Posted on 09/12/2024 8:56:17 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
What are the most (and least) honest cities in the world? Reader's Digest conducted a global, social experiment to find out.
In each, we put a name with a cellphone number, a family photo, coupons, and business cards, plus the equivalent of $50. We “dropped” 12 wallets in each of the 16 cities we selected, leaving them in parks, near shopping malls, and on sidewalks. Then we watched to see what would happen.
Wallets returned: 11 out of 12. Lasse Luomakoski, a 27-year-old businessman, found our wallet downtown. “Finns are naturally honest,” he said. “We are a small, quiet, closely-knit community. We have little corruption, and we don’t even run red lights.” In the working-class area of Kallio, a couple in their sixties said, “Of course we returned the wallet. Honesty is an inner conviction.”
Wallets returned: 9 out of 12. Rahul Rai, a 27-year-old video editor, said, “My conscience wouldn’t let me do anything wrong. A wallet is a big thing with many important documents [in it].” Vaishali Mhaskar, a mother of two, returned a wallet left in the post office. “I teach my children to be honest, just like my parents taught me,” she said. Later that day, three young adults found our wallet and called us immediately.
Wallets returned: 8 out of 12. Seventeen-year-old Regina Györfi called the cellphone number included in one of our wallets immediately after finding it a shopping mall. “I remember being in a car, when my dad noticed a wallet by the side of the road,” she said. “When we reached the owner he was very grateful: Without the papers in the wallet he would have had to postpone his wedding which was to take place the very same day!” However, a woman in her early sixties opened the wallet, and then entered a nearby building. We never heard from her.
Wallets returned: 8 out of 12. Richard Hamilton, a 36-year-old government worker from Brooklyn, found a wallet near City Hall and reunited it with us. “Everyone says New Yorkers are unfriendly but they’re really quite a nice people,” he said. “I think you’d be very surprised to see how many New Yorkers would actually return [a wallet].” Not all New Yorkers were so honest: we watched a man in his twenties take money from the wallet to buy cigarettes at a convenience store. However, one of two 17-year-olds who found the billfold explained her motivation to get in touch: “I flipped through all the papers and saw the family photo and thought, ‘Aw, he has two kids. We have to give this back.'” Another local told us, “It’s so easy to be cynical. But especially after 9/11, that instilled companionship in everyone.”
Wallets returned: 7 out of 12. Near the city’s downtown zoo, Eduard Anitpin, an officer of Emergency Situations, handed our reporter’s lost wallet to a security guard. “I am an officer and I am bound by an officer’s ethical code,” he said. “My parents raised me as an honest and decent man.” Later, another do-gooder said, “I am convinced that people should help one another, and if I can make someone a little happier, I will.”
Wallets returned: 7 out of 12. Some people who found the wallet were more moved by the euros inside than the photos we planted. But Julius Maarleveld spotted the lost wallet and entered a nearby liquor store. Our reporter followed, prompting Maarleveld to speak up: “Are you here for the wallet? If so, [the clerk] is just calling… My wife once lost her wallet. It was found and returned. Isn’t honesty wonderful?” Angelique Monsieurs, 42, noticed our reporter drop the wallet on her way into a supermarket and waited for her to exit to reunite wallet and owner. These are the healthiest cities in America.
Wallets returned: 6 out of 12. Seyran Coban, a teacher in training, got to the wallet at the same time as a young man but refused to let him have it. “I didn’t trust that boy. People have often treated me with honesty, and if I do the same, that’s what I’ll get in return,” she said. Abel Ben Salem, 46, told reporters he returned the wallet because, “I saw the photo of the mother with her child. Whatever else is important, a photo like that means something to the owner.” Yet a man in his early forties quickly grabbed the wallet, put it in his bag, then spent ten minutes making call after call on his phone—none to us. Here are 10 things you should do immediately if you lose your wallet.
Wallets returned: 6 out of 12. We asked Manca Smolej, a 21-year-old student, whether she considered taking the money when she found our wallet. “No!” she replied. “My parents taught me how important being honest is. Once I lost an entire bag, but I got everything back. So, I know what it feels like.” A man in his early fifties picked up our billfold, started to dial his phone but then stopped, took the wallet, and drove off in an expensive car.
Wallets returned: 5 out of 12. Ursula Smist, 35, who is originally from Poland, retrieved our wallet and handed it over to her boss. “If you find money, you can’t assume it belongs to a rich man,” her manager said. “It might be the last bit of money a mother has to feed her family.” Here are 9 powerful ways to give to charity without breaking the bank.
Wallets returned: 5 out of 12. Biotechnologist Marlena Kamínska, 28, picked up our wallet and hopped on the bus. Three hours later she called us after talking with coworkers. “There were those who advised me not to bother looking for the owner,” she said. “But I thought that someone might badly need that money.” As for the other seven wallets, they were all taken by women whom we never saw again.
Wallets returned: 4 out of 12. Sonia Parvan, a 20-year-old student [right, with Cristina Topa], found our wallet and tracked us down. “I know how it feels to lose your wallet. My mother lost it once and didn’t get it back,” she said. We watched another young woman pick up one of our wallets, ask two passersby if it was theirs, then examine the contents closely and place it in her pocket. We didn’t hear from her.
Wallets returned: 4 out of 12. In a commercial area, a woman in her late twenties returned our wallet—without any money. But 73-year-old Delma Monteiro Brandāo handed one back after finding it while picking up her granddaughter at school. “This is not mine!” she said. “In my teens, I picked up a magazine in a department store and left without paying. When my mother found out, she told me this behavior was unacceptable.”
Wallets returned: 4 out of 12. Jeanette Baum, a 38-year-old music teacher, discovered our wallet and sent email and texts to our reporter after calls didn’t go through. “I know what it’s like to lose something,” she said. “The ‘not knowing’ afterwards is terrible. That’s why I responded as fast as I could.” Meanwhile, a tram driver in his early fifties pocketed the wallet, despite the fact that the transit company runs the city’s lost and found office.
Wallets returned: 3 out of 12. Petra Samcová recovered our reporter’s wallet and didn’t think twice about returning it. “It’s something you simply should do naturally,” she said. Not so two young teenagers walking in a suburban housing estate on the outskirts of Prague, who put the wallet in a knapsack and left in a very good mood. These are the least healthy cities in America.
Wallets returned: 2 out of 12. Beatriz Lopez, a 22-year-old student, found our wallet in an upscale downtown area with her friend Lena Jansen, also 22. “We only wanted to give it back,” she said. Jansen told reporters, “I couldn’t keep a purse that wasn’t mine.”
Wallets returned: 1 out of 12. A couple in their sixties spotted our wallet and immediately called us. Interestingly, our reporter learned that the two weren’t from Lisbon at all—they were visiting from Holland. The remaining eleven wallets were taken, money and all. Here are 8 things you should never, ever keep in your wallet.
Of the 192 wallets dropped, 90 were returned—47 percent. As we looked over our results we found that age is no predictor of whether a person is going to be honest or dishonest; young and old both kept or returned wallets; male and female were unpredictable; and comparative wealth seemed no guarantee of honesty. There are honest and dishonest people everywhere.
Must not have done it in Japan, all would be returned with all money and cards in them.
I love these stories!
I remember one from a few years ago where a homeless man found one of the wallets in a phone booth - didn’t touch a thing. He turned it in and was asked why?
He said the wallet was on the “handicapped” shelf and he figured whoever lost it was most likely in a wheelchair and needed the money far more than he did.
NYC and Rio de Janeiro?.....I’m struggling with those two.
As I understand it, theft in Brazil is legendary.
I must have missed it if they dropped any in cities that were mostly religion of peace, I’m sure it would have been the exact opposite of Japan.
Must not have done it in Japan, all would be returned with all money and cards in them.
That’s what I’ve heard.
I lost my wallet at a gas station in the 90s a couple found it called me up and said they had it. about 100 bucks in cash and my credit cards atm and such drove over it was all in there i took all the cash and said this is for you they would not take it
I was walking in a Philadelphia subway tunnel once years ago, and there was a black couple in front of me. The guy dropped his wallet and I called out to him. He picked it up and went on his way, didn’t even bother to thank me.
Another time in a store, an elderly white woman was in line in front of me. She must have requested cash back when she checked out. The money came out of the slot, and she apparently forgot to take it. I called out to her, and she was so happy, she thanked me multiple times.
Back in the late ‘80s, I lost my wallet in Paris. Traced my steps back to a newsstand on the Champs-Élysées and the lady working the stand was holding it for me.
Wife has had wallet returned in New York City and I found and returned a lost cell phone in the same place.
They should have put at least $2000 cash in the wallet for a better test...
New York made the list?
Well, I think it really all depends on what part of the city the wallet was left. Every city has good neighborhoods, a fairly decent downtown area, and bad neighborhoods. Democrat run cities have a much higher bad - to - good neighborhood ratio, and their downtowns may be a lot worse than others.
A week or two later, it arrived in the mail, with everything still in it. I sent the good samaritan a $100 gift card and a "Thank You" note.
At least it wasn't a video recorder.
"Clark, there isn't anything on that tape that shouldn't be there, is there?"
Found a ladies wallet about 20 years ago outside of a public facility in Estes Park, CO. Was about ready to take it to the police station when she realized she had lost it and came back. Checked her driver’s license to make sure it matched & gave it back to her. That’s what I hope someone would do for me if I was in the same situation.
I also recall a scam where the wallet is lifted, credit card info copied and then returned to the person who “lost” it. They’re happy it was returned so they don’t bother to cancel their credit cards.
Statistically as lame as can be. Take NYC - for a city of almost 9 million, 12 is a pathetically small sample size. And then where do you plant the wallets? How many on the Upper East Side? the South Bronx? Staten Island? Bedford-Sty? Jackson Heights? etc
I didn’t see any African city on the list.
It all depends where in the city you lose it.
Same with Korea. I found a wallet in a taxi in NYC. Turned it in to the security of the hotel where I was staying. The guy who lost the wallet was a vet and so was the security guy. Security called me and said the guy got his wallet and thanked me for returning it.
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