To not have handed this money in?

[Doctroo]

At work a month or so ago, I found some money. It was in the grass well away from everything: a two-pound coin, and a pound coin, 3 quid.

I was told by a colleague I should have handed this in.

3 quid? Really?

Now if it had been a fiver or a tenner I might would have handed it in, but 3 quid? WIBU?

I think I would have given it to the next homeless person or put in our charity jar
or I might have simply forgotten about it (and kept it).

Whom should you have given it to?

YABU. You should have handed it in. To me. No harm done, now you know I'll message you my address and you can post me any future finds.

I forgive you.

I don’t think it’s worth handing in money, unless you see who dropped it. I wouldn’t keep it for myself though - always donate to charity.

I think my personal rule is: paper money found inside a business, shop etc hand in. Coins Id put in my pocket.

Just to add. Pocket coins would then probably be spent on the next cake sale or charity event at school.

Years ago as an independent 16 (left home v young) I was walking home from work as I didn’t have money for the bus fare. It was raining to boot. Hood up, eyes downcast .... came across a £5 note plastered to the pavement, which over 40 years ago was not insignificant. Treated my self to fish & chips from the chippy near my flat. Since then I’ve donated quite a bit more to various charities. I’ll never forget feeling it was heaven sent as it also meant I could get the bus to work the following day instead of having an 1.5 hour walk back to work the following day, which happened to be pay day. In those days it was cash in a little brown packet paid weekly.

YANBU. Your friend is.

Wow. I'm bowled over by all those that hand it in. I've found money before and its just made my day! I don't rush to hand it to anyone. I've also lost money before, several times, I don't rush off to the local police station to ask if it was handed in.

YANBU

Weird.

I found £3 last Saturday on some grass as well.

I put it in the charity box rather than keep it though.

I saw someone drop 20 quid out of his jeans pocket in a shopping mall and went to pick it up. A security officer had seen it too but I got to it first. I was about to call out to the man (who had walked quite a way ahead) but the security officer said she’d hand it to him and asked me for the note, which I duly gave to her.

It was a bit odd as I don’t tend to question figures of authority but I decided to look on. She walked purposefully towards the man and his family and called out to him. However instead of returning the note to him, she simply made conversation with him and his child, and pocketed the note.

I was taken aback by this but had no idea how to react - I knew the money belonged to the man but they were also carrying lots of shopping so were not obviously impoverished. And I knew that if I went up and made a fuss the security officer could get into trouble and lose her job. I decided that I would keep out of it, and leave her to face her conscience. I still don’t know what would have been the correct vs humane vs instinctive thing to do. Would I have reacted differently had it been a much larger sum, and why would it have been different?

I do think 3 pounds without an obvious owner passes as a lucky penny, and doesn’t need to reporting.

I know it seems a small amount of money, but to those who live hand to mouth or depend on food banks its a lot. A kid could have dropped it.
Being me I always drop any money (more than £1) at the local police station. I would feel guilty otherwise. Anything less goes to charity.

Police haven't taken in lost propery for ages. If i find money, coins or notes it goes in a charity box, it's bad karma to benefit from someone else's loss

If I found £1 in the school playground or by the gates I would hand it in to the office.

If I found £5 at work or the library or at a toddler group or some formal activity/place I would hand it in.

If I found £20 on a footpath I would keep it. The police wouldn’t be interested and who else would I hand it in to?

Thanks for all the advice!

I should have handed the money in, of course. (To whom, some have asked - well, obviously, the Grummab). Because I discovered the money had belonged to a poor starving family, who lost it, and have since all passed away of hunger because I didn't hand the money in. As a result, I have been sent to the penal colony of Rura Penthe there to end my days and be beaten daily by the Klingons.

Oh, if ONLY I had handed it in, and not spent it on a packet of Pickled Onion Monster Munch (Grab Bag size), a Twirl and a bottle of sugar-free cherry coke that tastes like that stuff they used to give you at the dentist.

I'd keep small amounts of money I found.
Actually I found £2 coin in a locker other day (& kept it).
People used to give DC coins when they were small & cute. We always put those coins in charity boxes.

I once lost an envelope with about £170 in it. Nobody gave that to police. :( Boohoo.

Spending it on anything sugar-free and full of vile sweeteners automatically makes you Very Unreasonable, in my book, I’m afraid, @melj1213!

God bless your colleague and all who sail in her/him, OP. . This is assuming she follows her/his own advice.

I would have donated it to some charity tin, I think. As a teenager, I'd have spent it on pick 'n mix.

I remember finding £5 outside a petrol station. I was bones of my arse skint and had only a flask of kwik save no frills tea and a boiled potato for my packed lunch at uni the next day (no money for the diner). I prayed that my abusive (now ex) "D"P wouldn't find it. He didn't and I bought a hot meal and drink, stashing the change in my locker for safety. Did the same the next day. I was so scared he'd find out but so hungry too. Just writing it down is bizarre now because it was very messed up. When you're desperate I think survival kicks in and I've paid it forward multiple times since. Whether you should hand money in and whether you do may be two different things.

it's bad karma to benefit from someone else's loss

Funeral directors must be proper fucked then!

What about insurance company claims staff. They earn a living from other people's losses. And the person who runs the London Transport lost property office?