The honesty test: would you take the money and run?

A woman in Grey Lynn picks up our purse. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Forget $10 million - would you run off with $10?

The case of the millionaire runaways has this week had many Kiwis asking what they would do if $10m was put into their bank account. We decided to put pedestrians' honesty to the test - with a meagre 10 bucks.

We bought 10 children's purses and placed $10 in coins in each, then deposited them in different locations around Auckland on Friday. Inside we put a name and phone number. Then we waited.

By the results of our test, the most honest live in the south, the north and out east of Auckland. City-dwellers failed dismally.

The first honest citizen to call was Raewyn, who found a purse in a park in Mangere Bridge. She was at first confused, then relieved there wasn't really a little girl missing her pocket money, then pleased she'd passed our test.

Next to phone was Aman Pannu, a real estate agent who found the purse in Botany Town Centre. He thought our test was hilarious - "not all real estate agents are dishonest," he laughed.

Yesterday morning we received a call from Judy Germain, who came across the purse outside Dick Smith's in Albany. She was concerned about the little girl who'd lost her money. "I've got little grandchildren so I was worried someone must be missing it." We told Judy to give the purse to her grandkids. As for the seven other purses - another one in Botany, another in Albany, one outside Manukau City shopping centre, one on Broadway in Newmarket, one in Grey Lynn and one on the corner of Queen and Wyndham streets - we never heard of them again.

We watched what happened to one left on a footpath on Surrey Cres in Grey Lynn.

A few people walked past it, occasionally glancing at it but not stopping to pick it up, until one woman - without even a nervous glance - picked it up and went into the neighbouring pub. We never heard from her.

* Finders keepers

Mid Queen Street, CBD - KEPT
Cnr Wyndham & Queen Streets, CBD - KEPT
One end of Botany Town Centre carpark - RETURNED
Other end of Botany Town Centre carpark - KEPT
Manukau City Shopping Centre carpark - KEPT
Mangere Bridge Township - RETURNED
Broadway, Newmarket - KEPT
Albany Pak n' Save carpark - KEPT
Albany Warehouse carpark - RETURNED
Surrey Crescent, Grey Lynn - KEPT