Monday, December 3, 2012

What Would You Do?

We all have heard of the metaphorical question, "What would you do if you were given a billion dollars?" But unless Mark Zuckerberg planned on walking up and handing you that amount of cash, the possibility of getting a billion dollars instantly won't ever happen.

But what if it is a lower amount? People play the lottery all the time, winning amounts that can range in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But you have to put money into the game to get a chance to win. It's not the same as having money spontaneously appear in your bank account without your knowledge.

But what would you do IF money did spontaneously appear in your bank account? You didn't win the lottery. It's not something owed to you by the IRS, through your work, or a mistake in part from some company that you have done business with. What if $3,000 just one day appeared in your account? What would you do?

Sounds like it can't happen. But it did for me. I was doing some banking over the phone, making a small transfer from my savings to my checking account. When I checked the balance in my checking account, I found out there was an extra $3,000 sitting there. I tried pulling up the last ten transactions for more information to where this bountiful plenty came from, but the call kept on dropping.

So there I stood, with an extra $3,000 sitting in my account, with no idea where it came from.

So here is the question. What do you do with an extra $3,000 in your account? Do you suddenly go to the bank, make a hasty withdrawal, then act innocent when asked about the extra cash? Or do you do the right thing and try to find the owner?

I had posed this question on Facebook and received varying answers. While some people would do the right thing, others said they would have spent the money -- no questions asked. It wasn't as if the money was illegally obtained. Yet neither did I own the money in the first place.


I know what I did, and will share the story with you during the next post. But I want to know what you would do. If you came across $3,000 suddenly sitting in your bank account, what would you do?

9 comments:

  1. I might take my wife out to dinner, or something nice like that, but most of it would probably just go to pay off debts. . .

    (*sigh*)

    ReplyDelete
  2. As to the lottery, and suchlike as that. . .

    I've sometimes been tempted to buy a lottery ticket, when the jackpot gets really big, just on the minuscule chance that I could win, and it could be meaningful to my kids to get cut out of my will. . .

    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It would drive me nuts... not knowing where it was from. I'd have to go to the bank to get to the bottom of the matter.

    Then I would probably change banks

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would check and find out how it got there; knowing that it wasn't mine, I wouldn't spend it.
    I hope that the money was a gift, Michelle. That would be an awesome blessing for you and your little girl, and I would be so happy to know that you were able to keep it. I look forward to your post.
    Smiles and hugs,
    Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'd do nothing until I knew where the money came from. I would HOPE that it would be mine to spend. If I found out it belonged to somebody else and was wrongly credited to my account, I'd try to get it credited to the right account (and then I'd change MY account to another bank, immediately, because who knows when those idiots will screw up MY account and give MY money to somebody else?)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'd wait to see what other commenter post

    Then I'd say something along the same lines as most of them



    Seriously - I couldn't spend it without knowing for certain that it was meant for me to have

    ReplyDelete
  7. i have to say i agree with suldog's advice all the way down the line!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'd go to/call the bank immediately and straight it out. If someone somewhere had put $3000 in my account and it is mine, then good. But, if it is a bank error, then spending it would be dishonest, stealing.

    My mom taught us kids: work hard, be honest, don't steal, and don't take crap off people. Everything else is on the table for me to misbehave *laugh*

    I hope the money is yours, though. That would be cool.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well trying to find the owner would be a right thing to do.In case you dnt find the rightful owner...SPLURGE..:D

    ReplyDelete

People want to comment here? Okay...it's your two-cents, Bub. Spend it wisely!

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