Most people have lost a wallet at some point in their lives.
I know I've lost a few of them.
![The number of wallets that go missing and do not get returned far exceeds the happy few that make their way home to ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611152451im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/g/e/2/s/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gv3e37.png/1490097959986.jpg)
We have all felt the sense of hopelessness - not only do you have no cash, but your debit card was likely in the wallet as well, so it's not just as simple as going to an ATM and getting some money. Then there is the grim prospect of replacing all those bits of plastic; the hours spent hanging on the phone talking to a call centre in Chennai, or waiting in a queue at a government office for a driver's licence or a Medicare card.
But what do you do if you find a lost wallet?
One would hope the answer was simple: return it, or hand it in.
However, the number of wallets that go missing and do not get returned far exceeds the happy few that make their way home to their owners. It suggests that if these wallets are found, most people don't return them.
This is a sad indictment on our society, so why is it that people don't do what we would hope of them?
One explanation, I suppose, is that they look inside the wallet, don't see anything they consider valuable, and decide it is too much effort to go to the police, or to the shopping centre management, or wherever, to hand it in.
Another possible explanation is that the person who finds it doesn't know how to get in touch with the owner. This is not as difficult as it sounds. If there is a debit or credit card, then a quick call to the bank should yield the right result. Better still, a driver's licence should hopefully provide the owner's address.
Then again there is the chance that the person who finds the wallet is less charitable; they take the money and the cards, and throw the wallet in the river. It is not exactly pleasant, but it clearly does happen.
All of this was put to me by a friend who lost his wallet at the weekend. In fact he didn't even know he had lost it when a good Samaritan called him on Monday morning as he was driving to a cafe for breakfast, to tell him she had it.
She had found the item in New Farm Park, and got his phone number from the business cards in the wallet. By happy coincidence he was actually driving past her place of employment at the time, so he turned right in and collected it.
Which brings us to the next question: what do you do when somebody returns your lost wallet?
In my friend's case, he came back later that morning with a $50 note and some flowers to mark his gratitude.
In the big city which Brisbane has become, it is sometimes the little actions in life that matter more than the big questions. I would hope that we would all have the honesty and compassion to do the right thing, and to suitably recognise the generosity of those who do.