# If you found a lost wallet...



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

what would you do?

The wallet contains $200 in cash and a drivers license. From the name & address on the license you are able to find the phone number of the guy who lost it.

Do you keep the $200 or not?

There is a pure hypothetical. I'd never be lucky enough to find more than small change.


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## Mc Borg (Jan 4, 2008)

I would return the wallet and money, now if I found 200 dollars just flying around (highly unlikely) I would keep it.


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## Amelia (Nov 24, 2003)

No, I wouldn't keep the money. But I'd turn the whole wallet into the nearest police station, instead of contacting the guy directly. (He might claim there was more than $200 in the wallet and accuse me of stealing it, turn nasty or something... not that I'm totally paranoid and don't trust people, or anything!) 

On the other hand, if I was desperately in need of money, homeless for example with no money, I'm sure I'd keep it.

And if the owner's name was Karl Schubert, I'd definitely keep it.


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## Becky (Nov 5, 2003)

Amelia said:


> And if the owner's name was Karl Schubert, I'd definitely keep it.


 :lol

If I was in desperate need of the money I would keep it and count it as a gift from god.

It's not the same thing but we parked at a store one time and there was a cart sitting there with 2 bags full of brand new stuff like tooth paste and lotion. There was no one else around in the parking lot so we took the bags home and kept the stuff. I felt a bit guilty, but the stuff came in mighty handy. I told my friend that I felt bad about keeping it and she told me that one of her friends used to tell her that things like that were gifts from god. So I went with that


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## elephant_girl (Dec 10, 2004)

I already know what I would do. When I was in college I found a wallet in the cafeteria (that had quite a bit of money in it) and I returned it. I never even though about keeping the money. Once at the mall I was walking behind someone and saw money fall out of their pocket (they had no idea) and I picked it up and gave it back.


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## Maslow (Dec 24, 2003)

I found a wallet in a parking lot about 10 years ago with about six hundred dollars in it. I didn't keep any of the money but the owner gave me a fifty dollar reward when he came to my office to pick up his wallet.


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## CoconutHolder (Oct 13, 2007)

I'd give it back.

The one time I went to the ATM to get some cash and there was someone's card still in the machine and it was still in active mode. I could have stolen lots of money, or just stole the card and bolted. But I cancelled their transaction and parked my car and took the card into the bank so they could give it to the owner.

It felt good to do that.


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## IllusionOfHappiness (Sep 6, 2007)

I'd give it back. I'd feel way too guilty keeping it.


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## njodis (Nov 8, 2006)

I'd probably keep the cash, drain the bank accounts, run up the credit cards, and sell the ID to an illegal immigrant.

:b


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## Lonelyguy (Nov 8, 2003)

I've actually had this happen. I found a wallet with over $100 cash laying on the street one time. I just looked at the driver's license and it happened to be a guy I knew, so I tracked him down and returned it myself. Seeing how happy he was to get it back was worth more than the money inside it. I know if I lost my wallet I would feel the same way if someone returned it.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

Dave, that cat in your avatar is freaking me out!! :afr :eek 

I would return the wallet, money intact, without hesitation.


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## Vincenzo (Sep 24, 2005)

I can't believe that only me and one other person would keep the money. You are all lying.


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## holtby43 (Jan 1, 2008)

Vincenzo said:


> I can't believe that only me and one other person would keep the money. You are all lying.


Nah, I'm a nice person. I love that feeling you get from doing something good like this.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

Vincenzo said:


> I can't believe that only me and one other person would keep the money. You are all lying.


Just because someone doesnt agree with you doesnt make them a liar. :roll


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## copper (Nov 10, 2003)

Amelia said:


> No, I wouldn't keep the money. But I'd turn the whole wallet into the nearest police station, instead of contacting the guy directly. (He might claim there was more than $200 in the wallet and accuse me of stealing it, turn nasty or something... not that I'm totally paranoid and don't trust people, or anything!)


That is exactly what I would do.


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## BluOrchid (Feb 2, 2008)

I would be tempted to keep the wallet, but I'd feel too icky. KArMA~


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## Andre (Feb 27, 2004)

Vincenzo said:


> I can't believe that only me and one other person would keep the money. You are all lying.


No, most people have morals.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Vincenzo said:


> I can't believe that only me and one other person would keep the money. You are all lying.


I voted in my own poll. I'd keep the $200 and leave the wallet, unless it was a nice wallet since I could always use a good wallet.

I'm not deviant enough (or stupid enough) to try to use any credit cards contained in such a wallet, so I have some standards.

If I lost my wallet I'd actually be more concerned about the credit cards and drivers license than the money, though I typically carry about $150 in my wallet, even though it never get used as I always pay by credit.


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## Laura (Nov 12, 2003)

...


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## estse (Nov 18, 2003)

I'd return the full package if there was ID inside.


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## User57854 (Dec 26, 2006)

-


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## mserychic (Oct 2, 2004)

We get all kinds of stuff people leave behind at my work. Wallets, credit cards, ect. Always return it. 

I read an article a few months back about a sting operation in NY. Cops would leave a fake wallet on the subway and then arrest anyone who picks it up without waiting to see if they were going to return it or not. Kind of makes ya leery about trying to be a good samaritan


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

I would congratulate myself on my newfound wealth and patent leather wallet. Unless the wallet was velcro.


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## Andre (Feb 27, 2004)

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they answered this question.

I am disgusted by the comments of those saying they would take the money. Returning things that do not belong to you is part of being a decent human being! What the hell happened to you that made you a bitter greedy *******?


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

Hah, I was being sarcastic, but whatever. I've never stolen anything and I never would. I'm not saying I would go out of my way to return it, though. I would leave it alone unless I visibly see someone drop their wallet. I have a very small guilt-ridden conscience somewhere deep within the blackened abyss that is me; it's dwindling each day, but it's there.


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## Eraserhead (Sep 23, 2006)

The money is certainly not worth the guilt.


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## Andre (Feb 27, 2004)

Drella said:


> Hah, I was being sarcastic, but whatever.


Okay, that's nice to know. 

My post was directed at those without a conscience.


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## njodis (Nov 8, 2006)

Well, something tells me that a certain someone has permanently lost a wallet in the past. :lol


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## anxiousgirl (Sep 3, 2007)

It's what you do when no one is looking that determines your character. I would return both items, without question. This has happened to me, and the individual tracked me down to return my purse. I've never forgotton the way that I felt when I realized it was gone, and the subsequent relief when that person returned it to me.


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## Vincenzo (Sep 24, 2005)

Rufus said:


> Drella said:
> 
> 
> > Hah, I was being sarcastic, but whatever.
> ...


Are you currently missing your wallet or something? To be fair, if there was some kind of ID with an address on it, I would send the wallet back with their cards and ID, etc, but the cash is mine. If I was feeling particularly kind hearted that day I would flip a coin as to whether to return the cash and do best-of increasing odd numbers until I got to keep it.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

Vincenzo said:


> Rufus said:
> 
> 
> > Drella said:
> ...


How is the "cash yours"?

You can do whatever you want but as another post said, its what you do when no one is looking that determines your character.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Rufus said:


> You can tell a lot about a person by the way they answered this question.
> 
> I am disgusted by the comments of those saying they would take the money. Returning things that do not belong to you is part of being a decent human being! *What the hell happened to you that made you a bitter greedy *******?*


Life is very good at turning one into a misanthrope. I've had nearly 35 years of life kicking me in the *** daily. I've decided to kick back.


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## nubly (Nov 2, 2006)

i would drop it off at a police station. i wouldnt want to deal with any possible drama from the owner


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

UltraShy said:


> Rufus said:
> 
> 
> > You can tell a lot about a person by the way they answered this question.
> ...


That isnt "kicking back", and I KNOW that you know that. The real way to "fight back" is work on your problems, not to be bitter and jaded.


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## Thunder (Nov 5, 2003)

Wonder how many people would have answered differently if it had been $100,000?


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## Becky (Nov 5, 2003)

Thunder said:


> Wonder how many people would have answered differently if it had been $100,000?


I'd totally keep that. And I changed my mind. Any amount of money that I found I would keep.


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## WinterDave (Dec 5, 2003)

I would PROBABLY keep the money, throw the wallet into a mail box and hope that it gets back to its owner....If the wallet belonged to a little old lady then I would return it to her with the money intact...As the amount of the lost money goes up in this scenario, my likelihood of keeping it reaches near 100 percent....If I lost my wallet, I wouldn't begrudge anyone the cash in it, if they made sure that the IDs', credit card, and ATM card got back to me....


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## RubyLynn (Jan 21, 2008)

I returned a wallet to someone last month, cash and all. I found it in a grocery store parking lot with about $100 in it. The owner offered to give me $20, but I said no. I lost my wallet when I was 16 and a very nice woman returned it to my house. So now I'm even with the universe on that one.


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## Vincenzo (Sep 24, 2005)

[Void]


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## Tungsten (Dec 11, 2005)

I would return it, but really, how careless does a person have to be to loose a wallet in public? They almost deserve to lose the money for being such a lummox.


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## Drella (Dec 4, 2004)

Tungsten said:


> I would return it, but really, how careless does a person have to be to loose a wallet in public? They almost deserve to lose the money for being such a lummox.


Yeah, I was thinking that as well. I left my bag (which includes my wallet... No, I'm not calling it a purse; it's a _bag_) in a shopping cart, but I openly admit to being a stupid and worthless ****up, so it's unsurprising. Thankfully, I realized it was gone moments after pulling out of the packed parking lot, so I was able to drive to the cart return and retrieve my bag before it became someone else's property. On the drive over, I kept thinking that I deserved to have it stolen just for leaving it on a shopping cart, so how no one took it is beyond me. Maybe a lot of people are like me and don't care enough about what other people are carrying around to go through their deserted stuff.

And as far as the $100,000 goes... I would probably return most of it if I picked it up. Hah, yeah I would at least take a nice commission for not stealing all of it. But if someone is dumb enough to casually leave $100,000 lying around in a public place, they are dumb enough to have it stolen by me. My guilt comes in when I think it could be some elderly woman's retirement money (I have a soft spot for old people for some reason), and, because of my hedonism, she's relegated to eating cat food and wearing 12 sweaters at once. My only fear would be that it's part of a hostage negotiation and I could end up having my insides savaged by a handgun. Still, I honestly would never go through anyone's belongings, so I wouldn't even realize the money was there.


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## Andre (Feb 27, 2004)

For the record, I've never lost my wallet. I'm just sad to see that as many as 18% of you would keep the money. It's simply a rotten thing to do.

I don't claim to be some perfect holier than you type of person.

And I wouldn't take a hundred thousand or whatever sum of money that wasn't mine. I would feel more guilty taking 100 thousand rather than two hundred.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

Rufus said:


> For the record, I've never lost my wallet. I'm just sad to see that as many as 18% of you would keep the money. It's simply a rotten thing to do.
> 
> I don't claim to be some perfect holier than you type of person.
> 
> And I wouldn't take a hundred thousand or whatever sum of money that wasn't mine. I would feel more guilty taking 100 thousand rather than two hundred.


I personally dont think you came across "holier than thou" at all Rufus!! :hug

I agree with you. :yes


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Thunder said:


> Wonder how many people would have answered differently if it had been $100,000?


I wanted to pick an amount that could realistically be in a wallet.

$100,000 could change the ethical questions since that kind of cash is almost certainly either drug money or from some other criminal enterprise. Giving a wallet back to Mr. AnyMan could be seen differently than finding a briefcase full of $100s that one would most likely presume is from the sale of drugs. Is one going to feel the same guilt keeping money most likely belonging to a criminal?

But then you have the question of what do you do with $100,000 in cash. Any cash deposit or cash purchase over $10,000 must be reported to the government as they assume it's drug money too. This wouldn't be easy to deposit at a bank. The largest amount of cash I've every personally touched was $5,000 -- part of my brother's screw the IRS plan. I can say that now as he's dead and the statue of limitations is long past.

I also wonder how much such hypotheticals really tell us about what people would really do in real life. It's easy to say "I'd to the right thing" in theory; perhaps harder when the cash is in your hands.


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## Becky (Nov 5, 2003)

UltraShy said:


> I also wonder how much such hypotheticals really tell us about what people would really do in real life. It's easy to say "I'd to the right thing" in theory; perhaps harder when the cash is in your hands.


 :ditto


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

UltraShy said:


> I also wonder how much such hypotheticals really tell us about what people would really do in real life. It's easy to say "I'd to the right thing" in theory; perhaps harder when the cash is in your hands.


Then why even post a poll if you are so doubtful of the answers? :stu As I said before in this thread to another poster, just because someone doesnt think like you do and respond to the question like you do doesnt mean they arent giving an honest answer.

Is it really THAT hard to believe that someone could return money rather than take it?? :con


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## Lonelyguy (Nov 8, 2003)

I would honestly return it no matter how large the amount. I would just feel too guilty spending money I didn't earn. Maybe I'm too much of a pushover, but I beleive what goes around comes around. I've been screwed over my entire life and it wouldn't make me feel any better to take something that wasn't mine.


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## WineKitty (Nov 26, 2004)

Lonelyguy said:


> I would honestly return it no matter how large the amount. I would just feel too guilty spending money I didn't earn. Maybe I'm too much of a pushover, but I beleive what goes around comes around. I've been screwed over my entire life and it wouldn't make me feel any better to take something that wasn't mine.


Amen to that, brother!! :nw :clap


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## Kelly (Dec 12, 2003)

Thunder said:


> Wonder how many people would have answered differently if it had been $100,000?


I would return the $200, but if I found $100,000 that would make me even more certain that I had to return it. It's more than likely that person's entire life savings or they need the money really badly for it to have been cash.

A woman lost her wallet once at the store I worked at. It had $300 in it that she needed for her rent. I felt really bad for her and we helped her look around the store for it. When we couldn't find it, she accused us of taking it at which point I stopped helping her look.

Have a nice day,
Kelly


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## Dudleyville (Mar 25, 2007)

Since I have a nice financial nest egg setup from living at home so I get to save alot of money whenever I get my monthly job check, I wouldn't really nead the $200 since it would be considered chunk change to me. But $100,000 is another story, I can't 100% guarantee I would do the right thing if the scenario was I could get away with stealing that much money and not get caught.


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## Zellkai (Nov 12, 2007)

I return the wallet and all the money. Having someone really grateful about it being all returned is worth more than the $200.


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## Scrub-Zero (Feb 9, 2004)

Return the wallet to the person. If they look rich, i would keep the money. If they look poor, i would give back the money. Simple as that.


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## Kwtrader (Oct 10, 2007)

give $200 money and wallet back.

if it was $100,000 i would not touch it, cause it might be a setup or something or drug money.


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## person86 (Aug 10, 2006)

I would return it after taking a 10% commission out of the cash for my labor.

I've had my wallet lost/stolen before, along with about $100 that was in it. And I wouldn't have held it against anyone who returned it minus the cash. The driver's license and credit cards are the important part.


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## free thinker (Nov 11, 2003)

I've lost my wallet on a few occasions in the distant past and sometimes I got the wallet and money back and other times I didn't. The question comes down to how do you feel towards those who don't return your money to you. If a person doesn't think highly of them for doing this deed, then how the hell can the same person turn around and do likewise to someone else? How do people continue to live with themself and their hypocrisy?


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## russophile1977 (Jan 16, 2006)

I would somehow manage to convince myself that the money was counterfeit and that I'd get arrested if I tried to spend it! So I'd return both the wallet and the money.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Kelly said:


> ...but if I found $100,000 that would make me even more certain that I had to return it. It's more than likely that person's entire life savings or they need the money really badly for it to have been cash.


Can you give me any plausible explanation for why anyone would have their entire life savings of $100,000 in cash? How would needing the money really badly make them keep it in cash? If you managed to accumulate $100,000 you're likely not totally ignorant about opening a bank account. Why not have it in a bank where it is safe from fire, theft, and being misplaced as this load of cash was and could earn a bit of interest?

Either they are exceptionally eccentric or it's the proceeds of a criminal enterprise. I think the latter is more likely.


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## Kelly (Dec 12, 2003)

UltraShy said:


> Kelly said:
> 
> 
> > ...but if I found $100,000 that would make me even more certain that I had to return it. It's more than likely that person's entire life savings or they need the money really badly for it to have been cash.
> ...


Thunder posed a hypothetical. He didn't say that the situation was probable and that it actually happened. (For what it's worth, I used to carry $100,000 cash around in a backpack on a weekly basis. It wasn't mine; I worked at a bank. But there was still $100,000 in cash floating around outside of the building when I had it.)

Do you think that someone who loses $100,000 wouldn't need it back? Do you deny that that amount of money is a significant sum which would be important to *anyone*? Whether they earned their money legally or through criminal activity is irrelevant.

Your posts have been becoming increasingly strange/out there lately. Are you okay?

Have a nice day,
Kelly


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## Polar (Dec 16, 2006)

Being the honest person that I am, I would return it. Or, I guess it would depend on how greedy I felt that day.


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## Dudleyville (Mar 25, 2007)

If I knew that the $100,000 dollars that got lost used to belong to a drugdealer I would definitely not lose any sleep at night knowing that I stole money from a guy who sells poison to his community. I didn't steal from some Humanitarian stand up citizen who actually does good and contributes positive things to the world so screw him.


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## Nonamia (Nov 8, 2003)

I found money twice in my life. Once was a purse in the restroom of the ladies room. It had tons of money in it, I don't know how much I didn't count it. I gave it back to the woman. 

Once as a teen my friend actually found it in the restroom of an amusement park and tried to keep it but I wouldn't let her. We turned it in. My family never had money so it would have come in handy both times. I can't do it I put myself in the place of the person that lost it and imagine how I would feel so I couldn't look at myself in the mirror after doing that. 

And you know a lot of us haven't had grand life but that is no excuse for screwing over others.


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## Ally (Jan 12, 2007)

I'd probably return it.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Kelly said:


> Thunder posed a hypothetical. He didn't say that the situation was probable and that it actually happened.


Thunder posed a hypothetical that did not specify the source of the money and I merely suggested the most likely source would be a criminal enterpirse, given the large sum involved.



Kelly said:


> (For what it's worth, I used to carry $100,000 cash around in a backpack on a weekly basis. It wasn't mine; I worked at a bank. But there was still $100,000 in cash floating around outside of the building when I had it.)


I'm quite surprised to hear that. I would have expected a bank to use an armed guard to move that much cash. Of course, unless their gun is concealed, it would make them a blatantly obvious target since if they have a gun strapped to their waist they must have something worth stealing. A young woman & a backpack looks like she has nothing but books to steal.



Kelly said:


> Whether they earned their money legally or through criminal activity is irrelevant.


So it wouldn't matter to you if that was the life savings of some eccentric old lady or if it was money that some not-so-bright terrorist earned though criminal enterprise and then lost on his way to buy bomb-making materials?


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