If someone dropped something

[Androme]

Would you give it back to them and wait for a thank you?

Give it back and get no reply?

Keep it and use it, and if so, what would you use it for?

Keep it and give it away to some needy person? and why?

I would keep it. The saying goes "Finders keepers, Losers suck" - unless it's a condom or something.

[Marilyn Manson]

It would be dependent on what it was they had dropped.

[midge5]

I would usually return it if possible, people normally do when I have dropped something.

[vampire_lestat]

i'd probably give back keys or a wallet (with any cash in it "nicked by someone else"), but money/tickets to something (even if it sucked i could sell it on ebay) or whatever, i'd keep. unless i was feeling nice, which is rather rare.

[Kurashima]

Ive walked onto a cash machine and found a card in it, with the pin already input, and had the option to take out the days limit (£250) and then bin the card.

Suffice to say, i cancelled the transaction, walked into the branch and gave them the card. No thank you from the staff. No reward. So there you go, honesty gives you nothing more than a temporary ego boost. Nobody is grateful, nobody cares about your gracious action. You may as well just steal.

[Flayer]

You're all sick bastards, the kind of people that make this world a bad place. You should give it back, anything and always, because it's the RIGHT thing to do. Your karma will reward you sooner or later.

[Kurashima]

Originally Posted by Flayer

You're all sick bastards, the kind of people that make this world a bad place. You should give it back, anything and always, because it's the RIGHT thing to do. Your karma will reward you sooner or later.

**** Karma. Its a naive concept invented by people who couldnt see an immediate reward for an action which brought no immediate benefit. The feeble minded can continue to believe in it, personally ill treat each action I take on its own merits and not worry about some mythical, unprovable concept which may, or may not, reward me in the future based upon my actions.

[Flayer]

Just a second I forgot idealism died a long time ago...
I like karma, it makes me a better person. If everyone would think the same way the world would be a much better place. Until then, I start with myself.

PS: you do care about it, somehow (or you don't call it karma, whatever), otherwise you would have kept the money from the bank account.

edit: maybe it's just ethics, maybe I'm just BS'ing

[Phang]

karma is bullshit. we were given free will for a reason: to steal stuff.

[KoeN]

some weeks ago i was a the the trainstation and some tramp lost a metal tool. i think it was a selfmade pipe. didn't warn him because he didn't look very nice. i felt guilty afterwards though

[JammyJim]

Karma might be bs but guilt isnt.


what if that person relied on that 200 quid to feed their children or look after their sick mother in hospital.

all these things would go through my mind

and also the problem of being caught by cctv cameras watching the cash machine.....


id prefer not too keep looking over my shoulder.

[Embroglio]

i don't steal because my mummy and daddy raised me not to

they were too busy trying to turn me into a violent, racist, homophobic, bible-bashing psycho

[SYMM]

Newsround says that anything up to £1 you're ok to keep, but above that you should take it to the nearest police station.

[JetLinus]

Originally Posted by Kurashima

Ive walked onto a cash machine and found a card in it, with the pin already input, and had the option to take out the days limit (£250) and then bin the card.

Suffice to say, i cancelled the transaction, walked into the branch and gave them the card. No thank you from the staff. No reward. So there you go, honesty gives you nothing more than a temporary ego boost. Nobody is grateful, nobody cares about your gracious action. You may as well just steal.

Also, apparently they take photos from each person that does a money withdrawal (in Germany they do at least; although I don't know what you've got to do to get those pics for usage).
On the other hand, if you had taken some money, you couldn't have brought the card back (a bit suspicious, innit -- "hey, the last guy took the money, I just bring you the card"). And then you'd done two bad things really.

Just be good. Think about how angry you'd be with the ****er who had taken your money.
Or how happy and thankful you'd be to the person that brought it back.

Don't be an ass.



Even that self-made metal thingy: No worth for you, but maybe a great effort and value for the owner. You should've told him!

[Timeline]

Originally Posted by Phang

karma is bullshit. we were given free will for a reason: to steal stuff.

Actually free will is the decision not to steal anything or to do anything on the wrong side of the law.

[Luckeh!!!!]

I like karma, not too hot and not too much onions...

oh wait, korma...

[Superpig #1]

Originally Posted by JammyJim

Karma might be bs but guilt isnt.


what if that person relied on that 200 quid to feed their children or look after their sick mother in hospital.

all these things would go through my mind

and also the problem of being caught by cctv cameras watching the cash machine.....


id prefer not too keep looking over my shoulder.

This post has swayed me. It made me think, from now on im being a good boy...

[Androme]

Strippers earn £200 for dancing for 10 mins - I hardly call that hard work.

[Superpig #1]

But howd you know that person was a stripper??

Ask them??

[djbass]

I'm inclined to hand it back, probably more so in recent times given the amount of lost/stolen property I've gone through (easily AUD $5000 worth in the last year or so).

I recall many years ago when I was a young lad finding a $20 note on the ground and handing it into the police station to which they said "Well if no-one claims it within a couple of weeks we'll give you a call and you can have it". It wasn't till several years later I realised what a fool I was for most probably having just shouted them lunch or something.

[Rids]

You know, it'd be tempting to hand in £20 to a police station, then get a friend to go in 10 minutes later and claim he lost £20.

[Structural Integrity]

You know... every time I read this threads title I keep thinking of soap.

[IncubusGod]

I'd give it whatever it was back because that's what I'd like someone to do for me.

[Zword]

Originally Posted by midge5

I would usually return it if possible, people normally do when I have dropped something.

same , unless it was just some money. That's then to damn bad for them :P

[Tomkat]

For the guilt factor, I usually give stuff back. Otherwise it just nags and nags at me.

[Marilyn Manson]

Originally Posted by Structural Integrity

You know... every time I read this threads title I keep thinking of soap.

You have a fixation with buggery, then, don't you?

[queball]

Depends on how busy the area is and how much. Around university I'd probably hand it to the porter because we're all best friends and I already have enough money.

[Structural Integrity]

Originally Posted by Marilyn Manson

You have a fixation with buggery, then, don't you?

As long as I'm not on the receiving side.

[Dante Hicks]

If there's any realistic way of identifying who the person was who dropped it then I give it back. Mainly for the reasons djbass outlines - I've lost a lot of stuff.

With actual cash though, it's difficult as handing it back to the police seems a bit ridiculous. If it was a big bag of cash (say, £5000) then I'd be wondering about what the person needed it for. With most physical items (say, a mobile phone) it's infinitely easier to hand it back.

[Tactitus]

I'd return it to it's owner, if possible. If they wanted to thank me, that'd be OK too, but not necessary.

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks

With actual cash though, it's difficult as handing it back to the police seems a bit ridiculous. If it was a big bag of cash (say, £5000) then I'd be wondering about what the person needed it for.

If I found a big bag of cash I'd turn it over to the police. In the US, unclaimed cash generally becomes the property of the finder if no one claims it after a certain period (and if it were ill-gotten gains, no one is likely to step forward and claim it).

[LHC]

The most I've ever found was a tenner. I kept it. I wouldn't expect anyone to hand in a tenner if I lost one, and I wouldn't go to the police about it.

[Snurx]

It depends greatly. I'm kinda against stealing from private persons (Not private companies, mind you), so I would most probably return things if possible. But if I just found money on the street, I would not give it to the cops so they got more sausuages or whatever. I found 500kr once, I gave 150 to the nearest beggar I found. Of course, that was probably some get-away-from-guilt-thing, but who cares.

If I did find a wallet, or a cell phone, I would check it out before I turned it it. If it belonged to some middle-classs wanker or a rich kid, I would grab everything and never feel bad.

[Zword]

Originally Posted by Snurx

I found 500kr once, I gave 150 to the nearest beggar I found. Of course, that was probably some get-away-from-guilt-thing, but who cares.

Bet the beggar was pretty happy to get 150 from you. /me thinks he was drunk that evening .