immoral or just opportunistic? Help Mags decide

Magdalen

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So let's see if I can state my case and not bore the audience. Times are tough, as many of you well know. Here in Magwheel-land the hubcap's been laid off and did not receive payment for the last 4 weeks he worked. That's right, no paycheck since March 5th!!! (Except for my measley part-time wages every two weeks) So I get home tonight, start dinner (there goes the last of the milk into the Mac & Cheese) and the cat is whinning Big Time for his supper. Extra loud, I think, because he can see there is no can where there is supposed to be a stack of Fancy Feasts. So I take pity and run up to the store, wondering IF the CC has anything left on it. I decide to pay cash because I realize I really do need to get milk and I'm pretty sure there isn't enough left on the CC. So I do the self check-out, scan the can and the milk and insert a weary fiver into the slot. I'm expecting $2.28 in change but when I look in the cash return slot there's a five and a bunch of singles! For a moment, I'm befuddled. I grab the cash, stuff it in my pocket and slide outta there. Safe in my car, I count $11. That's more than I started with, and I can sure use it. So the question is, should I have turned the extra cash over to the clerk or should I just consider this a happy twist of fate?
 

shokadh

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Gosh. How would the store find the previous customer? Well, I suppose if they used a credit card, they could be found, and if they come back for their change and it's gone, well then, they'd be sore, but if it was me, I'd turn it in to the store clerk, just to have it off my conscience. If I had forgotten my change and ran back in to get it, I'd be very happy if some nice person had turned it in. :D (do unto others motto for me...)
 

sassandgroove

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If it was ok you wouldn't be here trying to get people to tell you it is ok. You may think what I said is nothing. That's fine. You're the one that has to live with it.
 

Mandy-Jane

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Here's my opinion. If it was a big amount - say if you put in a $20 and got back $50, I'd say go back and own up. But for such a small amount? Gotta tell you, I'd keep it. It may be the wrong thing to do, but these kinds of things happen all the time.

(Note: I'm feeling sick today and very much in an "I don't care about stuff" mood. Tomorrow I'd probably give you a different answer.)
 

Magdalen

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Won't it spoil the ending if I reveal my true feelings about it now, so early in the thread?

If it was ok you wouldn't be here trying to get people to tell you it is ok.

That is Not My Intent! And I'm not looking for a consensus either. I just thought I'd get opinions, and I've already got yours, so Thank You Very Much.
 

Beach Bunny

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Hmmm ... The money was in the cash return slot which means that a previous customer left their change behind. It's not the store's money either. Is there anyway that the previous customer can be identified so that the money can get returned to them? If not, then there's no reason for you not to keep the money as you don't have a way of getting it back to the rightful owner.
 

shokadh

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Won't it spoil the ending if I reveal my true feelings about it now, so early in the thread?



That is Not My Intent! And I'm not looking for a consensus either. I just thought I'd get opinions, and I've already got yours, so Thank You Very Much.

Okay, come on, now what is your intent? (go ahead and spoil the ending. I really want to know your true feelings about it now):D
 

Bravo

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i would've returned it, but i won't fault someone for pocketing it.
 

Wayne K

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I would have gone to managment and told them I put a fifty in and was shortchanged.
 

Rosebutterfly

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Call me bad, but i would have used it to buy things i needed. The chance of finding out who left the change are slim. If I came out of a store and had left my change, I wouldn't expect it to be there when i went back. If they had used a CC to pay, there wouldn't have been change, it would only have charged the amount of the goods.
 

kct webber

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I gave a cashier a 20 one time and she gave me change for a 50. I put it in my pocket and walked out. Her mistake is not my problem. And I slept just fine that night.

I don't consider my mistakes anyone else's problem either, just to be clear. If I make a mistake like that and you benefit from it... Well played sir. Well played.
 

aadams73

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Last week the checkout chick at the supermarket didn't charge me for my 2x24pks of water. I always glance over my receipt on the way out. As soon as I noticed I turned around, told her, and paid for them. But in the OP's situation...I have to admit I would have kept it.
 

Mac H.

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I would have returned the money instantly.

But now that I think about it, I'm not sure I can be so quick to say the money should be returned.

Returned to who? (Or is it 'whom'?)

Clearly it was the earlier customer who left it, so it is very unlikely it could ever be returned to them.

So it is really is fairly close to finding $11 on the ground outside the store. Maybe you could put up fliers and see who left it behind, or ask to view their security footage, and then wait at the store for days until you find someone who matches the photo ... but would you really?

What would the store do? I can't imagine that they would be able to return it to the owner any more than you would.

Sure - in the first minute or so after the loss it might be plausible that someone would come back looking for it. But long term it wouldn't be particularly likely.

Mac
 

Unique

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serendipity. the Universe works in mysterious ways.
Use it to buy some cat food. I recommend 9 Lives or Friskies.
 

regdog

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If the person who checked out before you was nowhere to be seen and it was a self checkout line I say keep the money.

I don't know how the store could track down a cash paying customer. Unless the person had a store card they scanned, and the store could check it's transaction records to see who should have received that change amount. Providing only one person before you forgot their change.

It may have been more than one person who forgot their change and it just accumulated until you found it.

Since it was self checkout, there isn't a cashier whose cash draw is going to be short.
 
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rhymegirl

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What would the store do? I can't imagine that they would be able to return it to the owner any more than you would.

If you went to turn the money over to one of the store clerks, he or she would probably just stick the money in his or her pocket and go home with it. (since they don't know who to give the money back to)

One time while food shopping at Christmastime, I accidentally left my billfold at the checkout. As soon as I realized what I'd done, I rushed back to the store. Now, I'm thinking the chances of getting it back are probably not good. There wasn't much money in it but my license, credit card, important things like that. It would have been easy for the next customer to simply slip it into their coat or pocketbook. Fortunately, the store manager was nearby after I left and took it and put it in her office. When I went back she saw me and said, "You forgot your wallet." (she knows me by sight since I shop there often)

But cash is something different. No name on cash. If you found a five dollar bill on the ground, how can you possibly know who dropped it? If you looked around and said, "Did anybody drop a five?"--well you know a bunch of people are going to claim it.
 

shokadh

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Still, it's interesting. It's just paper. I have learned not to let money take the driver's wheel in my head.

I can't say I'm perfect, but trying to live by the idea of "doing what is right, even when no one is looking" has never steered me wrong.

I know little kids who are more honest about this kind of thing. They automatically try to find out who left the money behind without even a thought of keeping it. I'd rather be like and just let it go.
 

Magdalen

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Is there anyway that the previous customer can be identified so that the money can get returned to them? If not, then there's no reason for you not to keep the money as you don't have a way of getting it back to the rightful owner.

i would've returned it, but i won't fault someone for pocketing it.

The chance of finding out who left the change are slim. If I came out of a store and had left my change, I wouldn't expect it to be there when i went back.

If the person who checked out before you was nowhere to be seen and it was a self checkout line I say keep the money.

If you went to turn the money over to one of the store clerks, he or she would probably just stick the money in his or her pocket and go home with it.

I can't say I'm perfect, but trying to live by the idea of "doing what is right, even when no one is looking" has never steered me wrong.

I've quoted some of my fav responses here. (Except Wayne's which I found to be very funny but kinda cruel and twisted).

I'd like to once again Thank everyone who has replied. I was interested to read how some viewed the incident in a finite, B&W fashion, as though the scales of one's life must be constantly in balance, while others seemed to take the longview and see the incident as one of a billion events that accumulate in a lifetime.

I view it as a happy twist of fate. And since the tailpipes were denied their usual Friday treat of a Little Caesar's pizza yesterday, I am happy to report that they will enjoy Pizza for lunch today, courtesy of a simple twist of fate!!
 
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Unique

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Good for you.

It's not like a cashier handed you incorrect change and you kept it. Either the machine spit it out incorrectly (my first guess) or someone else left it - either way - you found it - Would you leave $1.00 change in a payphone coin box? I wouldn't.