I found a man's wallet

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Tommy, have you ever lost your wallet?

I have.  Twice.  It sucks.  The first time, some kind stranger put it in the mail and sent it back to me.  The second time, not so much.  For future reference, don't bother asking your mom.  Don't give it to your kid.  Don't take anything OUT of the wallet and don't donate any money to charity.  Just do whatever you can to return it.  No matter what.

The same rule applies to a cell phone.

Imagine what your life would be like if you lost either of those items.

If you want to let your kid play with a wallet, go to WalMart and buy one for him.  They cost $7.  If you want to donate money to charity, do it on your own.

Actually yes I have.  Not a good feeling.   Let me clear something up to everyone.  I was gonna give the wallet to my kid and give the money away IF AND ONLY IF I was not able to find the owner.  But because my mom found that card, I was able to find the owner.  So in this case, her taking the card out of the wallet proved to be invaluable.  In a situation like that where there was no ID in the wallet, if you want to make the extra effort to find the owner, you should take things out to see if you can find the information my mom found. 

Yes, she should get the credit for helping to find the owner.  And the lunch for two card that the restaurant manager gave me when I came back to the place to give the wallet back to the owner, I gave it to my mom. 

[MaineDolFan]

I'm not really sure why everyone is jumping on Tommy about giving the money away.  If *I* found a wallet with $138 in it and there was no way to ID the owner, I would keep the money.  What else should be done, take an ad out in the paper?

If someone found CASH and no way to trace that cash back to the owner and felt it would be a worthy donation, why not?

[Phishfan]

I think the key is if you can identify the owner or not.

[JVides]

I think that hunting someone down through a metro card or library card goes above and beyond, honestly.  To me, no ID = no chance of getting my stuff back, especially because the people at the Metro, or at the library, or whatever, aren't even permitted to divulge the information you would need to contact the person whose wallet you found.  The best you should hope to do is leave your contact info and hope your message gets through.

I know most people wouldn't go through all of this to return a paltry $138, so I say good on you, Tommy!

[Dave Gray]

Tommy did the right thing.  He tried to find the owner, didn't think he'd be able, then eventually found the owner and returned it.  Give the guy a break.  The fact that he was GOING to donate it had he not found the owner is nicer than what I would've done.  If I couldn't find the owner, I'd have myself a nice night out.

[Dolphin-UK]

When I was at university, I lost my wallet cycling on the outskirts of the city heading home.

I didn't realise until MUCH later, and knowing it had my Student ID in it I phoned the front desk where someone had handed it in.

When I got there the guy had walked a mile up a really steep hill, and dropped it off, with the £40 and all my cards still in it and walked off before I could get there.

There are good people in the World

[Sunstroke]

I still think the best way to handle this situation would've been to just ask for the restaurant manager, hand him the wallet and say "found this in your bathroom..."

[Brian Fein]

My original plans were to let my son have the wallet but donate the money to the Haitian Relief Fund.   

In his original post, he said his original idea was to give the wallet to his kid and donate the money.  It never said his original intent was to try to find the owner.  That's why I replied the way I did.

I was gonna give the wallet to my kid and give the money away IF AND ONLY IF I was not able to find the owner. 

If, in fact, his first thought was "wow I wonder where the owner is" and not "sweet some dude's wallet!," then yes that's the right thing to do.

[Guru-In-Vegas]

Freshly stationed here at Nellis a few years back I lost my military ID in one of the casino parking garages.  That damn card even has your social security number on it. 

2 weeks later a friend of mine who worked the post office called me and told me she had something for me.  Someone found it and mailed it in.  I was shocked especially since Vegas isn't exactly known for its good natured people as much as its identity thieves.

[YoFuggedaboutit]

In his original post, he said his original idea was to give the wallet to his kid and donate the money.  It never said his original intent was to try to find the owner.  That's why I replied the way I did.

If, in fact, his first thought was "wow I wonder where the owner is" and not "sweet some dude's wallet!," then yes that's the right thing to do.

Yeah originally I thought of doing that because I didn't think I would be able to find the owner.  Remember, the wallet did not have any ID.    But to clarify, yes, I was thinking, "I wonder who the owner is". 

Yeah originally I thought of doing that because I didn't think I would be able to find the owner.  Remember, the wallet did not have any ID.    But to clarify, yes, I was thinking, "I wonder who the owner is".    

I know most people wouldn't go through all of this to return a paltry $138, so I say good on you, Tommy!

Thanks bro.  Although $138 is a lot of money for a guy like who I returned the wallet to.... poor guy who had just come to this country, had no car, and was basically living paycheck to paycheck. 

When I was at university, I lost my wallet cycling on the outskirts of the city heading home.

I didn't realise until MUCH later, and knowing it had my Student ID in it I phoned the front desk where someone had handed it in.

When I got there the guy had walked a mile up a really steep hill, and dropped it off, with the £40 and all my cards still in it and walked off before I could get there.

There are good people in the World

Freshly stationed here at Nellis a few years back I lost my military ID in one of the casino parking garages.  That damn card even has your social security number on it. 

2 weeks later a friend of mine who worked the post office called me and told me she had something for me.  Someone found it and mailed it in.  I was shocked especially since Vegas isn't exactly known for its good natured people as much as its identity thieves.

Wow, those are nice stories as well.  Couple them with what I did and we can all learn something here.  If you find something that doesn't belong to you, particularly a high value item, make the extra effort to track down who it belongs to and return it to them.  You never know who will be losing out if you don't.

[Brian Fein]

If anyone found my wallet at Sawgrass Mills mall on December 12th, you can keep all the crap but I just want my BJ's and Dave and Buster's cards back...