After reading about a foreigner who lost and then found his cell phone, and comments about the taxi driver who wanted compensation for returning it, I thought I'd write about a few experiences I know of.
There certainly are people who would have returned the phone without demanding or even accepting a reward. I know I did when I found a student's mobile on the ground during our university's festival.
I once left my bacpack on the subway and was able to get that at the lost and found. Although my backpack is very fashionable no one took it home and it found itself in the Seoul subway lost & found.
I was once talking to a taxi driver in Singapore who lost his traveling cash and passports and everything on the subway in Seoul. It was all returned to him.
However, taxi drivers have it rough. I was once told that a taxi driver working 12 hours/day and 6 days a week would pull in about 1.5 million/month (around 1,500 dollars). I'd be miserable in those circumstances.
Posted by James Trotta at June 5, 2006 9:45 AMESL blog is one of many Blogs for learning English & teaching English. Translation services information.