So did I, at lunchtime in tree planter in the middle of Manhattan. I felt sleazy opening it up back at the office (with a friend who was with me at the time), but I got the lady's home address, looked up her number and left a message. An hour later I got a phone call from her, and she picked it up about 1/2 hour after that. She got all of her cash, credit cards and papers back...and I felt pretty good about helping her out.
I guess that I'd make a pretty rotten thief.
I found a woman's wallett once in a very rotten neighborhood. I gathered up all the papers and cards that were strewn around but left the wallet as it was muddy and torn up. When I called her, she got real snotty that I left the wallet behind.
Nice guy that I am, I retrieved the wallet the next day.
Didn't get much of a thanks from her.
But, a while later I found a full diaper bag. The owner gave me $75 for returning it. (I tried to not accept it)
We were on our way to church one Sunday with our jedis and when we got there we found that the service had already started (it was a special Christmas service). We hated it but rather than barge in, we decided to go back home.
On the way home, we found an entire purse in the middle of the road! We stopped, gathered up all the belongings and put it back into the purse and when I looked in the wallet, it was packed with cash and had a driver's license. The address showed a house nearby and I figured out that the lady had likely put the purse on her car and it fell off when she turned onto the street.
So we drove back down the street to the address and drove up just in time to see a woman running hysterically out of her house! I rolled down my window and said "Did you loose something?" and held up her purse. She was SO relieved! Just as I thought, she had sat it on her car.
She tried to give us ten dollars but we wouldn't take it. The good feeling was our reward. I felt like it was a good day...even though we missed church.