What would you have done?

So yesterday, I was leaving 2nd food-court job, it was around 9:30 p.m. and the mall had been closed for a while. There were a couple stragglers and some other store-employees left in the food court. I was walking through the food court when I spotted a shopping bag from a children's clothing store sitting at a table...all alone.

So I walked over, picked up the bag, and looked around. No one looked at me and there were no families left in the food court. So I took the bag and kept walking. I peeked into the bag and saw the receipt. It was paid in cash and the total was $18.47.

So, I then had two options. I could drop the bag off at the Guest Services counter and hope that someone claims it. Or..... I could take it home and return the goods for cash the next day.

I did seriously think about it. But I ended up dropping it off at Guest Services. Not sure if anyone claimed it. I figured my guilt was worth more than $18.47.

What would you have done?

See, I have this 'theory'. It goes by the kiddo term 'finders-keepers.' It sounds mean and childish, but I really do think that if you lose something and someone finds it, it's not their problem that you lost it. I lost a coin purse about 2 years ago that contained $150 in it. I never found it. I'm not particularily bitter, because it was my stupidity that I lost it, and it worked out well for whomever that found it.

Honestly, if that bag had had more than $50 worth of stuff in it, I probably would've taken it home. Now, if I had seen someone drop the bag, or a wallet, etc, I would've picked it up and taken it straight to them. No question about that. And, if I ever found someone's wallet, I would do my best to track them down. But a coin purse? A 20$ bill on the floor? It's mine.

My friend S once asked an interessting question. She said:

"Okay, imagine you're walking down the street. You see an enveloppe on the sidewalk. You pick it up and open it. There's $10,000 worth of cash in it. You look around to see if anyone claims it or comes running back for it. No one does. It's been 15 minutes so you decided to head home with the cash. The next morning in the newspaper the front page is an article about an individual who lost this $10,000. What do you do?"

What would you do? Would it depend who the individual was? What the circumstances are? What YOUR circumstances are? Would you keep it? Would you give it to them and hope for a reward? Would you mail it to them annonymously?

Personally, it would depend on who the individual was and where I was in my life. You hate to judge people, but I totally would base my actions on what I thought of this person.

What about you?