Subject: ethics, luck, or karma, what would you do?
BlueLinn
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Posts: 246 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 13/1/2004 at 12:15 PM
Passing through life one is set upon by questions of morality and ethics
and how they would react in any given situation, and then, when given the
chance. How the do, in actuallity act in these situations.
The following are two examples, the first happened to me and it was my
decision and the second happened to a friend a while back and was their
decision.
When you are done reading say what you would have liked to do given the
situation, and what you would have actually done.
the first:
I went into a store to purchase some clothes. There was a wonderful cheap
sale going on where everything that was 30 dollars is now 7 dollars or
less. I purchase 4 items, while the cashier was ringing me out she was
distracted by another employee. I thought nothing of it, checked out and
went home. However, when I got home and reviewed the reciet and the Items,
I had 4 items but there were only 3 that appeared on the reciet. Reviewing
it thoughroughly I found she did not charge me for one of the items.
What would you have done?
I went back accross town and showed them the mistake and paid for the item
that they forgot to charge. My reasoning was, Even if you do not notice an
error at the time, if later on you find that you have walked out of a store
with an un-paid for Item and not done anything about it, it is stealing.
Second example:
A friend of mine found a wallet in the bank parking lot. The contents of
the wallet were a bank card, social security card, ID, and 200 dollars in
cash. Now my friend was behind on bills and had rent due the next week.
however even though he himself had things that needed to be paid for and it
seemed as though luck had finally fallen on him. He returned the wallet to
the Bank so that they could return the wallet to the person instead of
keeping the money for himself...
Now, What would you have done?
(and no, this is not some "what would jesus do" BS, it is a question on the
ethics of your character, how you would have reacted given the situation
and would you have cared about the other person over yourself type
question... I myself am agnostic and my decision was based upon how I would
like to be stolen from not in how an all powerful diety would look upon my
actions... )(that was merely to clarify)
____________________ When the world is over, will we wonder how it began?
BlueLinn
Fanatic
Posts: 246 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 15/1/2004 at 07:34 AM
:nods: Yeah, Allot of times even when you do the honest thing, as bettie
said, the good guy is often taken advantage of and made to feel cruddy that
they do the right thing on occasion.
However, on a brighter note. at least we know where our Karma is heading,
and the damned fuckwits who accuse you of stealing when you are returning
something they so blatently missplaced or lost,, can well, just go fuck
themselves. It all comes around in the end.
____________________ When the world is over, will we wonder how it began?
Cashmere
Member
Posts: 58 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 14/1/2004 at 08:52 AM
It's really strange. Although in print I would be tempted to keep the
stuff, it never really occurs to me when I find something valuable on the
street. I was at the grocery store one day and the bag boy dropped his
watch among the food. I figured it was valuable since he had taken very
good care of it, so I brought it back right then (I tried not to miss his
shift). LAter he told me that it was his grandfather's watch and was worth
quite a bit of money. Invariably when I see someone drop money or a wallet
or whater I give it to them as quickly as possible.
Because of this, however, I have been looked upon with disdain and called
a thief to my face (I have no clue what sense that makes). Since I also
give people who I see as my friends leave to use whatever they need of
mine, I have had countless things stolen or destroyed. *sigh* I never learn
____________________ "Truth is always on the move. It is always somewhere, but never in the
foreground, never on the surface."
-Franz Marc
LadyCygnet
Fanatic
Posts: 287 Registered: 31/10/2003 Status: Offline
posted on 14/1/2004 at 01:49 AM
Although it would be tempting to keep the stuff, my conscience, like
Bettie's, would nag me until I did something to atone for it.
Anyway, something similar to the first situation happened to me. I found a
nice pair of sandals for $20, but, when I went to buy them, they only rang
up as $2. I pointed that out to the cashier, and she scanned it again, and
it came up, again, as $2, so she told me that she wasn't going to make me
pay mroe than $2 for it.
Both my conscience and my wallet were satisfied, and I got a bitchin' pair
of sandals from the deal.
____________________ "To Live is to Annoy." -- Rev. Lambert Reilly, Archabbot, St. Meinrad Abbey
BlueLinn
Fanatic
Posts: 246 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 13/1/2004 at 01:54 PM
verry true bettie. At archon I had missplaced my wallet but somebody
dropped it in the lost and found and I was just so relieved to have it back
without anything gone. I could definately not try and get back more than
what was rightfully mine, I would just want back the important things such
as my social security card and my ID.
And yes, people with ethics are little recognized and un-appreciated.
Several people have said that if you went back and paid for the merchandice
it would also look as though you took it out in the first place just to
bring it back and look good. But that, in itself is self defeating. Why put
on a facade of honesty if all they had was dishonorable intentions to begin
with.
____________________ When the world is over, will we wonder how it began?
As sappy as it sounds, I'd do the same thing, which is pay for the unpaid
merch and return the wallet. I've got a HORRIBLE conscience (or a really
good one, whichever way you want to think of it) I've actually HAD the
first situation happen, and done just that, gone back and paid. Now with
the returning of the wallet, you have to be careful nowadays. You'd think
people would be grateful to have their personables and such just handed
over without theft or damage, but at my husband's old work the custom among
people was "if you find it, just anonymously drop it in the lost and found"
because the few poor suckers who returned it TO the person were then
accused of stealing money IN the wallet (which they didn't). It's pure and
simple greedy psycho assholes trying to get even more out of their fortune
of having their wallet returned. THAT is what disgusts me, is people who
not only would NOT do 'the right thing' in the previous two situations,
but who would also TAKE ADVANTAGE of people who do the curteous thing.
Barf.
____________________ Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.