I do. I keep an eye out for it. I might start posting a running total of what I find.
Now, if I see the money being dropped, I tell the person. If it's a substantial amount of money ($1.00 or more) I look around or leave my name, address, and phone number with lost and found in case someone comes looking for it.
Sometimes as I find loose change I make the comment, “Boy, I'm glad other people are so rich that they can afford to leave money lying around for me.” It's largely sarcastic, but a good friend throws away pennies — in the garbage — so that comment might not be far from the truth.
Someone also made the comment that picking up loose change was like gleaning one's vineyard — which is not something that should be done because the “leftovers” of one's crop should be left to widows and orphans (Deuteronomy 24:21). As in, I'm taking from someone who doesn't have the means to produce themselves.
Over the years, between a penny here and there and the occasional $20, $50, or even $130 lying on the ground with no one to claim it, I've probably found a little over $300. In the noise for most people. I suspect, though, that the two biggest amounts that I found — $130 and $50 — probably meant very different things to their previous owners. The $130 I found in the parking lot of a rest area looked like it was freshly withdrawn from a bank or ATM, so the previous owner was probably at most really annoyed that he/she lost the money. The $50 bill I found in Target, though, was wrinkled, and just seemed more important to the previous owner. Just a feeling.
In both cases I saved the money from being wasted. In one of this past week's issues of Early to Rise Michael Masterson used the example of one of his friends pouring unseemly amounts of money into renovating a French chateau. Though some might argue that there are better, more productive ways to spend one's money, none of it was wasted, because the money went to paying laborers, building material providers, etc., and therefore was just redistributed to others. Mr. Masterson also goes on to say that about the only way to waste money is to burn it, because it's taken out of circulation forever. But, if it's used to heat your house, you got some marginal value from it, so it wouldn't be a complete waste even then.
I also watch people drop money, notice they drop it, and walk away from it. I suspect that these people are just frivolous with money. I doubt that they're too rich to care whether they drop money or not, because I suspect they became rich by being careful with their money.
If anyone can make (pardon the expression) heads or tails of this, or has another take on it, I'd like to hear it! (Audience participation time! 🙂 )
I find it utterly amazing the lack of regard people have towards loose change, even bills sometimes.
I posted on this a a few months ago as well. I suspect that may change with the economy, but who knows.
When I wasn't in front of the computer 24 hours a day and actually had to commute, I used to do this. I collected over $100 and actually wrote an article about it which sold for another $250 to a magazine out here.
While I don't think it it wrong to pick up lost money, I think from now on I will directly donate any found money to the charity of my choice so that the money is being used for universal gain rather than individual gain.
Wow, PFAdvice, that seems like decent money for that kind of article! Did you keep the rights to it or did you sell those with the $250?
ADD, that's a good thing to do with the found money.
I generally don't pick up money because I figure there's always someone who needs it more (though I do retrieve my own change when I drop it). Not too long ago, my husband found a $20 bill on the sidewalk right next to a LAPD donation bin, so we dropped it in there.
I used to leave change on the ground for the little kids to pick up because I remember how exciting it used to be to find it. But when I see the same penny every day for weeks in a popular kid's spot, then I decided I was making unwarranted assumptions about today's kids in my neighborhood and changed my philosophy.
I started collecting all the change I found for a few months and put it in one place for a while to see how it was adding up. After a year I think I still didn't have a dollar.
That was a while ago. Now I only pick up change if I feel pretty sure that no one is around to think worse of me for doing it.
You don't think there's a stigma to picking up your own money off the ground, do you?
If so, then it's like physics where watching the phenomena changes it. Have you seen people notice that they dropped their money and then not pick it up even when no one was around?
Great comments!
Cathy, that's certainly a great way to view it. What you say is probably true.
Debbie, it's very interesting that you put the observation-action phenomenon in a physics context. My day job (and ten years of post-high-school study!) involves physics, so I understand perfectly. People looking while I pick up a penny doesn't really bother me, but it might bother some other people.
You usually get a more revealing glimpse into a person when you see their behavior when they think no one's looking.
I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with picking up your own money if you drop it. It would be a sign that I don't care about my money enough to pick it up — even if it's a penny.