Finders Keepers

[RiverRat1]

Give your opinion on what situations can be considered finders keepers versus plain stealing.

If you see a person walking 5 feet in front of you drop a $10 bill. What if they are 50' in front of you and it requires too much effort to catch up to them? Is keeping the money stealing?

If you honestly don't see who dropped the money it's not stealing, or is it?

Is there a line on what items you should never keep? Obviously the law would say if you keep something registered such as a car it would be theft. Is it a monetary amount line in the sand?

[PondPopper]

If I find a custom made knife at Wal mart or Bucees I'm keeping it.. I know that much..

[T-roy66]

Originally Posted by RiverRat1

Give your opinion on what situations can be considered finders keepers versus plain stealing.

If you see a person walking 5 feet in front of you drop a $10 bill. What if they are 50' in front of you and it requires too much effort to catch up to them? Is keeping the money stealing?

If you honestly don't see who dropped the money it's not stealing, or is it?

Is there a line on what items you should never keep? Obviously the law would say if you keep something registered such as a car it would be theft. Is it a monetary amount line in the sand?

You gave all these different senecios, but did not state what you would do.

[LeanMachine]

I don't think I would consider it stealing in any of the described scenarios. But I would consider it morally wrong to not make an effort to return it to the owner if you saw who dropped it.

I found a hundred dollar bill in the total wine parking lot one day. My gut reaction was to avoid it, feeling it was a scam of some kind. Saw no one around and picked it up without breaking stride. Considered turning it in to an employee inside but I figured there was a fair chance they would simply pocket it and claim that someone came back for it. If it had been a wallet with some kind of name or id in it, zero chance I would have kept it.

I also once found a like new stihl trail boss chainsaw on the side of the road by the gym i was at when leaving. I saw no one around. Had a spot of road rash like it likely fell out of a truck and bounced off the road. I couldn't bring myself to just take it, though i really wanted to. I just thought how sick i would be if it was me and how happy i'd be to find it if i went looking. So i put it about 10 yards from the road on a stack of tires outside the gym and left it there. It was still there the next day. I also posted that I had found a gas power tool on facebook to see if I could find the owner. Now it is mine.

[lanceodom]

Pretty simple- if you can make a reasonable effort and exhaust those efforts to get to the original owner then that’s what you should do. If you see them drop any dollar amount walking in to Walmart then you should alert them. If you find a chainsaw on the side of the road and can’t locate the owner with reasonable effort then it’s yours.

[91cavgt]

I make every effort to return things to the rightful owner, sometimes going out of my way to attempt to do so. Including putting ads up stating that I found something of value, in this particular area, and giving small clues as to what it is. After people contact me, I ask for them to tell me exactly what it is and any scratches/dents/dings/markings, basically any minute detail they can tell me that only the original owner knows. If they can do that then I know it is theirs.

In the case of finding a large denomination of cash, I would go into the business where I found it, leave my information with the management, and let them know that I found something valuable, but leave it at that. This way, no one in the store knows what I found, but if the original owner comes looking for it and are given my number, if they can tell me exactly what was lost without me telling them then I know it is theirs.



Otherwise, it is mine.

[Hoggslayer]

I dropped a $100 bill out of my pocket once in Walmart. The guy behind me promptly put his foot on it and started nonchalantly moonwalking backward like he didn't know what had happen. I whipped out my custom damascus knife and told him he better give it back.


The first part was true story. Dude tried to play it off and steal my $100 right in front of my wife and kids. I shoved my basket at him about 40mph and his foot came off the money.

[wickll]

Originally Posted by lanceodom

Pretty simple- if you can make a reasonable effort and exhaust those efforts to get to the original owner then that’s what you should do. If you see them drop any dollar amount walking in to Walmart then you should alert them. If you find a chainsaw on the side of the road and can’t locate the owner with reasonable effort then it’s yours.

I agree with this. I just mailed a check for payment to a company today. I was paying an invoice on which I pointed out a mistake they made to the tune of $70. I felt it was my duty to point it out, even though it was to my benefit not to.

I was a little disappointed when they went ahead and billed me the full amount and didn't reward my honesty. Keep in mind that I just spent over $2K with them.

[tdwinklr]

funny this thread came up. A few weeks ago, I took a back road to my house that I do every so often to break the monotony. This day there was a nice 10' step ladder just laying in the ditch, close to the road. Luckily I had my truck that day. The ladder was covered in mud but there was no name, numbers, etc. on it or anything. No one around anywhere, no traffic, no one out looking for it.
Yep, now its mine. Whoever lost it should've tied it down.

[Gumbo Man]

Left the feed store on Tuesday and within a mile on a curve I saw a bag of corn on the side of the road that had slid off of someone else’s truck. I pulled over and backed up to it and loaded it in the back of my truck. I didn’t feel like I should sit there all day waiting to see if the original owner showed up. If I would have seen it happen I would have caught up with the driver and told him.

[S-3 Ranch]

I’m making every effort to return
I have found multiple wallets and purses , keys and usually turn into the management or security team
My mother in law loses her keys, wallet, credit cards, a lot and and I figure it’s bad karma to not make a effort

[glen]

If I can return to owner it doesn’t matter what it is I will- If it’s something valuable and has identifying numbers I’ll try everything I can to get it back- but I do have a crappy igloo ice chest that blew out of someone’s car/truck I use for bait

[Lawhunter]

Keep everything; however, if you want to add entertainment value, make an effort to locate the owner so that he/she will know you found the item. Then, don't return it to said owner.

[TeamAmerica]

I borrow from my kid's piggy bank all the time. if i win the neighborhood poker game, i put the money back. if i lose, it's "finders keepers"....

[ThisLadyHunts]

I have always had "a thing" about owning something I 1) didn't pay for myself or 2) didn't earn. Too many bad things can come of it.

[rolylane6]

I've actually given thought to this recently. I use to follow the "finders keepers" process. Now I return it if I know who it belongs to or make an attempt to locate the owner if it's something of a value to warrant the attempt. Otherwise, I leave it where it was in hopes the owner finds it again.
I'm with LTH in that I don't want whatever is attached to something that isn't mine by gift or by being earned.

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[GarGuy]

Found a bank envelope on the floor in a store. It had 1784 bucks and odd cents in change. I figured someone cashed a check for that amount. Called bank abd a lady had cashed a check for exactly that amount. They called her while I was on the phone. She said the money was in her purse. They advised her to make sure, it wasn't. I agreed to meet her at brookshires and gave it back . She seemed angry and barely thanked me. Almost like she accused me of taking it out of her purse. Weird.

[SmTx]

Only thing I ever seem to find are wallets. I’ve found 3 and all made it back to their owner

[HTOWN]

I saw a guy the other day drop a 50 out of his pocket in the HEB parking lot. I grabbed it and chased him down to return it.
Had I just seen that money on the ground and no one around it, I'd have it in my pocket!

[Shane]

If you find something that someone lost and you can identify the owner, to then keep it would be stealing.

[rolylane6]

Originally Posted by SmTx

Only thing I ever seem to find are wallets. I’ve found 3 and all made it back to their owner

But empty of course...lol
Just kidding. Good on you!

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[GarGuy]

How about this one... you shoot a monster buck and lose him. Someone else finds him. Who gets the horns?

I have lost two like that. I described the deer in detail both times. Once the guy refused. The other time the guy claimed he didn't know what I was talking about even though his father told me he had my horns and I found the deer with head gone.

[rut-ro]

Originally Posted by ttaxidermy

If I find a custom made knife at Wal mart or Bucees I'm keeping it.. I know that much..

Me too.

[okrattler]

If I see someone drop money I'm giving it back. If it's blowing in the wind and nobody is around I ain't. If someone has viable proof that something you found is theirs and you don't give it back, yes that's stealing. It's bad karma to keep things that ain't yours. So I don't do it.

Funny story about me. I was taught at a young age you don't go taking stuff that ain't yours. One day in the parking lot at the grocery store my grandma said "There's a penny, pick it up." I said "I ain't picking that up. It ain't mine." She told that story every chance she got. I was probably 4 or 5 at the time. To this day I'll go out of my way to give money back to people if I know they lost it. I ain't putting nothin in my pocket that's not mine.

If you find money just laying there you ain't really got much of a choice. You could advertise you found $2 and have 10 different people saying they lost it. Because people are that way.

[jmac24]

If I see someone drop it, I am making sure they get it back.
I was going through the Kroger parking lot and there was a $100 bill laying on the ground out in the open. Like a post said before, I thought it may be a set up, but I looked around and there was no one visible so I picked it up and kept on going.

[okrattler]

One of my buddies left some keys at the tobacco shop one day and got a call later that day and the person that found them said he'd have to pay him $80 to get them back. My buddy had to have them so he paid the guy. Not that many months later that guy got hit by a semi truck and died. Like I said....bad karma. Just be honest and do things the right way, it's not that hard.

[Jon Stewart]

If I know or see someone lose something they get it back. Being a former long distance bicyclist, one trip my wife and I made was riding our bicycles across the United States and I swear I saw so many hand tools on the side of the road that I could have filled a tool box. Rode around a curve somewhere in Montana on that trip and a guy was loading a generator into his pick up truck. Was laying on the side of the road.

Parked the truck in busy downtown Fredericksburg one day and a brand new Stihl chain saw was laying in the street and people were driving around it. I picked it up and took it to the local P.D and dropped it off.

[doeboy11]

I found some money one time, saw the person drop it. They argued that it wasn't theirs, I argued back after he refused 3 times I said sorry my mistake and kept it.

[bullets13]

Originally Posted by Gumbo Man

Left the feed store on Tuesday and within a mile on a curve I saw a bag of corn on the side of the road that had slid off of someone else’s truck. I pulled over and backed up to it and loaded it in the back of my truck. I didn’t feel like I should sit there all day waiting to see if the original owner showed up. If I would have seen it happen I would have caught up with the driver and told him.

Even though the price of corn is astronomical right now, I don't really think you owe much of an effort to someone to return their $12 bag of corn, just as it's pretty unlikely that they'd care enough (if they even realized they'd lost a bag) to retrace their steps to look for it.

[bullets13]

Like several others on here, if you see someone lose something, or there's an identifying mark on something you find, keeping it is stealing it. If something is valuable and you don't make an effort to find the owner, IMO there's some morality issues there as well. At some point the value of something becomes so inconsequential that it doesn't really matter. I'm not sure exactly where that line is, but I don't think someone should go out of their way to try and find the owner of a $10 bill or something.

[ElfEyes]

Id try my best to give it back. If I couldn't it's going to deer corn or someone that looks like they need it more than me. A couple years ago Scent Lok put me in that situation. I posted a thread on here about it.

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[Txfshrmn]

Originally Posted by RiverRat1

Give your opinion on what situations can be considered finders keepers versus plain stealing.

If you see a person walking 5 feet in front of you drop a $10 bill. What if they are 50' in front of you and it requires too much effort to catch up to them? Is keeping the money stealing?

If you honestly don't see who dropped the money it's not stealing, or is it?

Is there a line on what items you should never keep? Obviously the law would say if you keep something registered such as a car it would be theft. Is it a monetary amount line in the sand?

If you see someone drop the money or you know who the money/stuff belongs to, Return it! Do your best to get it back to the owner whatever it is. Just do the right thing. If Jesus was there walking along with you would you keep it?

[7sdad]

Give it back.

[Buck_jane]

Is it stealing no? But I believe in karma and think you should do everything possible to give, whatever item, back to the owner.

A few months ago my 5 yr old son and one of his buddies found $80 on the ground at a county livestock show. They brought it to my wife and the other kids mom and they made them turn the money into the people running the show. They told the kids to come back at the end of the day and if no one claimed it they could have it. We forgot all about it, but as we were walking out the gate the kids asked us about their money. So we went back and checked and they got the money back.

[Smart]

I have found a couple of wallets, two cellphones and a violin. Made sure all made it to their rightful owner with the cash in the wallets still in them. Now I have been known to pick up some "highway lottery" if i see it in time....nothing that has had any way to identify an owner so it came home with me. Hand tools, power tools, Dewalt impact, Milwaukee drill set and charger, snow/seed shovels, etc

[SmTx]

I had a buddy find a d list celebrity's ID downtown Austin a few years ago. Weirdly enough another buddy of mine mentioned she was at a wedding he attended months before. I was involved in a daisy chain of getting this ID back to her. Her side basically treated us like we stole her ID.

[bugleboy]

My wife and I were walking into a Walmart on a very windy day. As soon as we started walking toward the front door, I notice this paper blowing toward us. It was the right size and shape for a paper bill, and it turned out to be a $50. I told my wife someone will be looking for this. We stood there about 30 seconds, and a young mother came out the door with a panicked look on her face, scouring the parking lot. We walked up to her and she had tears in her eyes. With no doubt in our minds that she was looking for that money, we asked her if she was looking for this, and held up the $50. She was so thankful! She told us that was all the money she had to buy groceries for the week, and she just knew it was gone forever! We were very happy we were able to help her. If you know who it belongs to, and don't return it, you might as well have stolen it.

[ThisLadyHunts]

Originally Posted by Smart

I have found a couple of wallets, two cellphones and a violin. Made sure all made it to their rightful owner with the cash in the wallets still in them. Now I have been known to pick up some "highway lottery" if i see it in time....nothing that has had any way to identify an owner so it came home with me. Hand tools, power tools, Dewalt impact, Milwaukee drill set and charger, snow/seed shovels, etc

Hah! “Highway Lottery.” Pretty clever!!

[ThisLadyHunts]

Originally Posted by SmTx

I had a buddy find a d list celebrity's ID downtown Austin a few years ago. Weirdly enough another buddy of mine mentioned she was at a wedding he attended months before. I was involved in a daisy chain of getting this ID back to her. Her side basically treated us like we stole her ID.

It has been my experience that people in that industry are ill mannered—often extremely so—in order to make up for a lack of intelligence.

I will not name names except to point out one notable exception: Lyle Lovett. He is courteous to a fault; a real gentleman.

[Ricochet83]

funny story. So i was in the post office one day by my office doing the mail run for work. This mid 80's possibly older lady is at the counter doing her transaction and as we all know the post office takes forever. So i go over to my po box and get my mail and then had back to the counter to drop off the certified mail and the lady is gone. When i walk up to the counter i look down and there is a wad of cash totaling $723. so i bend down and pick it up and ask the guy (young ghetto looking dued) if anyone else has come in since the old lady was there and he says no. I ask him if he knows her or if she comes in regularly and he said he doesnt know her but she is in a couple times a month. i know i shouldnt do it but i give him the money and tell him she dropped it and to give it to her the next time she comes in. He says he would. As soon as i handed it to him i realized what an idiot i was as that money was as good as gone. But i am big on karma and i didnt want the bad karma on me. Well fast forward not even a wekk later i am back in there and there she is at the counter and there he is working the other side. So i cut in front of everyone and walked up to her and said excuse me mam i found something of yours i believe you lost last week up here. Right away she said oh my god did you find my money and i asked her how much it was and she didnt know exact but she said 700 and some odd dollars. So i told her i did find it and i looked at the worker and he had a paniced look on his face so i asked him if he had given her back her money that i turneded in to him the week before. She instantly got super angry as apperently she had been in 2 times in between asking him if anyone had turned her money in and he told her no. She started laying into him pretty serious. he finally came clean and told her he didnt have it anymore and that just made her more mad. So i gave her one of my cards and pointed out the cameras in there to her and told her she should call customer service and complain and and if need be she had my info and i could help her. I never heard from her after that but i havent seen the guy back in there since a few days after that day. I still see her in there from time to time and wave and say hello or hold the door open for her and she always tells me what a good guy i am for doing the right thing.

[Shane]

Originally Posted by Ricochet83

funny story. So i was in the post office one day by my office doing the mail run for work. This mid 80's possibly older lady is at the counter doing her transaction and as we all know the post office takes forever. So i go over to my po box and get my mail and then had back to the counter to drop off the certified mail and the lady is gone. When i walk up to the counter i look down and there is a wad of cash totaling $723. so i bend down and pick it up and ask the guy (young ghetto looking dued) if anyone else has come in since the old lady was there and he says no. I ask him if he knows her or if she comes in regularly and he said he doesnt know her but she is in a couple times a month. i know i shouldnt do it but i give him the money and tell him she dropped it and to give it to her the next time she comes in. He says he would. As soon as i handed it to him i realized what an idiot i was as that money was as good as gone. But i am big on karma and i didnt want the bad karma on me. Well fast forward not even a wekk later i am back in there and there she is at the counter and there he is working the other side. So i cut in front of everyone and walked up to her and said excuse me mam i found something of yours i believe you lost last week up here. Right away she said oh my god did you find my money and i asked her how much it was and she didnt know exact but she said 700 and some odd dollars. So i told her i did find it and i looked at the worker and he had a paniced look on his face so i asked him if he had given her back her money that i turneded in to him the week before. She instantly got super angry as apperently she had been in 2 times in between asking him if anyone had turned her money in and he told her no. She started laying into him pretty serious. he finally came clean and told her he didnt have it anymore and that just made her more mad. So i gave her one of my cards and pointed out the cameras in there to her and told her she should call customer service and complain and and if need be she had my info and i could help her. I never heard from her after that but i havent seen the guy back in there since a few days after that day. I still see her in there from time to time and wave and say hello or hold the door open for her and she always tells me what a good guy i am for doing the right thing.

That's awesome.

[S-3 Ranch]

Originally Posted by ThisLadyHunts

It has been my experience that people in that industry are ill mannered—often extremely so—in order to make up for a lack of intelligence.

I will not name names except to point out one notable exception: Lyle Lovett. He is courteous to a fault; a real gentleman.

Funny you mention that, I met Lyle Lovett at the sisterdale store , he was super nice guy , then his wife at the time Julia Roberts pulled up and she wasn’t very friendly at all.

[Hammerdown]

I would first go live on Facebook and then pick up the money and run it back to the person who dropped. Then I would collect all my heart and like emojis and everyone would love me.

[Drycreek3189]

When I was running a dozer in the oilfield, I happened to be on a rig up near Groesbeck. I was fueling up my tractor as the rig hands were changing clothes and leaving the location. The tool pusher pulled his coveralls off at his car and was the last one to leave except for me. When I went across the cattleguard I spotted something in the entrance that didn’t belong. Getting out of my truck I realized it was a wallet. No cell phones back then, so I just held onto it after I looked at the driver’s license. The next morning I was first on the location and as soon as he got there he started going to each hand and I knew he was looking for his wallet. I don’t know why as they had left before him. I got off my tractor and told him it was laying in my truck seat. He was greatly relieved because he had close to $200 in it. That was considerably more money in the seventies than it is today ! He tried to give me twenty bucks but I wouldn’t take it, I hope someone would do the same for me.

[Jcjohnson]

I’d try to give it back. Once worked for a guy who bragged that he found a wallet of a young GI with 2000 dollars in it on the side of the road. He threw out his ID and other forms of identification and kept the cash and wallet. Lost all respect for him.

[Speedgoat]

If I know who it belongs to or if there is identification present I'll give it back. If not, ill keep, probably.

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[justletmein]

If I have any way to return whatever it is I'm definitely trying, if you can get it back to the owner and don't make an effort that's theft IMO.

Originally Posted by GarGuy

Found a bank envelope on the floor in a store. It had 1784 bucks and odd cents in change. I figured someone cashed a check for that amount. Called bank abd a lady had cashed a check for exactly that amount. They called her while I was on the phone. She said the money was in her purse. They advised her to make sure, it wasn't. I agreed to meet her at brookshires and gave it back . She seemed angry and barely thanked me. Almost like she accused me of taking it out of her purse. Weird.

I found an A&M class ring on the gym locker room floor around midnight right before closing. I was the only one in the gym and the last one out usually so owner was obviously not there. I told the front desk and left a note with my contact info on it up there in case somebody asked them if it was found. About a week later I got a call from a guy who said he lost his class ring and setup to meet him either at the gym or at my work building across the street. He showed up and acted like I stole his ring, all huffy and such, never said thanks.

[Mitchell8]

Originally Posted by SmTx

I had a buddy find a d list celebrity's ID downtown Austin a few years ago. Weirdly enough another buddy of mine mentioned she was at a wedding he attended months before. I was involved in a daisy chain of getting this ID back to her. Her side basically treated us like we stole her ID.

Stick it in the mailbox

[justletmein]

Originally Posted by Drycreek3189

When I was running a dozer in the oilfield, I happened to be on a rig up near Groesbeck. I was fueling up my tractor as the rig hands were changing clothes and leaving the location. The tool pusher pulled his coveralls off at his car and was the last one to leave except for me. When I went across the cattleguard I spotted something in the entrance that didn’t belong. Getting out of my truck I realized it was a wallet. No cell phones back then, so I just held onto it after I looked at the driver’s license. The next morning I was first on the location and as soon as he got there he started going to each hand and I knew he was looking for his wallet. I don’t know why as they had left before him. I got off my tractor and told him it was laying in my truck seat. He was greatly relieved because he had close to $200 in it. That was considerably more money in the seventies than it is today ! He tried to give me twenty bucks but I wouldn’t take it, I hope someone would do the same for me.

Reminds me when I was 18 I ran heavy equipment trucks building the new landfill out here. I had one of them long wallets that stick out, hopped on the disc to disc up all the new clay in the pit before the liner guys installed the liner and when I got out the wallet was gone. I assumed the leather seat worked my wallet out and I disc'd it into the clay behind me. I'd just cashed my paycheck that day and had all the cash in there, pretty big loss for me. About a week later my ID and family pictures showed up near the punch station, no wallet or cash. Somebody found it and kept what they wanted out of it.

[SmTx]

Originally Posted by Mitchell8

Stick it in the mailbox

It was threatened and we were begged not to as that would've sent it back to California while she was in Texas.