You're walking along the street and you notice 50 bucks on the footpath, rustling in the breeze.
Congratulations - you are already paying more attention than 95 per cent of the people around you, going by a recent Fair Go social experiment. Most of you walked right by. Quite a few were on their phones. Put it away, folks. Who knows what you are missing.
For those of you who spotted that cash - what's next? Is it a case of "finders, keepers" and you pocket that straight away? Yes, according to our experiment. On a busy city street, most of you would keep $50 if you found it. Most would keep $100. Some said it would have to be around $200 before you’d hand it in.
Trouble with that is that you've just instantly fallen afoul of section 219 of the Crimes Act, which deals with dishonestly depriving the rightful owner of their property with the intent to keep it from them. Put it this way, would you be happy if someone took $50 off you, without asking. Being careless doesn't extinguish your property rights.
So, looking around and wondering and maybe even asking people if they just dropped some cash would be a good start. But how far do you go. How much effort is worth your time and anyone else's?
Would many of us walk it to a police station and report it as found money?
There must be some. Police bank about $327,000 every year from people who've found money, they pay out over $300,000 claimed by the owner or the finder. If you are a maths person, you’ll notice that doesn’t add up - you’re right. There's about $20,000 a year that stays in the account - it’s up to $194,000 at last count.
Robyn Dobbs has contributed. She found $50 and handed it in - though it took a bit of work. She's also about to get it back, though that took a lot more work.
Robyn found her portrait of eminent Māori politician Sir Apirana Ngata (he's on the $50) on the street in Te Kauwhata. She was astounded. To her, it's a lot of money.
She asked the only other person in the street, tried to hand it to Police, and eventually an officer came to her home and collected the banknote. He told her she could have it back if she waited two months and no one claimed it. Then it was three months. Then it was tricky - her claim was handed to another officer. She wasn’t getting answers. She got suspicious, a call taker got a bit snippy and Robyn called Fair Go.
Answers came quickly - police are busy, this takes a couple of senior officers to sign off. Frontline staff work a variety of shifts. Things can drag on. Especially, you'd imagine, when it's only for $50.
For Robyn, it's taken nearly five months, not two. If only they'd said so at the start, when they collected it.
Police praised Robyn's honesty and encourage others to take the time to do the same. Honesty is its own reward. Just be prepared for a long wait before that honesty pays you and a little something extra. And remember, "finders, keepers" may rhyme, but it's a crime.
Maybe you're better off glued to your phones after all.
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