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I'm not sure why you should feel guilt here - you actually went above and beyond what most people would have done in the situation. Most people, finding money on the ground that nobody was trying to pick up themselves, would have just picked it up, pocketed it, and walked on. And honestly, there should be no guilt in that. Now, had there been someone going around saying "hey, I had this money here and the wind blew it out of my hand, have you seen it?" - and they named the denomination or something that made you know that the money you picked up belonged to them - and you didn't say "why yes, I found this over there; here you go!" and handed it back...well, you should feel guilty knowing you had taken their money - even if they didn't see you do it. But if nobody is actively looking for it, then heck - what can you do, and why feel guilt over it? Sure - you could have left it lying there, and if everyone did that, maybe somebody could retrace their steps to find where they dropped it? Or for all you know, it was dropped, not noticed, and the wind or a passing vehicle picked it up and flung it hither and thither and even if the person knew they had dropped it, they had no way of finding it. You could feel guilt - but now you are feeling guilty over something that is virtually unknown to you; you don't even know if the person who lost it even knows they did, or if they even care... But again - it's a different thing if you see it happening. As a kid (I was probably 12 years old), I was once in a bowling alley when I was walking behind a man, and I noticed a large amount of money (bills) fall out of his back pocket, and he didn't even notice one bit. We're talking several 50 dollar bills. I saw it. I saw him walk on. I went over to pick it up. It was a lot of money... I grabbed it all and ran to him, "Mr! You dropped all of this!" and handed it back to him; he was super thankful. I was glad I did it, because I know most other kids wouldn't have done that - heck, there are adults who wouldn't. But I had seen the money fall out of his pocket - I knew it was his. Had I kept it, I know I would have been stealing from him, and would have felt guilty. It was the right thing to return it without any expectation. To this day (decades later) I am glad I did what I did - that very well could have been his paycheck for all I know. Now - had (somehow) that pile of money been there and I saw it, and nobody else had claimed it? Well - even today I'd probably take it to the "lost and found" - somebody loses that kind of money (or item - like a wallet, phone, etc) - that's the right thing to do. Only if nobody ever claims it, and it's returned to you as "unclaimed" - should you take it. Even then, maybe it would be better to donate it to a good cause than to keep it. Definitely an ethical and moral dilemma - and here I don't know if I've just refuted myself, or whether I have helped anything for you, or if I've just made myself question my own failings or faults. Probably a bit of everything - and maybe that's for the best. So thank you for your post - I think. |