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You see a cell phone that doesn’t belong to you sitting on the sidewalk. It’s just a basic phone with just talk and text, nothing special, and it’s 3

Poll - Total Votes: 24
1. Take down the phone # and the serial # . . .
2. Leave it . . .
3. Keep it and use it . . .
4. Try to sell it . . .
5. Upon noticing that it's the same kind of phone, from the same service provider . . .
6. Don't use it or try to sell it . . .
Show Results
You can only vote on one answer.
years old. You:

1. Take down the phone # and the serial #, call the service provider and find out who the phone belongs to, and return it to its rightful owner.

2. Leave it, and hope that the rightful owner comes back for it before some thief picks it up.

3. Keep it and use it until there aren’t any minutes left (it’s a prepaid phone) or until the rightful owner deactivates it, then throw it away and find another phone to steal.

4. Try to sell it, and when no one wants to buy it because it’s 3 years old and can be bought for $19.99 at Walgreen’s, throw it into the trash or into a storm sewer.

5. Upon noticing that it’s the same kind of phone, from the same service provider, as the phone you already have, take down the serial # and phone #, and call the service provider and have them transfer the minutes from that phone to yours, telling them this is your old phone. Hey, the service provider might just be dumb enough to do it!

6. Don’t use it or try to sell it, just turn it off so it can’t be tracked down, and keep it in a secret place or throw it into a storm sewer so it will never be found, just to be mean and nasty.

If you choose option 1, bravo! 😍 You’re my hero.

If you choose option 2, you may not be a hero, but at least you’re a decent human being. Good for you. :)

If you choose any of the other options, shame on you. 😡


I tried inserting a poll, but some of the options I've listed wouldn't fit. Hmm, on second, thought, I'll just mention the options by number with the first few words in my poll. Maybe people will answer more honestly that way, if they can remain anonymous.
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eMortal · M
The right thing to do is to move along. Don't pick it up. Not enough value in that property for you to go an extra length to return it.
TeresaRudolph71 · 51-55, F
@eMortal I hearted this because at least you wouldn't have taken the phone, and that's a good thing. :)
eMortal · M
@TeresaRudolph71 yes, the owner wouldn't mind losing it I guess.
TeresaRudolph71 · 51-55, F
@eMortal Well, I did mind losing it, not because it was expensive (it was just a $19.99 phone from Walgreen's), but because of what I had saved on it - personal messages from my boyfriend, pictures of family, and even a few brief video clips of family gatherings.

But I have since gotten a smartphone, and I hope to get those pictures and videos sent again, as they were sent out as group texts. Hopefully my sisters still have them saved and will send them to my new phone or to my email.

But still, leaving the phone would have been better than taking it.