On Tuesday, just before I was about to go out to meet Pipocas for a lunch meeting, I got a call from Nog saying that he had lost his wallet. He was between classes – actually, going from his class with Dr A to an interview with a prospective new student – and when he got to the bike station and felt for his wallet to take out his bike card … it wasn’t there! The curious thing was that he remembered having it when Dr A paid him (because he put the money in his wallet) but somewhere between there and the bike station it had disappeared. So not only was he out 75€, but his credit card had to be cancelled and his Spanish residence ID card also had to be replaced. Because there was no way he was ever going to see his wallet again, right?
Wrong! Yesterday morning my landlady came to the door saying she’d found a note addressed to Nog downstairs. Someone called “Don Paco” had found Nog’s wallet and said he could pick it up over at … get this! … Casa Roman (one of our favourite neighbourhood tapa bars). So after we’d finished doing some supermarket shopping we stopped by Casa Roman and Rafael told us that Don Paco was out at the bank but would be back soon. He also assured us that the wallet was “in good hands” and that everything was intact, including the money. So, suddenly feeling 75€ richer than previously, Nog treated us to a snack while we waited …
When Don Paco finally showed up he turned out to be this lovely 80-year-old man, whose connection to the bar remained a mystery. I asked him if we could invite him to a drink and a tapa and he accepted a glass of rioja but said he had to get home to have his lunch soon. After he left I asked Rafael who he was … and it turns out he is the father of the guy who owns Casa Roman, now retired, but he still does odd jobs like going to the bank and other errands. And on his way to the bank on Tuesday he found Nog’s wallet in the street.
So we asked Rafael if it would be appropriate to give Don Paco a reward for returning the wallet. We hadn’t wanted to offer it to him ourselves for risk of insulting him, and we also didn’t know then that he was the father of the boss. Rafa just said that if we wanted to leave a “gift” with him he would pass it on to Don Paco the next day … so we ended up leaving 20€. I mean, the guy is probably well off, though you never know what sort of cash-flow arrangement he has going. And anyhow, that 75€ was kind of like “mad money” since it was already presumed to be gone forever.
So Nog and I were feeling pretty good after all this good fortune, but upon arriving home we found the electricity bill waiting for us … a whopping 237.44€!!! Holy fuckamole!!! That’s more than double the highest electricity bill I have ever had while living here. It turns out that even with wearing four layers of clothing, a scarf and fingerless gloves (and a duvet!) needing to have the heat on all day while I was recuperating from the op made a very scary difference. Now that I am out and about more – going to yoga, taking more walks – things should return back to normalish, but holy crap! Think Don Paco would mind if we go and ask for Nog’s 20€ back? 😉
Seriously though, what would you do if you found a wallet in the street?
casa azahar 
return it to the owner. of course.
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I forgot to post this at home so this is my first ever blog post published by using the WordPress iPhone app … cool,eh? (I’m at the health centre waiting for a blood test).
I guess that was a silly question, nursemra, as I can’t imagine any of my friends not returning a wallet.
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No – I can’t imagine anyone here thinking otherwise.
Maybe a similar question, what is the smallest amount you would go to the trouble of trying to give back?
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I’d keep the money, possibly the wallet if it’s nice enough, go to try and use the credit cards as fast as possible (3 chances out of 10000 to get the PIN right is much better than the lottery), draw moustaches on any photograph which I find inside, and sell the driver’s license.
:yikes:
No, scrap that. I guess I’d return it, or bring it to a nearby police station or something, depending on the circumstances.
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As for the smallest amount I’d consider giving back – it depends on the circumstances again. Once I found the equivalent of 10 euros somewhere in the main hall of a building at my workplace, so I brought it to a secretary who sent an email around (and the rightful owner was found indeed). If it was in the street, I’d probably keep that! For larger amounts, I don’t know.
Once a guy at an ATM in front of me forgot to take his money (and quite a lot too – maybe 100 euros?). Apparently he was surprised that I ran after him to bring it.
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I’d do my best to return it to its rightful owner – but if there wasn’t an address, it’d be handed in at the nearest police station.
As a kid, I used to find a lot of stuff lying around on the ground. I once found a beautiful ( to a 7y/0) brooch in the shape of a white poodle with ruby eyes and was dismayed when my mother made me hand it in. Six months later, I got it back as it hadn’t been claimed.
These days, if I found anything above a tenner, it’d go to the police station. Anything under that would be donated to charity. It wouldn’t feel right to keep something I found – but by donating it to charity, I’d be converting someone’s bad luck into someone else’s good luck.
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I’ve twice found a wallet (once at the bottom of a trout stream, strangely enough), and both times returned it to the owner as quickly as possible.
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I’d totally return it because I know how much of a pain in the ass it is to get new ID etc. Plus, I’ve lost my wallet once (at a busy hotel in downtown Toronto, no less) and someone was kind enough to turn it in. Karma, baby.
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I’d root through it first, just because I’m curious, and then I’d return it. Either that or put a posting on Craigslist.
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I have always returned things like that. (You can pop it in any mailbox, here). Matter of principal.
My mother has lost her wallet so many times, I cannot hazard a guess as to how often. She had her wallet stolen in Kathmandu, pickpocketted on a bus in the centre of town… Money (luckily only a small amount as the rest was in the safe at Child Haven where she was volunteering), credit card, Canadian Citizenship card, OHIP card (Provincial Health card), Driver’s license…. The thing was that, as we were heading to the airport, I noticed she had her Citizenship card and Driver’s license… I suggested she leave them with me “What if your wallet gets lost or stolen?”
“Well, maybe….” (translation of Mom-speak: “No”).
Sigh…
Of course, in order to get your Health Card, you need your Citizenship card, necessitating going to Citizenship and Immigration and getting them to hunt down your records and issue another one and you need ID, one of which is your Provincial Health card.
Same thing happened on the day of my niece’s Confirmation. Mom left her cellphone in the car (in those days a huge thing that you needed a shopping bag to carry, practically. I suggested locking it in the trunk… “Who would take it?”
“Mom, someone could smash the window to take it…”
“Who would do that?”
“Well, if someone smashes the windo, our deductible is worth more than the phone. I am NOT going to allow you to leave it in the car.”
I made her take it. When we got back to the car, the window was smashed. I said “See, luckily your phone wasn’t there…”
“No, but I left my fanny pack on the back seat”.
After the entire conversation and knowing that the park where we were taking photos has a problem with car break -ins, she leaves her fanny pack, containing credit cards, bank card, Citizenship card, OHIP, and about $12. My niece was traumatized, we had a broken window for which the deductible was $100… so we were out more than she lost.
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About six months ago I was unlocking my bike by a taxi stand. As an elderly lady was leaving after paying for her ride, I saw her wallet drop out of her purse onto the ground. She hadn’t noticed and was walking off, so I called to her and pointed to the ground. She thanked me and we left each other with a smile.
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I witnessed something similar this morning on my way to work: a woman walking a few steps ahead of me found a $10 note lying on the ground as we were passing the train station entrance. She picked it up and was sort of looking vaguely at it in a kind of “Now what? I’m in a hurry to get to work but I can’t just ignore this, everyone saw me pick it up.”… then she noticed the homeless man selling The Big Issue nearby and she handed it to him. I guess she figured he’d definitely have more use for it than she would and probably more use for it than whoever lost it.
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Of course I would return a wallet. I am not so noble about lost money, however. The Boyo and I found $60 in loose bills one time, and kept it as there was no way to identify the owner. Now a bag full of money or a bank bag would definitely go to the police station, and probably anything over $100 would, too.
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The thing about loose money, I suppose, is the difficulty about establishing ownership, if you want to return it.
The most I have found in that situation is a £10 note. That went into a Barnardo’s box that we had at home from one of the junior BBJP’s schools.
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We found a $20 bill blowing around in a parking lot once, we kept that. But I would ALWAYS return a wallet. I lost mine once by stupidly leaving it on the counter at the grocery store after I paid my bill and it was returned to me fully intact, including the 95 dollars in it.
Yikes about your electric bill! If I had one that big I would probably crumple into an unconscious pile after I read it!
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I once found a wallet in the street here. No money, but there was ID and so I called information to get the guy’s phone number. He was very pleased to get his ID back and came over to pick it up … turned out he was a priest! He asked if he could say a special prayer for me and I said that I was okay but he could pray for my cat who was sick at the time. You never saw a face drop so fast … I’d forgotten that Catholics don’t believe animals have souls. Oh well.
When I find money in the street (never often enough!) I always keep it. I think the most I’ve ever found was bout 50 euros.
Though I once had a similar experience to Toy Box. One day at the bank the customer ahead of me dropped the 200 euros he’d just withdrawn. I didn’t see it until I’d slipped my own money through the window slot and by this time the guy was out the door and turning right. So I said to the teller – count that! I’ll be right back! – snatched up the money and ran down the street after him. Yeah, he was pretty happy about that.
Thing is, even though we all know we’d return a lost wallet, we don’t expect that it’ll happen to us. At least, Nog never expected to see his wallet again but I was kinda hopeful.
Yeah, I’m still reeling hmh. I didn’t think it was even possible for two people to use that much electicity in one month! Am going to have to dip into the rent deposits from the girls next door in order to pay it. The next one shouldn’t be so bad because I’ve been going out more lately and am also more active when I’m at home, so less heat is required. Ah well, there wasn’t much I could do about having to sit around and recover from the op, and it was nice to be all comfy in the living room (though I still needed the duvet). Anyhow, onwards and upwards!
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I’ve twice had my wallet returned to me, once with three hundred euro inside it! The second time the money was taken, but there wasn’t as much money in it anyway.
I’ve never found anyone else’s lost items, but I would make an effort to return them if I did.
TRiG.
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I also lost my dark orange wallet on Thursday, 25th of June 2009 between 18045 N. 27th Ave. Lobby of Hotel Studio 6 and Honeywell, 2500W, Union Hill Dr. (Duration – 7.00AM to 7.15AM); I was travelling through Discount Cab to go to office work in Phoenix AZ; My wallet was included US $260 to $ 270, ICICI Travel card having number 4731 1501 0237 0815, Few misc. coins and stamp size photos of my son and daughter. But I’m still confusing where to report about this lost hence replying here…….Thanks.
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