but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely perish.

genesis 2:17

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Finders keepers...

Losers weepers.

Or so that saying goes.

The other evening I had taken D and Brian to our local grocery shopping to get our weekly groceries before I had to get ready for work that night. So I am trying to rush this little adventure along. All of us mothers knows how it can be to take to whole troupe to a grocery store, especially in the late evenings, right? I hope so, anyway. Well, we about 3/4 of the way through, nearing the finish line.

I shop from left to right, side aisles first and the middle on the way to the right and then to the checkout lanes. Well, we're in the back, just past the seafood department, headed towards the cheeses and lunchmeats-
When I hear Daylee say, "MOMMY, LOOK I FOUND DOLLARS!!!"
Well, I turn to look at him and whattayaknow! Daylee has found two twenty dollar bills and is holding them in his little hands. I look around and we are the only people in the back portion of the store, then I look at Daylee and I asked, "Where did you find that money, Daylee?" D points down and he had found the 40.00 between the seafood cold case in the middle of the aisle, smooshed between a pepperoni display case. Since no one was around and I knew if we turned in cash, especially such a small amount, someone would claim it to be theirs, even if it wasn't. I thought about it for a little bit, and I told D he could keep it. I know some of you may be shaking your heads, thinking maybe, possibly that I did the  'wrong' thing, or I'm a horrible, wretched human being, but no one was around, meaning no one in that part of the store was there at that time D found it to pipe up and claim it, and the place where D found it was hidden but also not hidden. It just took a kid of 3 feet to see the money, rather than a 6 foot adult.
So anyways, I told D to put it in his pocket and we finished up our shopping and I took him to Toys 'r' Us to buy a Lone Ranger Lego set (the one he's been pining after for weeks).
Brian told me that when he was little, around D's age he found a large bill- it was either 50.00 or 100.00 and that his parents took it from him and kept it. I felt like it would have been wrong to take that money from D, not turn it in and then keep it for myself.
So, anyways, I just want to ask the question- if your child would have found 40.00 the way Daylee found his, what would you do? Would you turn it in to the store manager? Would you let your kid keep it and spend it whatever way they wanted, or would you donate it to charity or buy someone less fortunate food or clothes, or would you as the parent pocket the cash for yourselves?
Please answer honestly.

1 comment:

  1. When I was little, I found $100 on a train ride we took as a family. Immediately when I found, some middle aged man piped up that it was his. My parents had me return it, even though they were pretty sure he wasn't be honest. They were upset he didn't even offer a reward or a thank you.

    Now, I've occasionally lost a $20 bill here and here and I always hope that it is found by a little kid who will think it is a fortune or by someone who really needs it.

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