Let's say you saw a briefcase, apparently lost, so you took it with you in order to return it to its owner. I have found things, and returned them to their owners. You open the briefcase and find piles and piles of currency. It's more than a few thousand dollars there. It's a fortune. It will make you financially secure for the rest of your life. It will enable you to retire right now.
Then, somehow, you learn who it belongs to. The person isn't rich. The person needs this money, not for anything melodramatic like an operation for their mother, but just for the normal things. What do you do?
lfbno7 posted on Jan 27, 2008
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Comments
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GracefullyGrowing said on Jan 27, 2008....
As much as I'd want to keep it, I'd have to give it back. I'm WAY to aware of the bitch that is karma to ever *really* keep someone elses . . . stuff.~Grace~ -
hottips4u said on Jan 27, 2008....
Just a thought before I leave, why is it not stealing when -at work- to play in sc on company time when you are being paid to work and not blog ? I always considered it a theft of company funds. Does this thing Karma not apply but at certain times and to only particular types of theft ?
Not a trap to start anything, its just a simple question, one I couldn't stop from asking.
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GracefullyGrowing said on Jan 27, 2008....
Hottips, you may not have been personally addressing this toward me, but you used my comment to apparently dig at another, or at least stand on a soap box. (Just exploring your possible motivations.)Regardless of your motivations, I will say that I do not use company time to post at SC, nor to even peruse it. However, I am allowed an alotted time at work to use the internet, so if I wanted to use that time on SC, I certainly would not be "stealing".Perhaps others have such alotted times from their employers as well.~Grace~ -
quietone said on Jan 27, 2008....
I don't even have to think about that one...I would give it back. -
gingersoul said on Jan 27, 2008....
LF.....same answer than Quiet.....
And i ask you:....if you would instead found out the person is indeed very rich....would you take half of the money and give back the rest?
Could be a good reason considering that too much richness is an insult for too many and redistributing wealth could not be a crime?....
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quietone said on Jan 27, 2008....
ginger ~ wouldn't that be a wonderful though...kind of like a modern Robin Hood! I would still have to give it back. -
hottips4u said on Jan 27, 2008....
In either case presented, I would immediately take 20% as a finders self rewards, and attach a note to the remainder for return that reads.
This time your clumsiness cost you 20 %. Let it be the price you pay to consciously be a reminder to protect the other 80 more intently.
Grace : my question was in tune with this post on stealing and aimed at no one specifically. The word Karma caught my eye as it is a word used in soulcast often and since I have never gone in for that type of belief as superstition, I was wondering if Karma had variations of return ; i.e.: steal a lil --recieve a lil bad luck, steal a lot--and receive a lot of bad luck. To me, stealing is taking that which does not belong to you, which in my view included wages. No I was not addressing anyone, sorry if my question coincides with someones conscious inadvertently.
I'll leave you ladies alone, have a great Sunday in any event.
Jessi.
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Zayda said on Jan 27, 2008....
If I found a briefcase full of money and was able to find out who it belonged to, I would return the briefcase and the full amount of money to its owner.
If I had no way of knowing who it belonged to, I would turn it in with all the money to the local police station in hopes that they would be able to trace the owner. -
gingersoul said on Jan 27, 2008....
Quiet.....i like this idea of Robin Hood a lot.....LOL.... -
bluegum said on Jan 27, 2008....
handing it back is the right thing to do ....the owner might reward you for your honesty.........if not it does'nt matter you could gain a new true friend -
dyingman said on Jan 27, 2008....
I don't care if the person is Bill Gates.
You give back what isn't yours.
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FutureGoddess said on Jan 27, 2008....
I am with Grace's first comment and Dyingman's comments as well - Give it all back regardless of who's it is, how much money they have in their current bank accounts, etc. I am a true believer in Karma and what you give out comes back to you multiplied (maybe not in currency but in other ways).
As for taking a reward on my own and leaving a note, I still couldn't do it. I would hope that the person would be kind enough to give me a reward of some kind on their own. But that's their issue if they don't
And as for not being able to find the owner at all - I would bring it directly to the police and speak with them about donating the entire amount to charity. It's not my money, it was never my money and I don't want it because of that.
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vacantmind said on Jan 27, 2008....
I would return the money, with tears streaming down my face with all the possibilities that would be lost with it. I would struggle with handing it back over to someone who lost that much cash when they obviously needed it. I know accidents happen and all but that would be a hard one for me to overlook. I would then go home and pout...big time! -
crybabylu said on Jan 27, 2008....
I turn in anything I find, especially money. My husband taught me that. If you turn it in at police station, there is a record made of it, so no one can pilfer it there. You would be surprised, that a lot of people do report money they have lost and if it matches the lost item, then it is reclaimed. I can't feel right about money or anything that isn't mine. -
lfbno7 said on Jan 28, 2008....
Oh shit, then I guess I have to return the 12 million dollars I just found. -
RollingC said on Jan 28, 2008....
I'd probably call them up and say....Hey buddy, I found half of your money but I don't know where the other half is...sorry. ☺
Rc
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silverwhisper said on Jan 28, 2008....
it doesn't matter to me who it belongs to. it goes back to him or her. the wealth of the owner doesn't detract from the fact that stealing would be wrong.
ed -
destinydiva said on Jan 28, 2008....
I agree with ed, wether they are rich or not is irelevant, id keep the money anyways!! ha I am kidding, I would give it back :-)
I found a bag once full of watches and wallets and money, and handed it in to the rangers hut, it turned out to be the football coaches and he gave us some money for our honesty :-) xx
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lfbno7 said on Jan 28, 2008....
This happened to me twice. The first time someone left their stuff on a train. I took it with me and looked through it. I found a phone number to call. The person was so excited because there were a lot of family pictures in there. She came to my job and gave me one of those boxes of every flavor of jelly beans. The next time, it was a palm pilot or whatever those things are. My wife found it in the bathroom at Port Authority. I looked into it and found some phone numbers saved, and with one thing or another I ended up finding who it belonged to. She drove by to pick it up at my house and gave me a gift of crystal. They're so happy when they get their stuff back. But as for the 15 million dollars I found in a briefcase, with the name Bloomberg on the briefcase, sorry kid, that's mine now. Hmmm .... where should I go first? I think an island in the south seas. -
quietone said on Jan 28, 2008....
Lbno ~ well with 15M dollars I think you can afford to take a few friends with ya!! -
Mamie said on Jan 28, 2008....
definitely without question I would return it to the owner...or the police. For crying out loud, I tell the cashier if she gives me too much change....its that catholic school guilt thing, gets me everytime.mamie -
RollingC said on Jan 28, 2008....
In real life....my conscience wouldn't let me steal (at least not anymore, in my younger days it probably would've been different) but that large amount of money with no way of finding out who's the owner I'd probably get a lawyer friend of mine, turn it in to the police and have it notarized, then in 6 months if no one claimed it....it'd be mine...all mine. ☺
Rc
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GracefullyGrowing said on Jan 28, 2008....
Is it just me, or would it be easier to keep, say, a $5 bill one found laying on the ground VS this large amount of money?And, why is it we think taking the small amount isn't "stealing" as much as we think taking the large amount would be?Just pondering and digging deeper.~Grace~ -
thetasteofchampagne said on Jan 28, 2008....
Somehow taking a few minutes of pay from a corporation is just not on the same level as taking money from a Person. I would deliver that briefcase back myself. As for taking time from my job, any job that treats me well i've put %100 back into. i think people take advantage of their employers because they feel their employers would take advantage of them anytime they could.
i don't know the set amount, but big stealing IS worse than a 5. don't know why.
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purple said on Jan 28, 2008....
First off, if it's a breifcase or a purse or something that a person can identify, legally (at least in Calif.) you have to turn it into the police and if it's not claimed in a certain amount of time, it comes back to you.
Random money blowing in the wind is another matter entirely. Do you keep serial numbers of all your paper money in your pocket? How would you prove it was yours if you lost it and someone found it and gave it to the police. I just figure it is balance...me finding money makes up for all the money that I've dropped myself over the years. And yes, I do believe the universe/god gifts us with money out of the clear blue sky from time to time. So I always keep a look out for it.
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hottips4u said on Jan 28, 2008....
On second thought...I'd invest it all....if we doubled up we both win, if not,
whats lost is lost.
Jessi.
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hottips4u said on Jan 28, 2008....
Kinda like a pre-approved credit card.
Lets be real, you would trust a cop with 15 million dollars cash with no idenity to handle it without a breach of security when they have a hard time explaining missing evidence that has in the past resulted in the release of murders, not to mention the dismal salaries....plzzzz
I'd be kicking back and watching the market, playing with others countries money in trading like pokemon collectables.....hehe
Even with ID, we playing the market, just that you have a silent partner, if you will.
Best part....your a winner by returning it all to the silent partner via investment...a winner by now having an equal matching amount as a reward...but if you loose it all...
Then at least you don't have to listen to the "silent partner" bitch at you for loosing what he/she had already lost....ahhh the beauty of a silent partner...lol
Hottips4u
Jessi.
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FutureGoddess said on Jan 28, 2008....
Purple - I'm with you - I have had some interesting experiences with money showing up where it shouldn't be and where no one else was going to be but me... God/Goddess work in mysterious ways.... -
lfbno7 said on Jan 29, 2008....
I wouldn't trust a cop with 25 cents. If one knocks on your door, don't let him in. Talk to him outside, and close your door behind you. -
hottips4u said on Jan 29, 2008....
Mr.7 :Now thats some really, really good advise Mr.7. I would only add that they are as trustworthy as a single medical opinion, imo.
Jessi.