[Jack Quinn]

Moral Dilemma[/u]

Ok, so here is the story. I work in retail, working as the supervisor at the Smoky Mountain Train Museum and Gift Shop, and yes, it is as glamorous as it sounds. About three weeks ago, someone came into the store on a busy Saturday night and said they had found some money sitting on the table outside. It turned out to be $107, and they left a South Carolina address to send it to if no one stepped up to claim it. I put it in the safe, and the girl I was working with that night joked that if no one claimed it by Christmas, we should just split it.

Well, no one claimed it.

Ok, so here is my dilemma. On one hand, the people who turned it in were being good Samaritans by turning in the money instead of just pocketing it. Should the money be theirs? The girl I work with is a struggling college student, and half of the money will really help her right now. Is it right to give it to her? Should the money just have stayed in the safe until SOMEone stepped up for it? Should it have just gone to the company? I have no idea if we have a policy on lost money, it was never brought up.

So, being the time of year that it is, I am really kind of struggling with this. There is no doubt I could use the money. There is no doubt the girl I work with could use the money. There is probably no doubt the people from SC could use the money. Saying they didn't need it because they were just on a vacation on an expensive train ride seems like shallow justification on my part, so I am not going to say that.

Right now, the money is in my pocket. I would never ask the girl for her half back, should the shit hit the fan with it, I would just repay it because, ultimately, the decision was mine. I feel like maybe I should do something good with the money, I think I will donate some of it to the local animal shelter.

What? Moose are animals too

[Doug]

Buy Booze, the correct answer when you are handed free money is always to use it to buy booze.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Do you wear a funny little conductor hat? :-X

Whatever you do, make sure you do something good with the money. Give half to the girl, give your half to a charity or a shelter, take your mom out to a nice seafood dinner but just don't pocket it.

[Doug]

Solly is right, you should use it for something good. However, I am also right, you should use it to buy booze. Thus by default the only correct thing to do would be to use it to buy me booze. Problem solved.

[Attitude Adjuster]

If you're feeling bad about hold your half, Jon Carroll of the San Francisco Chronicle writes a column every year about real charitable donations. He takes what he can afford from the ATM, and passes $20 bills to homeless people in the streets until he runs out of money. Just walk the streets of downtown Smoky Mountain and hand the money to those who look like they need it. They may use it for drugs; they may use it for food. But at least you tried.

[creepy]

I say give it all back. They trusted you instead of being dicks by pocketing the money, so you should return that gesture. I've lost money that wasn't returned before and I've turned in money that was "lost". Those people were dicks. Don't be a dick.

[Habs]

Give the money to charity, ask for a receipt and send it to the people in SC.

[Jack Quinn]

been almost two years since I have done one of these. I really should fix that. Not like fewer things have pissed me off in two years

[creepy]

So what did you do with the money?

[Jack Quinn]

split it with the girl. Probably bought booze, I don't remember

[creepy]

Dick.