Scrupules?.....or not?

[Cath!]

Let's say you were shopping in a store and you got up to the counter, paid for everything and headed outside with your loot. You are at your car unloading the bags when you lift your arm and the toothbrush that you were going to pay for drops out from where you had stuck it when your hands got full.

Do you go back into the store, explain what happened and pay for it? Or do you think about how you just saved $2.48 and toss it into one of the bags and drive off?

 

[Wiggles]

I'd just drive off, I guess that means I have no scruples, but that's honestly what I would do.

I'd probably feel bad about it for the rest of the day though.

 

[bluespoke]

Now there's an interesting poser.

I'd like to think that I'd go back and pay.

But until the occasion arises, who knows?

 

[cymbidia]

Interestingly, this just happened to me with a package of emery boards that cost very little. I stuck them into the bag with the other groceries.

Then next time i was in that store, however, i told the checker what had happened and produced another package for her to scan, then paid for my stuff and left, without that second package.

I thought about it and decided that if it was something more expensive than a few bucks, something over $10 or so, i would have felt uncomfy leaving without paying for it. The emery boards were cheap, though, and it was my usual grocery store; i knew i'd be back and i knew i'd pay for them when i returned.

If i'm gonna steal something, it'd better be worth the public humiliation i'll suffer if caught and the private pain i'll have to face in my children's eyes when they ask me why i did that.

I'm not sure there's anything worth that - to me.

 

[estevie]

I can remember putting a pair of sunglasses on my head cause I didn't want the baby to break them. When I got in the car is when I realized I still had the sunglasses on my head. I didn't go back and pay for them. I drove off with my new pair of sunglasses. I am not a stealer, I have never delibrately(sp?, looks funny to me) stolen anything in my life. I do remember telling everyone who knew me that I had actually stolen the glasses. Like I was so proud of myself or something, perhaps it was the thrill of doing something and getting away with it.

 

[foxysal]

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

I would go back and pay for it. Even more interesting answers would be gathered if you asked what people would do if they got home and opened the bag and found 20 $100 bills in the bottom.

For some people going back to pay for a $2.50 toothbrush is not worth the hassle, while for some people who would be honest for such a small thing, they would be dishonest for a large gain such as $2000.

What say you board? If you saw a bag of money fall out of an armored truck, and there was $100,000 inside it, and the road was deserted, and there was no chance of being caught, what would you do? Return it? Or keep it?

Principles and ideals are easy to adhere to when it costs you little, or when the temptation is small, but when the stakes are much higher, that is when you find out who really has scruples, and who just has scruples when it is convenient.

 

[Texan]

I would have to go back and pay for the toothbrush (although I have no problem with Cym's answer) and I would have to turn in the bag of money.

A guilty conscience is the worst bed partner I know...

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

If i had noticed before leaving the shop i would have gone back and paid, not so much due to scruples as fear of being caught. If i had found it outside i would not have gone back and infact would probably feel quite pleased with myself for getting one over on the robbing mofo's who buy their goods at a pittance and then sell them to me at an extortionate price. Oh, and they should employ better security

It is interesting how people rationalize theft; stealing is okay if:

1) You think that they charge too much for their goods.

2) They make a profit selling their goods.

3) You can get away with it.

In other threads, I have seen people justify stealing intellectual property (music, software, etc.) by saying that

1) The seller was charging too much for the goods.

2) They couldn't afford the goods any other way.

3) It was easy to do and they wouldn't get caught.

4) The seller was rich anyway and what they stole was a pittance comparatively.

5) The seller made too much profit.

6) What they were stealing wasn't that good anyway (they why steal it?)

7) Everybody else does it.

And so on.

These same people would complai nvery loudly if someone stole something from them, regardless of how rich they were. What they don't realize, or rationalize away, is that indeed, someone is stealing from them - themselves; every time you steal from a commercial enterprise, you are stealing from the customers and shareholders, not just some very rich person.

The enterprises have to cover these losses, and they do it either with insurance, or more commonly by raising prices on other goods. Every time you steal something you are just raising the price and you and everybody else has to pay the difference.

Worst case, when you steal from some enterprise that can't pass on the cost due to pricing pressure, you may force that enterprise to go under. There has been more than one software company that has gone under because they many times more users than they did customers.

I know one guy who had started a fledgling software company, who had one paying customer, and hundreds of users who had never paid for his software. Needless to say he never made a profit, and when people complained because he never came out with subsequent releases, he paid them little heed.

In the end, you get what you paid for, and things do come around to bite you in the ass sooner or later.

 

[foxysal]

 

[Lost Cause]

Been there, done that! I put a small item in my jacket pocket, and found it when I was home for about an hour. I drove back to the store, paid for it ..and went home.

**"Character is doing the right thing when noone is looking."**

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Been there, done that! I put a small item in my jacket pocket, and found it when I was home for about an hour. I drove back to the store, paid for it ..and went home.

**"Character is doing the right thing when noone is looking."**

This from the guy who got us both kicked out of the S. Salem Fred Meyers when we were 15? Yeah sure I believe you.

 

[Debbie]

I would go back and pay for it. Ask my kids they will tell you this is so.

Youngest (8) was three when we went shopping and I paid for stuff I purchased in supermarket, got back to car, all buckled up when he offered Momma some melted chocs in his sweaty little hand. I asked him where he had got them from and he said off the counter. From a bowl.
I took him back to the shop, explained the situation, paid what was decided to be fair and sat down(when we got home) with the three year old and we talked about lollies in jars or bowls at supermarkets or shops.
He thought it was a free for all, like at Gramma's house till he was told otherwise. lol When his big brother reminded him of this event he said in reply, "I want to be a policeman when I grow up. Will this be on my record?"
I have friends who are store detectives. They see parents using their kids all the time to steal stuff. What an example to set for the children of our future generation.

 

[VanB]

Re: Re: Scrupules?.....or not?

I would go back and pay for it. Even more interesting answers would be gathered if you asked what people would do if they got home and opened the bag and found 20 $100 bills in the bottom.

For some people going back to pay for a $2.50 toothbrush is not worth the hassle, while for some people who would be honest for such a small thing, they would be dishonest for a large gain such as $2000.

What say you board? If you saw a bag of money fall out of an armored truck, and there was $100,000 inside it, and the road was deserted, and there was no chance of being caught, what would you do? Return it? Or keep it?

Principles and ideals are easy to adhere to when it costs you little, or when the temptation is small, but when the stakes are much higher, that is when you find out who really has scruples, and who just has scruples when it is convenient.

This is an interesting question - for me I probably wouldn't bother going back with a $2.50 toothbrush because of the hassle an perceived value of the item but for something more expensive I would.

If I found $100,000 you bet I'd hand it over - it's not mine, I didn't earn it and I have no right to keep it.

Maybe some twisted logic here over the value of stuff but there you go

 

[jass1960]

Do you go back into the store, explain what happened and pay for it? Or do you think about how you just saved $2.48 and toss it into one of the bags and drive off?

Carry on regardless!

But in the end the way i chose to look at it was a child/children somewhere got gifts that christmas that they otherwise wouldnt have had and hoped it made them happy.

A commendable attitude and I hope that it didn't spoil your Christmas.

 

[cymbidia]

Without a doubt, without hesitation, i'd return the money.
I've done so with (far) lesser amounts a number of times, such as when a cashier counted back the wrong change and gave me $5 or $20 too much.

Nothing beats the easy conscience of an honest person.

 

[Cath!]

Question #2 - You work in a restaurant

and you realize that the buns you just cleared from the last table didn't eat 2 of them.

Do you throw them away? Do you just add 2 more buns and serve them to the next table?

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Scrupules?.....or not?

 

[alltherage]

Call me foolish but I have always returned the item. I get must more out of the surprised look from the person I return it too than I would ever get out of the brush. Gee wiz, writing this made me feel all innocent. lol.

 

[foxysal]

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Re: Question #2 - You work in a restaurant

and you realize that the buns you just cleared from the last table didn't eat 2 of them.

Do you throw them away? Do you just add 2 more buns and serve them to the next table?

Throw them away; you don't know if they touched them, sneezed/coughed on them, whatever - too dangerous.

 

[foxysal]