When I read this story, my first thought was that this would never happen in America.
Japanese citizens have shown incredible honesty in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that brought the country to its knees. It emerged yesterday that the Japanese returned almost $78million in cash found in the quake rubble. In the five months since the disaster struck, people have turned in thousands of wallets and purses found in the debris, containing nearly $30 million in cash.
More than 5,700 safes that washed ashore along the coastline have also been hauled to police stations by volunteers and rescue crews. Inside the safes officials found about $30million in cash. In one safe alone, there was the equivalent of $1,000,000. Other contained gold bars, antiques and other valuables.
I’ll be honest, if I found a safe or a lockbox or a wallet with $1,000,000 in it, I don’t think I would return it. Perhaps because we Americans are taught at an early age that money is the end all be all in our society. By contrast, in Japan, personal and family honor are more important.