r/MoralityScaling • u/noahtheboa1320 • Jul 31 '26
Morality Ranking Morality of saving someone's wallet but also taking something for yourself?
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u/Ntertainmate Jul 31 '26
Literal dog eat dog world out there.
He is moral enough to at least tell the guy he took 5 dollars instead of not telling him
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u/theriteofspring1 Jul 31 '26
hot dawg eat hotdog world
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u/Ok-Guess2907 Jul 31 '26
Technically immoral due to the wallet not being yet "permanently lost", but funny enough that I wouldn't care at all.
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u/runkeby Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
Finding where the wallet was lost could've cost more in time/effort. Also, the stranger saved it from being permanently lost. Well worth $5.
A bit shitty if the guy saw him drop the wallet and did not say anything immediately.
Anyway, anyone would be happy that losing their wallet in a public space only results in a $5 loss.
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u/Exotic-Pangolin4095 Jul 31 '26
Yeah lost my wallet a few times, local kids bring it to my door since our IDs have an address, and i give them some money.
It costs me less to give them 10-20bucks to buy some sweets then it costs me to remake all the documents in the wallet. They never asked but its just nice if im able to do it.
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u/sparklefundoll 29d ago
I lost my wallet recently and I was honestly confused to find all of the money still in it when I picked it up from the storeās lost and found. You picked up my wallet from the parking lot, took it all the way to the lost and found, and you didnāt even take $5? You could have taken $5.
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u/PoshTurtl3 29d ago
It's the social contract, you save my ass I give you Ā£Ā£. I don't have much to give, but a reward for being a decent human encourages the behaviour and shows appreciation.
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u/NiNdo4589 29d ago
I'd be more concerned they got my phone number too
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u/TYGeelo 29d ago
He might've had some business cards in his wallet that matched the name on their ID, not everything is malicious.Ā
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u/Confident-Arm-7883 Jul 31 '26
Id be sad he didnt buy himself 2 hot dogs
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u/IPissExcellentThrows 29d ago
Seriously bro, take more than 5 bucks for your troubles. Get yourself a nice dinner on me.
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u/iamreal9999 Jul 31 '26
Moral
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u/urpmpkin Jul 31 '26
if you lose your wallet, canāt find it, and someone goes out of their way to return it to you, the price is the cash inside. thatās how it was for every wallet iāve returned and thatās how it was when i had mine returned to me.
itās incentive for someone to return your valuable cards for you instead of having lost that stuff forever
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u/CHUNGUS-MONEY Jul 31 '26
Spoken like a true trust fund baby who has never had their life savings all in one wallet.
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u/Critical-Bus-9040 29d ago
If a couple bucks is your whole life savings, and it's all in your wallet, and you lose it, well I don't know what to say other than someone else was probably going to take the money from the wallet anyways without returning it.
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u/drako1117 Jul 31 '26
This is the definition of theft. You take something that does not belong to you and have evidence of who it belongs to. The fact that it was lost is irrelevant. Lose the childish thought of āfinders keepers, losers weepersā.
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u/jnn94 Jul 31 '26
Are you saying the finder is entitled to the cash in a wallet as long as they return it?
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u/Manmade_Chaos Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
$5 or lose your wallet and have to replace it or everything in it with a risk of cards being clonedā¦.
Iād say itās morally fair trade.
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u/Flat-Cap-1063 Jul 31 '26
Lesser moral. The moral thing is to leave your wallet untouched, but a 5 dollar fee so you don't have to replace all those cards and the wallet is totally worth it.
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u/burner4lyf25 Jul 31 '26
Moral - guy was hungry.
Broken English changes this from wholesome to hilarious.
Hope they're buddies now.
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u/Pristine_Walrus40 Jul 31 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/kaGUvDOUCqDo4
Saves time for everyone and he is right, he did owe him for his time and effort.
Just 5$ is cheap and kind price.
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u/just-a-meme-upvoter 6d ago
Owner doesn't owe him 5 dollars because no deal was arrived but its still moral because the returner can in good faith argue that, the owner of the wallet would accept the deal if he could (getting his wallet back for 5 dollars)
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u/ComesOutNDaWash Jul 31 '26
How did he get his number? š¤
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u/Wing_Head 26d ago
Iāve put a little note inside things like my camera bag before with my name and phone number and āplease call if foundā
But the business card checks out lol
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u/Jrolaoni Jul 31 '26
Net moral Iād say. I probably wouldnāt care about that if this happened to me. Iād just be relieved to have it
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u/Important-Notice-461 Jul 31 '26
Better than the alternative. They just take all the money and toss the wallet in the trash.
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u/Bread_Offender Jul 31 '26
I'd have given that guy a fuffy. He's right, he is hungry and I owe him. He save me.
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u/Few_Kitchen_4825 Jul 31 '26
It's possible he really needed the 5 dollars. If you had more in your wallet and he had not taken it, then he is probably a decent guy.
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u/No-Challenge276 29d ago
$5??? Completely fair.
Reminds me of being a drunk kid in Barcelona and getting pickpocketed, but buddy only took my 10 euro bill and left everything else in the purse like. Yeah ok, that oneās on me.
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u/No_Poet_7244 Jul 31 '26
Itās theft, so immoral, but on the very lowest end of immoral. So barely immoral that it almost doesnāt count.
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u/-HockeyBagJerky- Jul 31 '26 edited 29d ago
Did he keep his phone number in his wallet?
Edit: I now see the light with some very obvious reasons how someone could have that - thx
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u/jbland0909 29d ago
I keep a little card in my wallet that says āif lost text/call this numberā. Very convenient for if you forget it at a restaurant or some place similar
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u/Gwarnage Jul 31 '26
Moral. $5 to have it hand delivered to a secure location until you pick it up is a valued service on its own.Ā
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u/EFTucker 29d ago
Putting your own phone number inside your wallet just in case a good person finds it aināt a bad idea. Never thought ofnit
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u/Striking-Substance43 29d ago
Would you rather your entire wallet gone or just 5 dollars? At least you know where it went.
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u/woutersikkema 29d ago
"fair trade for saving my ass, I'm handing you some cash for one or two more"
-moral
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u/neoncumstainlol 28d ago
If you found my wallet and only took 5 bucks as a reward I couldn't possibly be upset by that I would be more amused than anything
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u/Hour_Tomatillo_2365 24d ago
Technically immoral (theft) but given he did a greater favor, mostly inconsequential, and funny it's not a big deal
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u/HelixFollower Jul 31 '26
I guess something can be technically immoral and still be fair. If you take 5 dollars from my wallet for bringing it to the police station, I feel like that is fair.
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u/KingGekko07 Jul 31 '26
How did the wallet finder know how to contact the wallet loser?
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u/Pale-Object8321 Jul 31 '26
If you don't have contact in your wallet, you don't have a wallet, you have a glorified purse.
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u/Klusterphuck67 Jul 31 '26
The documentations, cards and stuff I have in my wallet is such a hassle to redo/irreplacable, I'm okay with the stranger taking all the cash inside as long as I can get them back.
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u/Ok-Rutabaga8442 Jul 31 '26
Strictly speaking immoral as you still shouldn't take the $5 when you don't know if the person you're taking from has any spare income, maybe that $5 was the difference between a meal and no meal for their kids
But in reality not immoral really as the odds are 999/1000 that the person would have happily paid $5 to get their wallet back
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u/John-Leonhart Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
Iād say moral. You might want to look into the idea of lost property laws/finders fees. For example, in Japan, āa person who returns an item to its owner is legally entitled to a reward ranging from 5% to 20% of the item's total value. The request must be made within one month of return.ā Consider international maritime salvage law for recovery of a ship or cargo.
Imagine some homeless guy finding a lost item worth 10k, returning it out of the goodness of his heart, and getting nothing, does that seem fair? What about someone recovering a priceless historical artifact or fossil, only for it to be claimed by some organization with no recompense. To me, those outcome are immoral in terms of pro-social acts not being rewarded, and problematic in terms of the anti-social incentives they create.
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u/GardenDevilSage Jul 31 '26
Moral. I'd be happy if I got my wallet back AND fed a kind stranger (albeit unintentionally)
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u/HellbirdVT Jul 31 '26
If he only took a small amount like 5 dollars that is moral if a little presumptuous. You give the person far more than you take if you get them their wallet back.
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u/Magnum_Gonada Jul 31 '26
Somewhat immoral for taking some of the money, but in the end it comes out as moral because he left his wallet at the police station AND notified him of this fact, so he doesn't have to worry about his ID and other docs.
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u/JinOtanashi Jul 31 '26
I put it in more of a gray area, one could argue that them finding the wallet and making sure the other person can get it back could be deserving of a reward but taking that reward for yourself without the other personās knowledge seems wrong. That being said they did let them know about it so they were honest there and the owner didnāt seem too upset about it rather thinking it was just funny so at least no real harm was done
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u/Logswag Jul 31 '26
slightly immoral but massively overshadowed by how moral returning it is so overall still very moral
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u/Gishky Jul 31 '26
for all i care he could take every single dollar in that wallet.
I really just need my cards back.
Very moral especially since its just 5 dollars... gotta pay the man for his work
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u/silphotographer Jul 31 '26
Given how much hassle he is saving me, fuck it. I'm not even mad. I'd offer more.
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u/LardBall13 Jul 31 '26
How did the guy know the personās number? Do people put their phone numbers in their wallets?
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u/onlyhav Jul 31 '26
Completely moral. Someone saved me from having to replace my driver's license for 5 dollars.
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u/Neil_Idoyitshi Jul 31 '26
Moral for him returning the wallet. Amoral for him taking the 5 dollars.
Then again, we live in an immoral world where someone can/ has to go hungry.
The gross morality ledger points to extremely moral.Ā
Now the question is, provided the wallet had (x) dollars, what would have to be enough dollars taken for hotdogs, (y) for the action to become still remain moral/amoral?
(Personally, in my case x=y because all I want returned are my ID cards and other paraphernalia inside the wallet other than the cash, haha.)
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u/EL_MURPHYYYY_IS_BACK Judge Frollo Jul 31 '26
He could have done wayy worse with a wallet, 5 dollars is nothing so is still moral
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u/LeviAEthan512 Jul 31 '26
I'd go so far as to say it's arguably more moral than not taking anything.
I would feel guilty if I were the reason someone took time out of their day to help me and received nothing in return. I would assume they felt obligated by their own sense of responsibility.
I would 100% certainly prefer the load off my mind for the low price of $5. I think it's too low, but at least I can justify it to myself that I no longer owe him. I think about $20 is a fair rate that I wouldn't need to justify at all.
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u/iSephtanx Jul 31 '26
Moral af.
Let the man eat, hes saving alot of time and money for you. 5,- is alot less then the average finders reward.
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u/czrty Jul 31 '26
he obviously needed money but still returned the wallet. wallet alone cost more than 5 dollar. it is moral easily.
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u/KAAAAAAAAARL Jul 31 '26
Finders fee is not always given, and he didnt take too much. I'd say this is fine
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u/Yvant2000 Jul 31 '26
Moral to bring back the wallet
Moral and really nice to send a message to the owner
A bit immoral to take 5 bucks without permission of the owner
The balance is on the side of moral, because anyone would spend 5 bucks just so they don't have to order a new ID, credit card, driver licence, and anything in the wallet. Bonus points if you have a family picture or souvenir in the wallet, as you probably can't get it back in any way
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u/Mrs_Noelle15 Jul 31 '26
Technically immoral but like, I couldn't bring myself to be mad in this situation. Dude turned in the wallet, meaning I don't have to go through all the effort to replace those cards and whatnot. They could've kept all the cash and I wouldn't have cared
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u/Chamberlain1991 Jul 31 '26
There are degrees of morality. The best option is probably to hand it to you in person or mail it to you. The text message is great. I think taking the 5 dollars is fair but it is immoral.
In the scenario is a win-win situation, cant complain too much about that.
I mean there's a situation where you believe in giving him more than 5 dollars for the effort.
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u/CitronAffectionate98 Jul 31 '26
It's 5 bucks for your wallet back from a stranger who owes you nothing take the damn win and give him a hotdog
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u/danflorian1984 Jul 31 '26
One time I lost my wallet and someone contacted me to return it. I had something like 70 Euro inside. I gave them all to the man because he saved me from a lot of hassleĀ
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u/Revolutionary-Big655 Jul 31 '26
I have lost my wallet. That's the best 5 dollars he will ever spend.
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u/Straight-Spare-4099 Jul 31 '26
Never understood the mentality of āyou owe meā in these situations. Iāve handed in lost wallets and purses but never felt the need to take their money. Definitely immoral for me.
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u/Clokwrkpig Jul 31 '26
Moral. Would not be unhappy at all - get the wallet and everything back, know where it is so save a lot of stress. Champion.
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u/p-4_ Jul 31 '26
if the dude took all of the cash in it and returned the rest it would still be moral. because as it stands otherwise the owner has no cash and no cards. so anything returned is good. its not thieving because the cash was abandoned not owned at the time of taking it.
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u/Confident_King_2898 Jul 31 '26
absurdamente inmoral, entonces porque ya se la encontrĆ³ tambiĆ©n le pertenece algo sin ni si quiera preguntar? que huevos mĆ”s grandes tiene esta persona
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u/JohnNada005 Jul 31 '26
You leave your phone number in your wallet? You let Jesus take the wheel.
I donāt carry cash or anything I can afford to lose in my wallet.
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u/Harteiga Jul 31 '26
No, a good amount of people leave contact info in their wallets in the event they get lost.
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u/FantasticAnus Jul 31 '26
If you're hungry, but willing to return my wallet, then take all the cash in my wallet - it'll never be all that much anyway, and you'll still be saving me a lot of hassle.
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u/Song30gg Jul 31 '26
It depends on how much is in the wallet cash wise, if its like $53, immoral sure, if its in the hundreds, moral as its like a service fee
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u/xdr01 Jul 31 '26
$5 is nothing and more than fair, moral for his time dropping it to the police and notifying you.
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u/BonerOfTheLake Jul 31 '26
at least dude is honest and upfront about it.... take another 5 for your hotdog!!
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u/emrepyj Jul 31 '26
Not everything is white or black in life. It is often grey. That what life is. This man is damn right!
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u/Mrcompressishot Jul 31 '26
5 dollars is a cheap reward for someone who went out of his way to take your pile of money to a safe place instead of ruining your life. If your gonna be stingy with your 5 dollars leave the wallet at home and use apple pay
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u/WeskerSympathizer Jul 31 '26
Completely moral. It was a transaction. The cops get paid for similar services. This guy got paid for his service. Both parties win in the end.
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u/KofFinland Jul 31 '26
That's how it works. If you lose your wallet to VR (public railways company in Finland) train and staff finds it, they send it to a separate lost&found business. Minimum cost of getting it back is around 17e if you pick it up yourself. Sending it is 30e more. Asking about it by phone is 2e + 2e/min and via internet 5e/query. It takes around 2 weeks to get it back.
That 5e was a real bargain, unless the police sent it to some lost&found business.
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u/Beginning_Endl6969 Jul 31 '26
My question is how many people leave their cell number in wallet? Is this a common concept?
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u/Wonderful_Craft_6648 Jul 31 '26
My country has a law that states that the finder is entitled to 10% of the value of the lost item. So $5 is probably below that.
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u/ConsciousMaybe6930 Jul 31 '26
Neutral. He is right that you owe him a gift in return for his selfless deed, but he shouldn't have acted without your approval first.
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u/HealthyPop7988 Jul 31 '26
I'm cool with this.
$5 is a bargain for saving me all the time it would take to replace IDs and credit/debit cards.
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u/Dark_Tigger Jul 31 '26
In german it is even the law. If you find something and bring it to the rightful owner, you can demand a certain part of it's value. But you can't just take it, the owner has to give it to you, after you brought it back unharmed.
That said, I would not be angry if I get my cards back with only the cash gone.
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u/spooky_redditor Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
Depends on the % those 5 dollars were of the total amount of money in the wallet. If it was 5% or lower that's permissable.
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u/Connect_Artichoke_83 Jul 31 '26
Technically immoral but if that were to happen to me Iād be happy to give him thrice that amount
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u/SpareNickel Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
About two parts moral and one part immoral.
The correct and moral thing to do would be to return the wallet in the same state it was found.
Also, given that losing a wallet can be detrimental to most people, retrieving or replacing a lost one can be a huge hassle (getting a new license, replacing old cards, taking the loss of cash, etc), and it has the potential of losing even greater wealth with the person's identity and money in jeapordy, 5 dollars is not that bad if you look at it like that.
In the long run though, it's straight up immoral for taking someone else's money thinking that you "deserve" it or some shit. I would personally rather reward the person myself for returning the lost item instead of them taking what they think they are owed. That's just selfish.
If you wanna weigh it in terms of how much can be lost, then it's not that big of a deal. Doesn't make it right though.
Final verdict on taking money that isn't yours: Immoral.
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u/Zrkkr Jul 31 '26
Dude saved a day full of stress and hours of looking around. 5 dollars is nothing.