If there was 5,000 dollars in your mailbox with a letter saying that it was supposed to go to someone you didn't know, for an operation to help there quality of life. If you knew that no matter what you did there would be no consequences to you. Nor would there be any rewards. Would you keep the money, give all or part of it to the right person or something else. Remember this is hypothetical so we are going on the premise that there are no consequences to you however you are unsure of the consequences to others and would never know how big a difference it would make you just know it would improve the quality of life of someone you do not know to some degree. What would you do?  

Depends.

Who is the person who "needs" the money?

If it's not someone close to me, I pocket it. If it is someone close to me, I damn well give it to them.

Sorry, but strangers really don't mean anything to me.

lesbianwitch : I wouldn’t keep the money and would do whatever I could to hand the money and information to the proper authorities. It goes without saying that just because something may be legal that it doesn’t always make it right and just. From a moral and ethical standpoint there is no way that I would be able to keep the money, especially seeing as in the theoretical case of it being for a surgery someone needed. I have been through ten surgeries myself and there’s just no way I could do that to someone regardless of whether I knew them or not. I also have a sister who’s been battling stage four breast cancer for almost four years, can only imagine God forbid if she was in the predicament of needing surgery and needed money in order to get it. No way would I be able to just pocket the money as if nothing happened.

The flaw I see in the scenario is the 'no consequence" part. In this kind of thing, there is a consequence. That person does not get the money they need to pay for their surgery. It isn't a legal consequence, but it is a consequence none the less. You are hurting someone else's quality of life. Now, if your scenario was you got an envelope of $5,000 that was supposed to go to some billionaire who wouldn't even notice it, that spices it up a bit. The scenario you gave is just too far on the other side that keeping it would make most of us feel like a bad person.

In all honesty, I'd make sure it goes to the person it was supposed to go to in the first place, in this case, the one who needs the surgery. One of the biggest things I hate in the world are thieves, so I definitely wouldn't want to become one even if I wouldn't have any consequences for myself, Nya~

Let me play the devil's advocate to the points brought up by rcarter (and MegaRevo kinda said similar)... how do you know the person actually needs this surgery? The prompt just says it will improve the quality of their life. How? What if it's just for plastic surgery? They may believe the quality of their life improves if they have less wrinkles on their face or a breast enhancement or something... it doesn't mean that the money is actually being put to good use. That still makes the question tricky... that unknown factor. It could be vital, it could be petty. That's why there are no consequences to YOU but there may or may not be some to that person. It's stated to be unknown. I think this actually makes the question more interesting. If I knew it was a billionaire who wouldn't miss it, it would be a no-brainer to keep it. If it was for a life-saving surgery, it's a no-brainer to hand it over. If I don't know whether or not it's really important, how can I decide that easily?

Though in the end, I would have to say that I still have give the money to its rightful owner. Who am I to judge the importance of this operation, especially if I don't know what it's for? I can't really deem them unworthy to receive the money if I don't know them or just because I don't know them. It could be a really good person who deserves it for all I know. Sure, it could be going to a horrible person who doesn't really need it... but I am not in a position to know that or make that call, so I'd do what's ethical, even if I'm in a tight financial situation.

Therese so many things I could do if I didn't get in trouble! Maybe I could be like cat woman...and just steal things and never get caught. That'd be pretty cool But what to steal...hmm..maybe rob all the game stops and steal all the game consoles and video games..MUWAHAHA! Oh wait, then I wouldn't have to go on vizzed..NEVER-MIND I like this site too much :3

legacyme3 : It is a complete stranger.

I would pocket it.... then, maybe, just maybe, I would give SOME to the right person.

It depends what kind of operation they were getting. Maybe I would keep the money but buy them a plane ticket to a country with better health care and tell them to apply for citizenship.

It depends how I am doing at the time when I find the money. For instance, I am currently in debt thanks to college. That 5000 dollars could put a really nice dent in what I owe. If I were to find this cash now, I would probably take it.

If I was debt-free, or at a more comfortable debt level, I would probably give the money back, or at least try to. Being in so much debt thanks to college really puts me in a money-hungry position, especially after being unemployed after I graduated, which really raised my owed money.