I had a interesting experience today. On the way to church I saw a wallet in the middle of the road in our subdivision about a block from our house. I stopped and at first thought I was being pranked because you could actually see bills sticking out of it! I picked it up and it had about $10 in cash, ATM/Visa card, local library card, iTunes cards and TWO driver’s licenses with the same name and picture, one TX and one SC but with and different birth dates… hmmm… The TX license put him just under 17 and the SC license put him at 22.
I googled the name and came up with a local address that matched the TX license about 15 miles away. I called the phone number that I came up on google but got no answer and no answering machine. After church I drove to the address and rang the bell and the mom answered. I asked if she had a son and then told her I had found his wallet but wanted to return it directly to her because I was concerned about the two ID’s and thought she should know about it. At first she seemed a bit incredulous so I pulled out both ID’s from the wallet and asked if it was her son in the pictures. She said yes, and was visibly upset. She almost looked as if she was about to cry.
Now I’m feeling a little bad for the kid, DH wanted to turn the wallet over to the sheriff’s office but I would have only done that if I could not locate the family. Maybe I should have just returned the wallet without mentioning the fake ID? but I’m not thrilled with the idea of a not yet 17 year old potentially purchasing alcohol for himself and others and driving around my neighborhood. I mean, if he can’t even keep track of his wallet…
Curious to hear how others would have handled this.
I hear your concern… but I think i would have just given the wallet back. I wouldn’t have even gotten past the local drivers license. Once I had that address and phone number…I just would have delivered it. Or called.
ETA…you could have thrown the fake one away! That would have gotten the attention of the teen!
I’m sure that some will agree with what you said about the ID and some will not. But, everyone is going to agree that you really went out of your way to find the owner AND hand deliver the wallet - that’s the real win.
@thumper1 unfortunately the SC license was at the front, if I had found the local license first I wouldn’t have looked further, as there would be no need. The local library card and the SC license were the first things you saw when opening the wallet which seemed to be puzzeling, that’s why I continued to look for something with a local address.
Mine wasn’t fake, it was my sister’s license. She just got a new license and let me have her old one (still valid). The picture didn’t look much like me but didn’t look like her either. It was in the days when they put SSN on and I was asked it once, and then the clerk decided I should sign and he’d compare the signatures. Well, I didn’t know her SSN but I could spell her name!
It never crossed my mind to throw away something that didn’t belong to me. That might have been a better idea but wouldn’t the kid just get a new fake ID? (not that he might not anyway…)
“Does anyone here know anyone who had a fake ID as a kid?”
In my area, it would be more like “do you know anyone who doesn’t?” It is very common. Not saying it is okay, just stating the facts. One of my kids was the only one among peers who seemed not to have one. They are cheap and seem to be easy to get.
OP’s question is a good one and not sure what I would have done. Perhaps returned the wallet without the fake ID. Perhaps have done the same and told the parent.
You did the right (and brave) thing. Imagine all the horrible scenarios you would have to live with if you hadn’t told his mom (what if he causes a terrible drunk driving incident? what if he ODs on alcohol?). The horrible possibilities are endless. I’m sure the mom was mortified but she will always be grateful to you. Love that it happened on your way to church too :)!
An aside as to how it was “brave” - my boys were in the back seat and they think I’m brave (or crazy!) The address was in a very affluence gated community. I did not have the pass code for the main gate but drove around to the side gate on the chance it might be open. It was, but only because a car had just entered, as we approached it was closing and much to the shock of my kids I accelerated while it was closing with them yelling “stop mom! you’ll never make it!” having much more experience with electronic gates I know it had a senor and would either stop or reopen the gate and it was moving slowly enough I’d have time to get out of the way if it didn’t. We live in an area that I have no fear of neighbors even when I intrude into a gated community.
I think you did the right thing. This is not an adult and the parents are responsible for any trouble this kid gets in. If the kid was in an accident with booze in the car, the parents could face the loss of everything they have. Not knowing he had a fake ID would not give them any legal protection.
