Found Money

[slacker]

Irregular News for 01.07.07

 

Halifax, Canada -- For any student who has struggled to pay for tuition while dining on macaroni and cheese, finding an abandoned wad of $10,000 in cash would be too good to be true.

 

But when Jaime Hawkins of Riverview, N.B., stumbled upon a "loaf-of-bread-sized" stack of $20 bills next to a bank machine at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, the finance major immediately realized he couldn't keep the loot.

 

"I was just so overwhelmed with the amount of money," Hawkins, 29, said Tuesday, about four weeks after the incident. "It just felt like the right thing to do to hand it over. I had this little voice inside of me that said, 'It's not yours. Hand it in.' "

 

The stack, wrapped in elastic bands and barely visible beneath a shelving unit, was mistakenly left behind by two security guards who were refilling the machine in the student union building.

 

Although it was short-lived, Hawkins said he enjoyed his newfound fortune by pumping his money-filled fist into the air and yelling, "party time" as astonished cafeteria-goers looked on, mouths agape.

 

He then handed the entire stack to a worker at the student union building, who was "taken aback" when presented with the loot.

 

Hawkins said he "feels good" about his decision even though he is now strapped for cash.

 

About a week after finding the money, he discovered his New Brunswick student loan had been reassess, meaning he'll receive nearly $6,000 less than he initially thought.

 

An extra $10,000 would have come in handy, especially for a student with a debt load of close to $50,000.

 

"I've had a lot of people tell me that I was an idiot for handing it in," he said, laughing. "But at the same time, they say, 'You're a good guy for doing that.' "

 

Toronto-based Group 4 Securicor, the firm that misplaced the money, said Hawkins and the student union building worker would each receive $500 rewards.

 

"It's nice to know there's honest people in the world with integrity, whose mothers raised them right," said company spokeswoman Robin Steinberg, adding she believed the money had been there for "a very short time span."

 

As for Hawkins, he said the story would have unfolded much the same, even if no one else been around.

 

"I probably would have taken it home and rolled around in it for a bit," he said jokingly. "And then called the cops."

 

source

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I would of had to of done the same thing.............and I'm being very serious here. I have a very guilty conscious. I stole some money when I was 16 while working for a Hy-Vee here in town. I paid them the money back when I was 21 years old because I felt so guilty.

[gamecocks]

Now, I would of turned the money back in, but back when I was in college, I don't know what I would have done as I was always pressed for cash. I image that you couldn't take any money out of the bands without breaking the band so it was an all or nothing thing.

 

On a side note, did the people that left the money there get fired?

[Nicole]

just the other day at work i found $100. i gave it back.

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

Those security guards will never make it to Sheriff.

[pigsonthewing]

i would keep it. i have no conscious. i would find a way to justify my actions, same as any other deluded person (except you saints, jeez here is some polish for your halos).

[Touchdown Tommie]

i would keep it. i have no conscious. i would find a way to justify my actions, same as any other deluded person (except you saints, jeez here is some polish for your halos).

 

 

I would have had a hard time turning it back in. Maybe I would have taken 9,000 and then give the 1,000 back....no wait....I would have run out of there and never looked back. I was in need of money all of time in college. That would have bought a lot of Busch Light returnables!!!!

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Heck I found $4 wrapped in a shopping list at Target today and turned that into customer service. For some reason my wife thought I would pocket it. Jeez you bring home one stapler from work and you get labeled for life.

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

Jeez you bring home one stapler from work and you get labeled for life.

And when you bring home your HAWT co-worker.