerks are thieves.
Not that I am bitter, or anything! LOL
I would totally grab it up and turn around, haul ass to the nearest mall. :o)
ReplyDeleteI would ask even though I should probably just take it and run.
ReplyDeletenormally i would ask if they dropped it but shit i lost my job so to target i go!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhile I'd probably wuss out I'd like to think I'd do a!
ReplyDeleteI'd chose B, I think. Hard to say with cash and nobody's name on it.
ReplyDeleteprobably A. I've also done that several times with a $20.
ReplyDeleteI would ask the people in front of me if they lost any money, but they would have to tell me the denomination to get it back. Afterwards I would go home and not answer any knocks at the door for fear it would be Dateline. I'm sure to end up on the next Saturday special titled "People Who Find Things And Never Give Them Back."
ReplyDeleteThat money would so be mine--
ReplyDeleteI would ask the people ahead of me if they had lost any cash, but if they didn't know what the bill was, it would be mine, all mine.
ReplyDeleteI would probably do B if it really really seemed like they might be connected to the money...otherwise maybe A
ReplyDeleteA and D. I found a 100 dollar bill with my sister in Walmart, but it was a $100 bill so we turned it in and were told a little old lady showed up later that night looking for it. But if it had been outside...TARGETTTTTT!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat money is there for a reason. It is MINE.
ReplyDeleteI have to honestly say that I would keep it. Yes, keep it.
ReplyDeletethis happened to me other day... and i did C... i thought about picking it up, but i just couldnt, so i just left it there... im so sad, i know, lol!
ReplyDeleteummm...karma kicks my ass daily because of these "situations" but i'd take the money and run.
ReplyDeleteI would buy beer and lottery tickets. Then if I won the lottery I would give a lot to my family which is the same as giving it to the homeless. And thanks for coming by my blog!
ReplyDeletePick it up. Pull out a dollar bill, hold it in my hand and ask the people in front if they dropped money. If one says yes, hand over the dollar. If they say "no, it was a 50" then give them the 50.
ReplyDeletea. And I liked what Lisa said.
ReplyDeleteI would ask the people in front of me.
ReplyDeleteIf they lie about it............well, they have to live with themselves.
This sort of thing has happened to me OFTEN, and I always ask people around me if the money/item is theirs. Not because I'm a saint though. Just a people pleaser...
ReplyDeletesigh.
I'd have to say I'd pick it up. I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but I think that's what I'd do. Especially now. But on the bright side, I'd run into Target with it to buy practical stuff, like diapers.
ReplyDeleteI've got the guilt thing pretty bad, so of course I would pick B.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I would do- probably pick it up and follow the people for a little bit to see if they show signs that they are missing money. If not then I'd just keep it.
ReplyDeleteI actually had an experience like this once. I was in a Dillards or something...maybe Maurices. I see a $1 on the ground all rolled up. I pick it up and unfold it- oh, it's a ten...no it's a one-hundred! HOLY COW! I got a pit in my stomach because I knew that if I had dropped a one-hundred dollar bill somewhere I would be SO upset about it. I look around but there is absolutely NO ONE around. I feel really sick about just taking that much money! But I know that someone else would just take it if I asked. I did ask a clerk if someone had come back looking for money they'd lost. She hadn't seen anyone but directed me to the Customer Service desk to leave the money with them in case someone came looking for it. As I walked over there I said a prayer in my heart to ask what to do (at the time I really was in desperate need for money- I was engaged and my purse had recently been stolen). Instead of leaving the money at the desk, I left my name and number with them telling them if anyone came looking for some lost money to have them call me. Then I left feeling justified. I felt bad someone had lost the money- but there was no way for me to return it unless they came back. So I looked at it as a blessing.
i'd ask. but only if it was a high dollar bill. a dollar or a few pennies isn't worth it. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I'm a doofus and would ask the group ahead.
ReplyDeleteUnless it was really ground into the dirt and really looked like it had been there longer than that....
I'm so not gonna get into heaven ::sigh::
I'm such an idiot, and get made fun of mercilessly by my family for this...but C.
ReplyDeleteI can't do it.
I can't pick it up. I figure...someone else will probably pick it up, but maybe that someone needs it more than me.
Yes, I know...I'm Mother Teresa.
Or something.
Oh, D for sure.
ReplyDeleteI just know if I picked up money that it would be for some TV show and I'd be splashed on the front page of People with the headline GREEDY underneath my picture.
So D seems to be what I'd do.
well since we are being honest, i would probably pocket it and keep walking.
ReplyDeleteb. for sure. Even if they are the jerks, you will feel better in the end.
ReplyDeleteWhat goes around, comes around.
If the kids were with me, I would point it out to them and of course they would run to pick it up and then I would confiscate it in private!
ReplyDeleteI knew these kids would come in handy some day!
I'd probably ask the people in front of me if it was theirs. If they lie and say it's theirs, well, I do believe in karma!!
ReplyDeleteNot sure what I'd do. Kind of depends on the entire situation at that time...but I'd probably take it, and look around to see if there was someone who might have dropped it. I might ask the group ahead, but it depends on who they were...does any of that make sense?
ReplyDeletei would most likely pick it up and put it in my pocket. but only because there's no way of knowing who it really belonged to. my choice might be different depending on what that group looked like, but probably not.
ReplyDeletei did find a $20 bill in a parking lot once - with no one around. but i have also found purses and wallets and have turned those in. in my mind, that's a different scenario than just finding a bill.
and i wouldn't go out and give it to charity, but i'm the first one to give to a worthy cause so in a twisted way, the money would end up being given away.
By the way make sure you drop by to grab your friendship award at the Daily Drop!
ReplyDeleteI just had this happen to me!!! I found $10 on the ground in a parking lot! I saw it...and a guy actually walked on it and stepped on it! there was no one else in the lot but me after that...and I got the goods! I have also had a time when someone dropped $80 on the floor in front of me in Wal-mart. I was a good girl and returned it...turns out it was money for Santa gifts for his kids! You just never know ...have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI dont' know..depends if people were looking..
ReplyDeleteKnowing me..i'd probably ask the people in front of me if they dropped it.
If it looked like it had been there for a while and I thought it had, I would just take it. If i had any doubt that they might have dropped it, then I would ask them. otherwise, hello starbucks.
ReplyDeleteHey, where's our friday thingy?
ReplyDelete