mycoBRONZE Member
Pooh-Bah
2,084 posts
Location: melbourne, victoria, australia


Posted:
You know that old ethical test that says 'what would u do if u found some1's wallet which has $50 in it?', and every1 always says "I'd give it straight back to the person", well, I just had a real life experience of that, and started to see that I really wasn't as honest as I always thought. I had this letter sent to my house with some1 elses name on it. It sat there 4 ages, and I kept meaning 2 put return 2 sender on it. Anyway, today, I started getting curious, and opened this letter to see what was in it. It said"Congratulations on winning the footy club raffle, heres a $500 voucher for an electrical store"!!!

Now if u asked me yesterday what I'd do in that situation, I'd say return it, no questions asked. But with that voucher in my hands, I was making all sorts of justifications for spending it. To cut a long story short, I rang the electrical store and said they sent it to the wrong address. But I didn't get that warm fuzzy "just did something good' feeling, and I'm kinda regretting it. What would u guys do? And what's more, do we only do good things for that warm fuzy feeling (ie. ultimately selfish)? Just some thoughts.

GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
I am a firm believer in pass it on. If you pass the good vibes on it will be returned one day if not to me then to someone close to me. Faced with a similar dilemma recently when we were given an extra kitchen applience we took it back to the store even though they would never have known.
Have faith that you have done the right thing. The other person was fated to win the ticket.
Well done.

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


Rouge DragonBRONZE Member
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia


Posted:
I always like to say that I will return it or pass it on.

However not always. If, for example, I am given more change in a restaurant. I am likely to keep it if their service was shoddy. (I remember once being treated like crap simply because I was a teenager, so when they screwed up the change I kept it. Some may say its immoral of me; I say it's customer service)

i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey

Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...


CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
You can approach this as many ways as you want, and they are all valid.

My approach is simply to try, as hard as you can, to do what's right. Then if something goes wrong, at least you knew you did what you thought you should.

You seem to be upset that you didn't get instant gratification in the form a nice feeling when you gave the voucher back...That's beside the point.

That voucher may have been a lifesaver for the intended recipient...perhaps a new washing machine for a single mum with six kids, a prize the recipient may have given to a local orphanage or something even more obscure.

Imagine if you read in th epaper a month later that some guy who had won a raffle for a $500 voucher at a store wne tin there and shot 3 of the staff working there claiming they never sent his voucher. In the story the store swears black and blue that they sent it out, go through their records, find out you had used it in the store, and suddenyl the whole nation is blaming you for the death of three people...

Sure, it sounds fantastic, but everything we do has effects and repercussions, even the good stuff. The thing is, we canbe proud of the good stuff in the future, rather than ashamed of it, and I truly believe it makes our lives easier and more fulfilling to have less to hide and more to be proud of.

Does that make sense?

HoP Posting Guidelines
* Is it the Truth?
* Is it Fair to all concerned?
* Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
* Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?


Wild ChildSILVER Member
Star Trekker
1,733 posts
Location: Cheshire, United Kingdom


Posted:
I've always returned things and not even bothered too much about the fuzzy feeling - but then I've had things returned to me (dropped my purse in central London in mid-summer and got it back complete once!) but recently I did something I'm not comfortable with.
Ordered some Radical Fish clubs for my sis and they duly arrived the day she did, so all was hunky dory - she was over the moon and I felt good for getting them for her (it wasn't her brithday or anything but I knew she wanted some and no way could she spare the cash as a single mum). But then 2 days after she left, another set arrived. I left them upopened for awhile, then opened them and shoved them in the spare room (I can't juggle). I know if it was an individual rather than a company I wouldn't have hesitated to return them, but can I justify my action?
Then my credit card statement arrived the following month - no double entry for the clubs but 2 entries for I don't know what from I don't know who - and I've only just clicked that the value for the 2 adds up to the value of the clubs - karma?

You did the right thing - I think I wish I had

'The last rays of crimson on the spindle tree as the cerise fruit splits and reveals its orange seeds in a gloriously clashing colour scheme no-one would ever dare to wear'
Euonymous Europeus


nearly_all_goneSILVER Member
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom


Posted:
I definitely would pass it on, personally. I think so much about things I've done that could be seen as mean or immoral that I'd have a field day of guilt if I didn't pass it on. It's a tough call but I'd rather be guilt-free than have a new TV.. you know?

But whatever you decide is cool. I can see both sides, I really can!! But ^what Charles said^ is very true.

What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau


Pink...?BRONZE Member
Mistress of Pink...Multicoloured
6,140 posts
Location: Over There, United Kingdom


Posted:
I agree with what Charles said.

I am a strong believer in Karma, and what comes around goes around. I remember i once found a really nice chain on the street. I took it to the police station. They said if the owner didn't claime it in a set time (i forget now how long) then i could keep it. The owner did claim it, but then gave me £5 for being honest, because it had great sentimental value to her.
I am thankful i didn't take it, esspecially if it meant so much to her! I would hate for someone to take something that meant so much to me.

Never pick up a duck in a dungeon...


Lillie Frognot a stranger
558 posts
Location: wales


Posted:
Hmmm

Moral dilemas, always difficult.
Sometimes you find something and it's yours. A tenner in the street, lying lonley and lost is the property of whoever finds it, but if you see the person who drops it, or if said tenner is in a wallet with name and address, well, that's a little more difficult.

I have left my bag, with all my money, keys, everything, my whole life, in a cafe. Someone handed it in! I couldn't believe it, I was so grateful. If they hadn't it would have been a nightmare, it couldn't have been worse.

Another time a man in a carpark gave me back the purse I'd dropped, I couldn't thank him enough.

Change in shops though, well, if you leave the counter before you realise you have been short changed they won't give you what you're owed. So if they give you too much you keep it, things have to work both ways.

Then of course, sometimes you have to consider that you might get caught, or blamed.

In the end, as others have already said, you have do what you think is right at the time, if you don't it's you that has to live with your own concience/guilt/fear etc.

And you did, you did what you knew was right, and you should feel good about that, at least a little for not succumbing to your baser instincts such as greed and the desire for electronic goodies.

Some people do the right thing out of fear, some out of duty, some to get that fuzzy feeling, some just because they know it's right. Whatever the reason, (even if it is a selfish one,) it is still the right thing, and that cannot be wrong.

It will come back to you, one way or another, even if you don't realise it.

Eat when you're hungry
Sleep where it's dry
No one is ever what they seem
Gabriel King - The Wild Road


SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
I've handed in cash I found on the street to the police and a watch, purse and handbag. I did it because I like to treat other people the way I want to be treated. If I lost something I'd like to hope someone would hand it in. If I don't hand things in why should anyone else. Hence I hand in everything I find. Its as simple as that.

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!


Lillie Frognot a stranger
558 posts
Location: wales


Posted:
Skully, the world would be a better place if everyone did as you do. What you say is so true.

Next time I find something on the street I will try to think of you and do likewise.

Eat when you're hungry
Sleep where it's dry
No one is ever what they seem
Gabriel King - The Wild Road


polytheneveteran
1,359 posts
Location: London/ Surrey


Posted:
If someone gives me the wrong change and I notice when it's handed to me, I say something, if I've left the building, I don't go back. On the whole though, I make more of an effort when it's a person not a company too. If a till is £5 down at the end of the day, the staff shrug and cash up anyway. A fiver can be more important to an individual person, it could be their fare home/ dinner money/ whatever.

Out shopping last Christmas, a big crowd was waiting at the bus stop. When they'd all crammed onto the bus there was a BIG carrier bag left at the stop. It was full of stuff- obvious presents like novelties from the gadget shop, really nice things. I chased the bus and made the driver open the door for me at the traffic lights. The owner of the bag (who proved it by telling me what was in it) was on the bus and was so pleased I'd returned it, because it was the 23rd of December and that was her Christmas presents for most of her family. I'm glad I made the effort because I know how upset I'd have been if I'd got home and found out I'd lost all the presents.

The optimist claims that we are living in the best of all possible worlds.
The pessimist fears this is true.

Always make time to play in the snow.



Similar Topics

Using the keywords [moral dilemma] we found the following existing topics.

  1. Forums > Moral dilemma? [54 replies]
  2. Forums > Moral dilemma [10 replies]
  3. Forums > moral dilemma for the day.... [24 replies]
  4. Forums > moral dilemma integrity vs burning bridges [26 replies]

      Show more..

HOP Newsletter

Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases and more...