So there I am with my good friend S.S. in a cab on our way to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I look down and notice a $10 bill on the floor of the cab in front of me. Without hesitation I picked up the money and handed it to the cab driver.
His reaction was shocking – or at least shocking to me. He couldn’t thank me enough and was very surprised that I gave him the money. He must have thanked me 5 times! After a few minutes the three of us had a philosophical discussion about what most people would have done. We all agreed that more people would say they would give the money back than really would. So I won’t ask each of you what you would do.
Before I ask you today’s question, S.S. thinks 30% of the people would give the money to the cabby. The cabby believes that less than 10% of the people would give him the money, while I thought it would be more like 40%.
- So today’s question is what % of the people who found $10 in a cab would give the money to the cab driver.
I look forward to reading your comments.
Roger Austin says:
50%
Nancy Hernon says:
I think I agree with you, Merrill. I think 40% would give it back.
I had something similar happen here in NYC, only it was a $20 on the floor of the cab. I gave it to the driver commenting that his last fare must have really liked him as he left such a big tip on the floor. The driver was very thankful and actually comped my fare. To make things even better, later that week when I was trying to get a cab across town to no avail, a cab with a rider already in it stopped, picked me up and dropped me off not far from my destination…again for free.
So if you can find good karma in New York City, you can certainly find it anywhere.
Christine Cook says:
50%. I’m an optimist!
Lance Hoffman says:
for $10, I think 40-50%. but as the amount of money increases, the percentage of people who would give it to the Cab driver will lessen. After all – chances are it wasn’t his to begin with – since all money is in the front of the cab with the driver on the other side of the partition. So it would never be returned to the rightful party, unless of course accompanied by a wallet.
Melanie says:
I can’t help my self: It depends! What’s my sample frame? An NYC cabbie working the Manhattan crowd? Or a Vegas cabbie, working the casino routes? North Dallas? I can actually see why in Vegas the cabbie was suprised, lol. Too many people hoping to turn $10 into $10K.
If a nationally rep sample, though, I also think around 40%. Not quite half, but close.
Steve S. says:
i am still staying with 30% although I do like Lance’s response taking into account the variable of the amount of money. Easier to be generous with a smaller amount of money so maybe it would be higher with $10 but definitely could shift dramatically with a $100 bill.
Michael Halberstam says:
As a former NY Cabbie I can tell you this happened to me quite a few times. I was always thankful to my fare. However, there is no way to know how many times it didn’t happen but I am going to say 65% would hand the money to the cabbie.
Lance Hoffman says:
You’re such an optimist, Mike!
Chris Bonney says:
It’s Vegas, baby! Someone else would have interpreted that found tenner as the start of a winning streak.
Al says:
Why would you hand the money over to the cab driver? It’s not his/hers. Having found this in front of you in the, I presume, back seat, it would seem this was lost by a former passenger. The former passenger is not there to receive their $10, therefore the money belongs to you, the finder.
John Castellano says:
Clearly you did not grow up in NY where you would have automatically assumed you dropped the $10 and put it back in your wallet.