driving out of the way to deliver it is def off the table for me. would have just tried to find him on FB but giving your number to the lost and found is a good idea as well

For the anti-social folks: Go to Fedex / UPS and ship it to him anonymously, taking out $50 cash to cover your time and expense.

I think I'm pretty far on the spectrum of helping strangers and I still don't drive to his house. Not stealing his money is enough of a good deed here. He can drive to me or I'll ship it. I also don't mind leaving it with the ranger and I'd bet on it still having the $300 if you did that. And yeah, he's likely to be at the ranger station any minute looking for it.

WhyTF is the ranger going to be a thief?

why does anyone steal? people ****ing suck.

I agree the probability the ranger steals it is low, but its still greater than 0%. However I know if i get it to him there is actually a 0% chance it gets stolen, so I kind of feel a sense of obligation to get it back to him safely.

What percentage of people are thieves? And this ranger would have to steal knowing that you know he got the wallet and that you are likely to contact the owner and tell them (which could also be done). I think it's about as likely that it gets lost in the mail/fedex, you lose it, get robbed, get in an accident on the drive there and back, or w/e. The ranger is just in such an unlikely position to steal from the wallet here I would not worry about that.

Is this one of those trick questions like why strip clubs are appealing to some people?

well my judgement is clouded from being part of the gambling community for so long and also im a cynic, but id guess at least 30% of the public takes the money if they knew they would never get caught.

why would the ranger assume you were going to contact the guy, if you were going to do that there'd be no reason to turn it into the ranger. I mean you are probably right and its a really low probability, tho I definitely disagree that the odds he sees the money are even close to equal if i turn it into the ranger as i find him myself. Hell just the number of times he doesn't even think to see if there is a lost and found is going be greater the number of times I get in a wreck and die on the way to his house or get robbed or whatever.

all that said, like i said i feel a sense of obligation to get it to him since I know me doing it is the highest probability possible that he gets his money back. Also then theres the peace of mind of not having to wonder about it or question my decision, which is maybe something you wouldn't have given your certainty in dropping it off at the lost and found, but that wouldnt be the case for me, much like cs3 it would bother me all night, and thats a cost to factor in as well. Throw in some smug self righteousness for doing a good deed, and I think seeing it to the end yourself is easily the best option.

It's usually not premeditated and they never mean for it to happen, one thing just leads to another.

You might turn it into the ranger because the dude is going to realize he left his wallet on the trail in 20 minutes and come back looking for it. And just the ranger knowing that you know completely changes this. He doesn't even have to consciously think about whether or not you are going to contact the owner. But, w/e, I can see it either way.

He just writes it off

The problem with driving is what if he's not home? In the moment I'd probably drive it to him though, after checking if he's on Facebook.

I’d stick some extra cash in the wallet to avoid any awkwardness

Fwiw the "rangers" at the visitor center were likely volunteers/interns. There was a guy and girl, both probably college aged - maybe 20-23ish. They seemed genuinely greatful that I turned it in, but of course that really doesn't mean anything. I spoke to an actual ranger prior to that and made him aware of the situation but didn't mention anything to him about the cash in the wallet.
I made it very clear to everyone that I was going to contact the owner and let him know I left it with them. Still didn't feel great about it.

If I was by myself I think I would've just driven it over to the address and left a note if he wasn't home. As it was, I almost did anyway, but the deciding factor for me was that I had my kid with me who was hot, hungry, and tired.

Another factor I forgot to mention was that there is absolutely zero cell service on the area I was at, even in the ranger station. No wifi either. So checking FB from there (if I had a FB that is) prior to making a decision was a no go. You have to drive about 4 miles out of the canyon to get any kind of signal at all. This was at Sunol Regional Park for those familiar.



Edit-
Hahahahaha oT wins!

codesis you failed miserably, get over it already.

Shoosh it June hater

Cs3,

Is the address a rich neighborhood?

Nah, middle class suburb. We're not talking Blackhawk or Atherton anything like that.

Just noticed today that one of my coworkers has a hand defect called Symbrachydactyly, aka baby fingers. Have been working together for a little over three months, not sure how I missed this.

Who the hell cares about whether or not you get the $300 back if you get your wallet and everything else back? Getting any cash you had is a bonus. Not having to go to the dmv this week is worth $300 alone.

Lol at thinking USPS it is a terrible option. If you drop it in a priority mail envelope it'll get there no problem and it's way easier than lol driving to their house. My grandparents have been sending me cash in the mail for nearly 50 years and it's always arrived. Now it's all tracked anyway.

Selfish desire to think you're bigger than you are?

Gotta hand it to you for not seeing disability.

He knew something was off but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

I have two clubbed thumbs (brachydactyly type D); other than not being able to palm a basketball even though the rest of my hands and fingers are more than capable of doing so, having trouble bowling, and having trouble taking selfies, not a ton of impact.

The last one seems to be a feature, not a bug.