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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 5983540" data-attributes="member: 177">Let's take this to something a little less hypothetical.&nbsp; This actually happened to me yesterday:I was walking into a supermarket.&nbsp; There, lying on the ground, folded up, is some cash.&nbsp; $7, to be exact.&nbsp; There is nobody in line of sight but a guy gathering up shopping carts, and he says it isn't his.&nbsp; All the cars in the lot are empty - if this was dropped by someone leaving the store (the likely scenario being someone fumbling with change, groceries and keys on the way to their car), they are now gone.Am I a thief if (albeit a really petty one) if I walk off with that money in my pocket?&nbsp; Is this different than the wallet on the bar, and if so, how is it different?&nbsp; When is it, &quot;I have the right to leave X behind, and it is still mine to come back to,&quot; and when it is abandoned for whoever finds it?&nbsp; The obvious difference may be identification in the wallet.&nbsp; Let us assume, for the moment, that we are talking about a money clip, not a wallet - there's no ID to confuse the issue.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 5983540, member: 177"] Let's take this to something a little less hypothetical. This actually happened to me yesterday: I was walking into a supermarket. There, lying on the ground, folded up, is some cash. $7, to be exact. There is nobody in line of sight but a guy gathering up shopping carts, and he says it isn't his. All the cars in the lot are empty - if this was dropped by someone leaving the store (the likely scenario being someone fumbling with change, groceries and keys on the way to their car), they are now gone. Am I a thief if (albeit a really petty one) if I walk off with that money in my pocket? Is this different than the wallet on the bar, and if so, how is it different? When is it, "I have the right to leave X behind, and it is still mine to come back to," and when it is abandoned for whoever finds it? The obvious difference may be identification in the wallet. Let us assume, for the moment, that we are talking about a money clip, not a wallet - there's no ID to confuse the issue. [/QUOTE]

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