Lost and Found

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cheesefest said:
Earlier this week, I found a handbag left in a trolley. We go to look for names, anything of value. My colleague found her mobile phone in there with no screen lock. Found a number under Home. She rang the number on work’s phone. Customer confirmed descriptions of bag, purse, phone etc. Took some ID - passport, bank statement.

Customer was grateful for us keeping the handbag. She cancelled the cards. Nothing was taken including the £150 cash.
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Within your own workplace that was the right thing to do and I would do the same myself in or around my own work environment but I don't think I'd act that professionally anywhere else. I know there really shouldn't be a different mentality depending on where a wallet was found but, for some reason, I wouldn't be as honest if I found a wallet in the car park of a business (for example). The cash would be pocketed and the wallet handed to reception but I'd make an exception and do the decent thing if there was a driving licence in there that showed the money belonged to a pensioner.
 
Haggisman said:
What's that old saying? "a thief believes everybody steals"...
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There's a huge difference between actually stealing something from someone/being a thief and generally being an honest-decent person most of the time but believing in the concept of "finders keepers losers weepers".

It all boils down to morality I suppose and your life experiences with other people. I've tried to help a lot of people/strangers over the years when I didn't need to or want to but I've always found the majority to be totally undeserving and unappreciative in return so if you're careless enough (like I was) to lose an important wallet you've only got yourself to blame and whoever finds it isn't necessarily a thief/bad person because they pocketed your money. They just capitalised on your stupidity and negligence.
 
Malevolence said:
I found a wallet a while back. It was just sitting on a wall next to a bustop, it had just shy of £500 in cash and little else bar a couple of credit cards and debit card which, strangely, were all in different names. There was no driving licence or any other form of identification at all, just the three cards in different names. This was at silly o'clock (around 03:30) on a weekday and the town centre was dead. There was literally nobody in sight, on foot or in a car, and it was deathly silent.

Yoink.
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Beef Burger said:
There's a huge difference between actually stealing something from someone/being a thief and generally being an honest-decent person most of the time but believing in the concept of "finders keepers losers weepers".

It all boils down to morality I suppose and your life experiences with other people. I've tried to help a lot of people/strangers over the years when I didn't need to or want to but I've always found the majority to be totally undeserving and unappreciative in return so if you're careless enough (like I was) to lose an important wallet you've only got yourself to blame and whoever finds it isn't necessarily a thief/bad person because they pocketed your money. They just capitalised on your stupidity and negligence.
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There isnt though. If you found a wallet and kept the money then in the eyes of the law you are as guilty of the crime of theft as if you had pickpocketed the person wallet in the first place.

A case here where a 23 year old who found twenty quid on the floor and kept it was found guilty of theft and fined £175.

You can try and justify it in your mind that there is a difference and you are in general an "honest-decent person" but in fact you are a scumbag criminal just like all the rest (assuming you kept the money if it ever happened)

www.slatergordon.co.uk

Why Keeping Found Money Can Land You In Court | Slater + Gordon

Find out why the ‘finders keepers’ woman, Nicole Bailey from Stoke-On-Trent, was charged with theft after picking up a £20 note that she found in a shop.
www.slatergordon.co.uk www.slatergordon.co.uk

Most people are in fact dishonest anyway.

“We have shown that people choose honest and dishonest earning opportunities according to their lying costs, and after self-selecting they are also more likely to cheat or remain honest. Not only does opportunity make a thief, the thief also seeks the chance,”
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www.mpg.de

Those who want to cheat also seek the chance

An economic study shows that dishonest people consciously choose situations in which they can cheat.
www.mpg.de www.mpg.de
 
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Beef Burger said:
There's a huge difference between actually stealing something from someone/being a thief and generally being an honest-decent person most of the time but believing in the concept of "finders keepers losers weepers".
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You can't be an "honest-decent" person and a thief at the same time, they are mutually exclusive*

Maybe you should familiarise yourself with the concept of "theft by finding" before trying to pass yourself off as an apparent upstanding member of society.

Beef Burger said:
It all boils down to morality I suppose
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Correct, you're either a thieving scumbag or you're not. You've made it pretty clear which side of that you're on.




* where someone has no choice but to resort to stealing food as the only means of feeding themselves/their family becomes more of a grey area in my mind, but only where all other options have been exhausted
 
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Greebo said:
There isnt though. If you found a wallet and kept the money then in the eyes of the law you are as guilty of the crime of theft as if you had pickpocketed the person wallet in the first place.

A case here where a 23 year old who found twenty quid on the floor and kept it was found guilty of theft and fined £175.

You can try and justify it in your mind that there is a difference and you are in general an "honest-decent person" but in fact you are a scumbag criminal just like all the rest (assuming you kept the money if it ever happened)

www.slatergordon.co.uk

Why Keeping Found Money Can Land You In Court | Slater + Gordon

Find out why the ‘finders keepers’ woman, Nicole Bailey from Stoke-On-Trent, was charged with theft after picking up a £20 note that she found in a shop.
www.slatergordon.co.uk www.slatergordon.co.uk

Most people are in fact dishonest anyway.




www.mpg.de

Those who want to cheat also seek the chance

An economic study shows that dishonest people consciously choose situations in which they can cheat.
www.mpg.de www.mpg.de
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I remember having a conversation with someone bemoaning his conviction for theft by finding. He had a bigger record than ABBA, so I didn't believe his protestations.
 
Well, i
Haggisman said:
You can't be an "honest-decent" person and a thief at the same time, they are mutually exclusive*

Maybe you should familiarise yourself with the concept of "theft by finding" before trying to pass yourself off as an apparent upstanding member of society.



Correct, you're either a thieving scumbag or you're not. You've made it pretty clear which side of that you're on.




* where someone has no choice but to resort to stealing food as the only means of feeding themselves/their family becomes more of a grey area in my mind, but only where all other options have been exhausted
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So in your opinion I'm a scumbag then. That's okay.
I can still sleep soundly at night knowing I'm a good (but not perfect) person in my community though.
 
Beef Burger said:
So in your opinion I'm a scumbag then. That's okay.
I can still sleep soundly at night knowing I'm a good (but not perfect) person in my community though.
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In my opinion yes. Also in the eyes of the law ;)

I think the word you're looking for is "believing", since "knowing" implies that it is in fact true.

I guess there is a community you could be classed as (relatively) honest in. They tend to do a lot of travelling :cry:

Edit: out of interest, once you've pilfered the money from said wallet and you give it back to the owner, if they ask you where the money is that was in there, do you lie to them or would you go ahead and tell them that you took it because they were "stupid and negligent" to lose it in the first place?

If you genuinely believe that stealing the money is the honest and decent thing to do, then surely you'd have no hesitation to tell them so, since you've apparently done nothing wrong.
 
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I know exactly what I'd do because I've handed back two purses, one wallet, 3 phones and a bass guitar that was left up the side of a British Legion.
If it was an envelope of money on it's own in a bush or £20 dropped on the pavement and nobody around then it would be mine.

Tip
If you lose your phone don't get friends to constantly text, WhatsApp or Facebook it because I can't respond, always ring it.
 
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Beef Burger said:
So in your opinion I'm a scumbag then. That's okay.
I can still sleep soundly at night knowing I'm a good (but not perfect) person in my community though.
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"In your community"

I believe I've already addressed this point when you said it's what most people would do.


Feek said:
It's not though.

Perhaps you just hang around with scummy people. Birds of a feather and all that.
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Its amazing that some people think ownership transfers when they "find" something.
I "found" a 911 turbo off the kings road a few years back. Leaves all around it. Hadn't been moved in months... Could I have just taken it..

Thats why you hand it into the police station. They give you a receipt and if its not claimed within 3 months they let you have it. (or used to)

Although it does bring up the question. If you found a big bag with a couple hundred K's in it from Bet365 or Amazon Etc would you keep it............
 
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