Sydney and the ringing mobile phone test

Sydney is down there with London, Mexico City, Moscow and Madrid when it comes to its citizens – including an old woman with a walking frame – and the enticement of a mobile phone ringing on the footpath.

The Australian Reader’s Digest helped carry out an honesty test in 32 cities with the ringing mobile phone being one of eleven tests in which Sydney performed badly. Of 30 phones ‘lost’ in the harbour city just 19 were handed back to the rightful owner, with the rest being smartly pocketed.

The other major cities named above were on a par with Sydney with 19 mobile phones treated honestly. The most honest city on that score was Ljubljana in Slovenia where the locals handed back 29 of the 30 phones.

But Australian Reader’s Digest managing editor, Sue Carney, was still positive about the Sydney scene and mobile phones, at least. “It shows public honesty is alive and well. Most people did the right thing.”