Friend Insists On Keeping Money Found In Wallet
DEAR HARRIETTE: While my friend and I were walking, we found a wallet on the ground. My friend's first instinct was to steal the cash inside instead of trying to get it back to the owner. She is a 40-year-old woman with a well-paying job. I was shocked because I have known her for more than a decade and never would have expected her to react that way. I immediately told her we should look for an ID or turn the wallet in to the nearest business or police station, but she insisted that whoever lost it would never get it back anyway and that "finders keepers" applied. We argued about it for several minutes before I convinced her to at least leave the credit cards and identification inside the wallet. She still wanted to keep the cash because she claimed the owner would probably cancel the cards anyway. The whole interaction made me uncomfortable because it seemed like she didn't see anything morally wrong with taking money that clearly belonged to someone else. I couldn't stop thinking about how devastated I would be if I lost my wallet and someone decided to help themselves to my cash instead of trying to return it. Ever since that day, I've looked at my friend differently, and I'm not sure I should stay friends with her. What do you think? -- Immoral
DEAR IMMORAL: Values are everything as they show you who a person is. Your friend revealed something to you that turns your stomach. Need I say more?
DEAR HARRIETTE: My sister ruined my gender reveal for my twins, who are on the way, and I don't know if I can forgive her. We had a bakery make cupcakes, and two were filled with colored icing. The rest had white icing. We were going to pass out cupcakes and take a video while everyone individually took a bite to see if they had one of the cupcakes that revealed the gender. We had the cupcakes displayed during the party and told no one to eat these because they were a part of the gender reveal. My sister didn't listen and ate one, and it just so happened to be one that revealed one of the genders.
While we were doing the actual gender reveal, only one colored cupcake was revealed. No one knew we were having twins, and it was supposed to be a surprise that there were two colored cupcakes. My husband and I were confused when only one had color in it. We had to then say we were having twins, but it didn't have the same effect, because the cupcake was missing. At first, we thought the bakery must have made a mistake, but then my sister mentioned that the other baby must be a girl because she had eaten a pink-filled cupcake earlier.
She keeps apologizing and saying it was an accident, but I don't know if I can move past the fact that she ignored our one request and got to know the gender before everyone else, which made the moment about her. Am I overreacting? -- Reveal Gone Wrong
DEAR REVEAL GONE WRONG: Let this go. Your sister was wrong, but in the end, it's nothing. Your babies are coming. Focus on them.
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(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)
Copyright 2026, Harriette Cole
COPYRIGHT 2026 Andrews McMeel Syndication. This feature may not be reproduced or distributed electronically, in print or otherwise without the written permission of Andrews McMeel Syndication.
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