is it stealing?

Hmmm, interesting question! By definition I think that definitely in this situation you would have knowingly taken something that did not belong to you. To me that is stealing.

If you the person who dropped it is still within sight than I would for sure attempt to return the money. Not doing so would qualify as stealing the money. If you are unable to catch up with the person (they get into a subway or car..etc) than I think you are justified in keeping the money. If you find money and the owner is nowhere to be seen and there is no identification than you are justified to keep the money. If there IS identification than I would say the right thing to do is attempt to contact the owner and return everything. If you are unable to contact the owner yourself than I would turn it into the police. I've had the unfortunate experience of leaving my wallet on a bench at a grocery store. When I realized it and returned to the store it was gone and no one had turned it in to the Lost and Found at the store. I called the police and left my info, but nothing turned up. About 2 weeks later I received my ID and grocery cards in the mail in an unmarked envelope. But my wallet and my money were not returned to me. This was a very hurtful event because I had $200 of grocery money in the wallet. The person also attempted to use my debit card via phone transactions, but I only had 2 dollars in my account (thankfully) and my bank refunded that.

I wouldn't class it as stealing because you didn't actually TAKE it from them without their knowledge. But it IS dishonest! I witnessed an incident once at a video game arcade where a woman was fumbling around in her handbag to find money to get some change for her kids. A twenty dollar note fell from her bag that she didn't see. Another kid standing behind her immediately put his foot on top of the money so she wouldn't notice it and he of course was going to wait until she left and then pocket it. There is no question that his actions were wrong so I of course tapped him on the shoulder, pointed to his foot and told him to give the money back to the woman. He was NOT impressed but I don't care. It was the right thing to do.

hi there! i think it's not stealing. well,i guess the money should belong to me if the owner isn't around to get it back.in the first place,i was the one who found it first.lolz.but if i am faced with that situation,i won't get the money.i would rather just leave it there as if nothing happened.happy mylotting!

I think its a hard thing to say for certain as its our moral upbringing that leads us to help others and be kind and if your first thought is yourself then you are morally unjust. I always offer the other person the chance to retrieve their belongings whether its cash or another personal belonging. Even if a shop keeper give me too much change i always tell them. however, if i am walking along and find money on the floor and there is no clear indication whose it is then i will keep it and give it to charity. we are not here to make our lives better at the expense of others so please do unto others as you would have them do unto you. you would be surprised how being kind and just will make you feel good try it see for yourself :)

thats cheating and stealing. that money can be important to that person and he might find himself puzzled and heartbroken upon knowing that he had lost his belonging.while you have cheated that person and betrayed the fact that you are a good human being and enjoyed the loss of other and benefited from it. but actually you made a bad choice and decreased your ranking..

[i]Hi roses, when I have the chance to inform the person and return it but refuse to do so, then I would say I steal it! But, if I have no clue where to return it and then I don't trust other people to have it hoping that the owner will come back and claim it, I will rather keep it and I would say I didn't steal it![/i]