If you found a lost wallet, what would you do? The ethical decision would be to track down the owner and give it back, right?
Last week I left my wallet in a cab after hitting up the Co-op Mart (grocery/superstore). I have never done such a thing in my LIFE. We were in a rush and carrying several bags of goods, and instead of putting my change from the cab fare in my wallet, I threw it in my purse. Had I waited to take the extra few seconds to put the money directly in my wallet, I would have realized that I left my wallet on the seat of the cab!
While eating dinner with friends that night, my phone rang and the guy on the other line said "taxi, taxi!" and I thought it was a wrong number and hung up. When it came time to pay for the meal, I opened my purse to take out my wallet and realized it was GONE. Panic set in, and then I clued in that it was the taxi driver that called me, trying to tell me that he had my wallet. He had gotten my number from my cell phone card which I left in my wallet (since I can't remember my own phone number which is 11 digits long)! Luckily, our friend Andy speaks Vietnamese and called the taxi driver back from the restaurant to sort out the situation. The waiter at the restaurant also helped out by taking my phone and telling the taxi driver exactly where the restaurant was located so he could meet us there to return the wallet. The driver was all the way in District 1, so it was going to take him a while to come back to our area. Feeling a sense of relief, I was so happy that the driver decided to do the honest thing and return the wallet. Luckily, my passport was not in there, but my credit cards, some Canadian ID, and a bunch of money was. I decided that I would give the taxi driver some money as a reward for returning my wallet.
When the driver finally arrived outside the restaurant, I ran up to his cab and he handed me the wallet. I tried to give him some money as a reward, but he was brushing me off, and shook his head "no." I must have told him thank you ten times before he drove off. Such a nice guy, right???
Turns out... he had already helped himself to his own reward. I realized that he had left most of the bills in the wallet, but had taken out a 500,000 VND bill! That is equivalent to about $25. I was just happy to get the wallet back, but kind of sad that the guy felt the need to take money from me. I guess that explained the weird look on his face when he was refusing the money I was trying to give him as a reward. For my carelessness, it was a small price to pay. I'm just relieved that I got my ID back. Lesson learned!!!
Last week I left my wallet in a cab after hitting up the Co-op Mart (grocery/superstore). I have never done such a thing in my LIFE. We were in a rush and carrying several bags of goods, and instead of putting my change from the cab fare in my wallet, I threw it in my purse. Had I waited to take the extra few seconds to put the money directly in my wallet, I would have realized that I left my wallet on the seat of the cab!
While eating dinner with friends that night, my phone rang and the guy on the other line said "taxi, taxi!" and I thought it was a wrong number and hung up. When it came time to pay for the meal, I opened my purse to take out my wallet and realized it was GONE. Panic set in, and then I clued in that it was the taxi driver that called me, trying to tell me that he had my wallet. He had gotten my number from my cell phone card which I left in my wallet (since I can't remember my own phone number which is 11 digits long)! Luckily, our friend Andy speaks Vietnamese and called the taxi driver back from the restaurant to sort out the situation. The waiter at the restaurant also helped out by taking my phone and telling the taxi driver exactly where the restaurant was located so he could meet us there to return the wallet. The driver was all the way in District 1, so it was going to take him a while to come back to our area. Feeling a sense of relief, I was so happy that the driver decided to do the honest thing and return the wallet. Luckily, my passport was not in there, but my credit cards, some Canadian ID, and a bunch of money was. I decided that I would give the taxi driver some money as a reward for returning my wallet.
When the driver finally arrived outside the restaurant, I ran up to his cab and he handed me the wallet. I tried to give him some money as a reward, but he was brushing me off, and shook his head "no." I must have told him thank you ten times before he drove off. Such a nice guy, right???
Turns out... he had already helped himself to his own reward. I realized that he had left most of the bills in the wallet, but had taken out a 500,000 VND bill! That is equivalent to about $25. I was just happy to get the wallet back, but kind of sad that the guy felt the need to take money from me. I guess that explained the weird look on his face when he was refusing the money I was trying to give him as a reward. For my carelessness, it was a small price to pay. I'm just relieved that I got my ID back. Lesson learned!!!
Thank goodness it had a happy ending!!BE CAREFUL!!!
ReplyDeleteDid you not tip the guy well enough?? lol JUST KIDDING! Glad you got the important stuff back, it would've been way worse to replace a Canadian ID or credit card.
ReplyDeleteWe don't tip much in Vietnam. It isn't much of a custom here and sometimes it is offensive! Just glad to have my stuff back and not have to go through the process of getting new ID!
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