Ethics of Scavenging

22 years ago

I lurk here daily and I thoroughly enjoy everyone's bright ideas and am delighted that I share an interest with so many interesting folks!

I was a tad disturbed by one post recently, about someone who found a pin in someone else's car and actually kept it. I didn't comment in the thread, but the first thing that crossed my mind was "thief"! But then again, I have a friend who works for the public transit, and we pick through the "lost and found" for items left over 3 months.

When does "curb shopping" and "dumpster diving" (both of which I enjoy!) and "finding things" become questionable? I once had a lady berate me for carrying away an office chair from her curb; she said she was leaving it for a charitable organization to pick up. I had no idea, and of course returned it.

Has anyone ever purchased something at a thrift store or yard sale that had something valuable (unknown to the seller, obviously) stashed in it? I haven't, but wonder what I'd do if I ever did. When we were cleaning out my grandmother's room after she passed, my cousin and I found small amounts of cash stashed between pages of books. This we turned over to our grandfather, but what if they were books purchased at an estate sale?

Just curious if anyone had any thoughts on the subject.

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Comments (71)

techsupport8
22 years ago
None of us were raised by wolves, we know right from wrong.

Truly--what goes around, comes around sooner or later.

Well said . . . .very well said!
User
22 years ago
I love my curb. I'm not ordinarily into scavenging myself (although I have, over the course of my years, found a few discarded items that I carted home), but I just love knowing that I can set out just about anything that's not total trash, and someone will pick it up and find a use for it! A couple of weekends ago, I put out some pretty good "junk" -- a couple of concrete garden angels (ok, so one was missing a hand, and my hubby was carrying her around, calling her "Stumpy the Angel", and the other large statue had been broken and reglued - and not very well at that), and within 15 minutes, a woman was parked at the curb, loading 'em up. I hope that the little curbside "decrepit angel find" made her day! ;-)

I recently had a little iron bistro set stolen from my side patio, in broad daylight. It was stolen -- no way could anyone have mistaken the set for a freebie. I cannot tell you how violated I felt over losing that stupid little $99 table and chair set. It makes you have at the very least, a few terrible moments where you feel as though your fellow human beings just completely, totally, unequivocally suck.

I think a person can try to rationalize it in his or her mind til pigs fly, but there is really never an excuse for outright stealing from another. And yes, I do think that "helping yourself" to the landscape elements in another's yard (or in a public place) is stealing. What else could it possibly be called?
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hrp3ks
22 years ago
Unless I'm misunderstanding, some people believe it's okay to steal if the stealer is poor and he's stealing from someone who is "rich"? I am astounded. How do you know that person is "rich" anyway? Because they have a nice car? Maybe it's not theirs. Maybe it's a rental. Maybe it was a gift. Maybe it's on the verge of being repossessed.

More not-sure-if-I'm misunderstanding: some people think it's okay to cut flowers from people's yards as long as there are a "lot" of blooms? Some people think it's okay to dig up plants from someone's yard because that person was rude? People think it's okay to take a few dollars in quarters out of someone's car while being paid to clean it? Or take a piece of jewelry that fell under the seat?

I just can't imagine how anyone could justify any of that and not consider it 100% STEALING, no less than if they robbed a teller at the bank. I'm going to have to send my mom an extra-special Mother's Day card and thank her for raising me right.

I am speechless.
hrp3ks
22 years ago
You know, I have complete access and signing authority to my boss's bank accounts. He makes more in interest in a couple of weeks than I make in a year. He's FILTHY RICH by any definition of the word. Maybe I should write myself a small check, since he has so "much" and I have relatively little? How is that different from a minimum-wage car cleaner taking quarters from a BMW-driving customer?
bondo4
22 years ago
Here, here to all of those who draw the line at taking other people's property because the world must owe them something.

My husband and I have work extremely hard to put ourselves through college, get good paying jobs, buy a nice house with nice things. In our marriage there have been many time where money was so tight we were not sure we would have a place to live at the end of the month. Now we make a very nice living, in fact well above the average for our neighborhood, and nice life for ourselves and our child.

In October someone decided that for whatever reason, they were much more deserving of our stuff than we were. This creep kicked down our door, stole about $15,000 worth of stuff, including priceless family heirlooms that had been passed down of the past five generations and a necklace that my husband gave to me the day our son was born. Then this slime ball came back a few months later to get more. Luckily we had gotten a dog who scared him off.

The impact of this violation was a whole lot more than the loss of stuff. Let me tell you what this did to our family. Our little boy wasn't even four when he lost a bit of his innocence. To this day he asks if the "bad guys" are going to come back and get his toys or our dog. I can't sleep without waking at every sound. When my husband is away at business I sit up until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning to make sure no one is coming into our house. We watch every car driving by our house and are always on guard to see who might be suspicious. This is no way to live!

We lost so much more in a simple burglary than some jewelry and electronic equipment; we lost our sense of safety, security and trust.

To those of you under the impression that taking someone's stuff, even a few plants around a mailbox, is acceptable because that person is rich, snotty, or not taking care of their goods I ask you to put yourself in my position of not feeling safe in my own home because of the self absorbed actions of one very small-minded, evil person. That lady who had her plants stolen probably went through much of what our family is going through still.
cupajoe
22 years ago
I can relate. For awhile we lived in a neighborhood where balls and scooters were stolen out of the yard when the kids ran in to use the bathroom.We came home one day to find the front screens removed.Another time one of the cars had a door that had been half forced.Then we bought a dog with a big bark, moved and we haven't had any problems since.Sandy
erinb02
22 years ago
i just want to clarify, because i don't want anyone to think that I steal, or condone stealing. i would never steal plants, or anything else, from anyone.
i agreed with chinacat about the bench because i believe that the lady was in the wrong. if it's at the curb, it should be fair game. curbshopping is great because instead of filling up already congested landfills, you are recycling. the bench lady was being petty, and i know lots of people like her, even in my own family.

however, i maintain my position on the change thing. I DO NOT THINK IT"S OK TO TAKE ANYTHING THAT DOESN"T BELONG TO YOU. i wouldn't do it. BUT i am not into judging people. that's what karma is for. everybody's got a story. it's all well and good to say "i would never do that", but not every person is like you. every human being comes with a different set of circumstances.

anyway i just wanted to clarify. thanks

erin
annsb
22 years ago
.....How many people point out to a clerk when they have been undercharged? Or take their child to the movie and say that they are younger so that they can pay less?
.....To me this is just as bad because we are teaching our child that there are times that we can 'fudge' the rules of ethics and honesty.
ann
coloredthumb
22 years ago
I point out to clerks that there has been an error, in my favor or their's, it is up to them to determine. Tho if they state that they didn't make a mistake and it is in my favor I will not argue the point. I will take extreme measures when they make a mistake in their own favor to correct the wrong. I think lessons learned the hard way sometimes make a more memorable lesson. In some of the stores I've been in lately if the cash register doesn't show the clerk how much change to give back (by some error or malfunction) the idiots are absolutely lost. I have to I learned how to count money and make change before I was out of 1st grade. What the heck are schools teaching that a 17 year old person has no clue how to count back change. I do not, have never and will not ever sneak a price break for age by lying. I taught my kids and foster kids that the only ones that they can trust totally 100% is themselves and if they steal than they couldn't even trust themselves or stand tall and proud. I think they have all listened to me because they have jobs and have never as far as I know been in trouble with the law for theft of any kind or any other reason that I am aware. I also had them do homework and study and extra credit work and if they brought home grades that were above average they were rewarded with special things or events that they wanted.
CandyWA
22 years ago
My experience has been that charitable organizations never tell us to put the donations on the curb. They very clearly specify we put them on the driveway... typically with a note posted on the largest item, or in marked bags.

So my take on it would be... if it's on the curb... it's trash (or treasure) and if it's on the driveway it belongs to somebody else.
Ina Plassa_travis
22 years ago
: ) Actually, I said $15 a shift... which is four hours, legally and technically under nminimum wage...

and honestly, I'm an enterprising little lass, and have never needed to work for even CLOSE to minimum wage- I'd rather work harder, or smarter...

but the car wash boy I was speaking of might just be doing it out of spite, since the lady in question earned the car in the oldest way -

and 'gypsy' has a bad reputation because there weren't always jews to burn- read your history, arcy. the philisophy that people who hoard more than they can hope to use don't need all they have is almost secondary to the need for a scapegoat in a community.

Spiteful? heck yes. theif? admit it freely. think that Velvet Sparrow's a more ethical lass than thee or me? very likely...

but, rather than accept my tale as examples of different situations...

you just proved yourself one of those folks who wouldn't pick the Christ up hitch-hiking, but drive on by with a mutter that he should try shaving occasionally.
Bee_Happy
22 years ago
Did you guys hear about the lady who bought a file cabinet recently at a garage sale? She paid $15 for it, took it home and there was over $90,000 inside!! She and her husband took the file cabinet back to the owner - an elderly widow. The owner gave them $500 for a reward. It was on the news last night. I thought that was a good story.
hrp3ks
22 years ago
"Actually, I said $15 a shift... which is four hours, legally and technically under nminimum wage... "

I still don't get it. Because he's willing to work for an illegal wage, it's okay to steal from someone else?

**still baffled**
User
22 years ago
"but the car wash boy I was speaking of might just be doing it out of spite, since the lady in question earned the car in the oldest way - "

You lost me there. How the heck would a car wash employee know how a customer earned their vehicle?
coloredthumb
22 years ago
"but the car wash boy I was speaking of might just be doing it out of spite, since the lady in question earned the car in the oldest way -"

Doesn't matter how she earned her car. She paid for it! Rather than STEAL she worked it off. Please excuse not meant as, obscene pun! I don't get it either just because the woman's profession is in question the "car wash guy" is allowed to steal from her? I don't think so.

Chinacat Sunflower,
You have brought up some unreasonable points trying to justify "stealing". In your heart you know right from wrong and the moral thing. Xtianity has nothing to do with people saying it is right or wrong to steal, and my Non Xtian beliefs also say it is wrong to steal.
ChismTrail
22 years ago
As an educator, I have to address certain ideas on this thread. Teaching is a very humbling experience because children have all kind of problems. Some children are physically and mentally challenged. They will be fortunate to earn a minimum wage, but never failures. Most of those children will break oneÂs heart with their perseverance and compassion. They will never be able to "work hard to better themselves." When your loved one is in the hospital dieing of congestive heart failure, and the aid is there to help you lift that person onto the bedside pot for the twentieth time that day and wipe their behind, you will love that aid even though you know she can never "better herself." Her poverty is really the cause of greedy people, and the shame is not hers. Personally, I believe she will have a greater reward in heaven. When I looked out at the new wing going up, the poor old cement mixer will never have his name on the side of the building, nor will the rooferÂs helper ever serve on a board of directors, but if it were not for him and people like him who would build the hospital. It is too bad that in this great country greed rules. Why canÂt we love one another for the content of our character and not the size of our bank account?
pajaro_gardener
22 years ago
two thoughts:
(1) my mom, at age 83, used to walk with a slightly younger neighbor lady and then abruptly stopped. Her reason? On one walk she watched the woman go up a driveway and take a roll of postage stamps that had fallen to the ground next to a car, parked with it's door adjar. Obviously, they belonged to somebody else. On the same walk, she "found" garden tools sitting on a stool in a front yard and manicure scissors half way up a driveway. Her words were "finders keepers". my mom's word was "stealing". Point two: as a teenager I worked with my father in the prescription case of the drugstore that we owned. I had free access to the drug safe and to every med that was in the case. I never, ever, took a pill or anything else (including money) from the till. Somebody who steals, under any circumstances, is not honest or moral. It doesn't matter how much you have or don't have or how the person (you want to rob from) got their assets. It's stealing. There are ten laws for leading a moral life and they are called the ten commandments, not the ten really nice, flexible suggestions. There are consequences for breaking them.
ChismTrail
22 years ago
This kind of got buried before many saw my comment; therefore, I am moving it up because I believe my views might be helpful.
Happy trails from The Chism Trail Garden
Chism
erinb02
22 years ago
how many of you wear nike shoes? or shop at walmart? (for two examples) now think about the people who make those items, working in sweatshops for pennies. aren't corporations stealing from them? and don't we condone it?
User
22 years ago
No, I don't think we condone it. But when certain corporations -- let's take Wal-Mart, for example -- move into a town and virtually shut down every other "mom and pop shop", what choices do we have, but to purchase from them? I don't like it. But I also think it's unavoidable in many cases.
coloredthumb
22 years ago
This thread is starting to drift off topic in a political/social/economic arguementive direction. Let us please remeber the topic RE: THE ETHICS OF SCAVAGING
logger123456
22 years ago
well ill jump in if its a yard sale and they sell it they shouldve checked pockets etc.. i wouldnt return a doller bill i found in the pocket but if i found a valuable piece of jewlery or even if it wasnt just something that looked like a family member wanted id return it. maybe im crazy but id do it anyway. and you arent a thief according to the law for buying something and having it be worth money! they want to get rid of it you buy it its yours or they shouldnt have sold it to begin with!!!
deweymn
22 years ago
This thread is starting to drift off topic in a political/social/economic arguementive direction. Let us please remeber the topic RE: THE ETHICS OF SCAVAGING

Ethics? There are ethics of scavenging? Well yes, there are..common sense. If you think you are stealing, you probably are. Most items left near a trash container are headed for the landfill/incinerator. Most people, like myself, leave stuff in the alley in the hopes that the entrepeneur will find it before the trash man. It costs extra for extra items outside of my plastic container so I am glad someone gets them.

I remember an article about someone finding a valuable painting behind a painting he bought at a salvation army store. It was worth thousands. Don't recall anyone saying he had to give the money to the SA.

lMost with a sense of morality will do the right thing in most situations. The rest won't.
msetwin
22 years ago
In 1983 I purchased an antique sideboard-table at an estate auction together with a matching buffet for a total of $25, and as DH and I were loading them he took out the buffet drawers. One jammed and he reached back to dislodge what he thought was a paper clip. He handed it to me and I was surprised to see a ring. He jarred me back to reality to help him lift the table into the truck. On the ride home I looked at the ring and said, "You know. This looks real and it says '18k' inside." So I took it to our local jeweler who said it was a "near perfect half karat diamond" and estimated it was worth about $1,000. The next day I called the attorney for the estate and told him what had happened. He said, "You bought it and the auction company should have checked better. The law says 'finders keepers'. Besides, there is no other family anyway." So, I tried to be ethical, and as a reward now have a beautiful diamond.

Another time I bought a china plate full of junk costume jewelry at an auction for $2. I was actually bidding on the plate, which obviously no one but me bothered to pick up and look at the bottom of. It was Limoges and worth about $75 according to an appraisal. But as I untangled the beads, chains and other jewelry I found a string of pearls. It was heavy and after rubbing one pearl to clean it off, it glowed! Jeweler appraisal was $200 for a gorgeous string of cultured pearls that I now wear.

A friend once found an old leather wallet buried in a wooden keg of rusty nails. At auction he paid $1 for the KEG and when he dumped out the nails the wallet appeared. It contained $500 in old silver certificates!

It's out there, and it does happen - but probably not often.
hrp3ks
22 years ago
You did the right thing in trying to return that ring, but just so you know for the future, the law does NOT say "finders keepers." Not in all cases. Not even in most cases. Hope that attorney did a better job on probate than he does on property rights and possession!
arcy_gw
22 years ago
You can read history anyway you want Chinacat but everyone here and even you know what you did was stealing. The reasons WHY you steel do not change the fact that it is steeling. And by the way beards do not bother me. People who do not know right from wrong and or act accordingly do however.
coloredthumb
22 years ago
Well lets see....Auctions have Auction Laws usually by state but ONE I know is consistant with all states. One is about such happenings. If you are buying an item "As Is Where Is" and after you have purchased it, you find that the bottom drawer is loaded with gold and precious gems, it is "FINDERS KEEPERS" (not in those exact words but good enogh for our purposes), you just got a very nice treasure very cheap. Just as if you found the bottom drawer will not open all the way and stinks really bad because it is jam pack loaded with dirty Pampers (Guess what?), those pampers are all yours and so is the item. Can't complain "AS IS WHERE IS" means that. Well I guess some folk could complain but it wouldn't do any good! LOL The only exception is if anyhting found could be proven as stolen in a limited time period from before the Auction.
jenny367
22 years ago
ChismTrail, thank you for your inspiring words! If everyone thought more like you, the world would be a better place!
As far as trash picking goes, I think if the original owner no longer needs it and has put it at the curb, it's a great thing if it can go to help someone less fortunate instead of going to the landfill.
But when it comes to rationalizing stealing things that are not clearly trash - Maybe we should shift our focus from what we can get by with taking from others to what we are able to give to them. If they have more than you do materially, maybe you can give them kind words that will help them grow spiritually.
I grew up surrounded with the typical American beliefs that everyone is out for themselves and if you're able to make more money than other people, that's your good fortune and their tough luck. Now I follow Native American beliefs and have learned that traditionally, it was considered a disgrace for one person in a village to have more than the others. Anyone that was capable of working was expected to work and help provide for those who were physically or mentally unable to provide for themselves. Maybe I'm getting too philosophical here, but I think we can all learn something from that kind of philosophy.
erinb02
22 years ago
jenny, i think that is a beautiful philosophy. it is a shame that this continent was founded on the two worst thefts of our time - the decimation of the native culture and slavery.
merriss
22 years ago
I know that this is a fairly old question..I sure hope that it keeps on going..I will tell you THAT!!
THIRTY NINE YEARS ago we bought this home place..land and house and CONTENTS!! Family, friends??, prior owners felt free to STEAL the contents of the house!! I have never forgotten that..we did not live on the land, but owned it..I have never forgotten and love to look at those whom, who have bragged about what they have gotten from out HOMESTEAD..
I shall not forget a former renter who called me and told me ..Mrs. Merriss..I know that you have a Cherry Dough Bowl and I put it in the old barn under the elves where you could find it..guess what..when I went to get it..it was in the hands of a THIEF!!! A THief that was a member of our church, had bragged to a member of our FAMILY??, that it was given to a " former family member"..RATS!! That former family member had left her 2 small children at birth for her Mother to raise!!DUHHH!! Her parents had intentionally left her out of the will..do not blame her..no ethics..no morals.. that "lady" returned to our home years later and almost demanded a very old stove that was in the old house..OOPS..and I promise you..someone else had STOLEN it..
I still recall those that entered out land without permisson, STOLE and SOLD!!
Be it family?? friends?? others?? I know who several of you are..I have never forgotten and I have tried..want to return it?? TRY FORGIVENESS?? RETURN IT..OR AT LEAST..SAY..
I AM SORRY!!
MERRISS POSESKIE BENEFIELD
455 Jonestown RD
Summertown, TN. 38483
merrissandjack@hotmail.com
veggielover
22 years ago
What I put out at the side of the road for trash pick up, is just that, it is my trash, whoever wants to go through it feel free. I once left my washing machine out by the side of the road as it had broken down, I think that it was out there maybe an hour before someone came and picked up. I am glad that someone was able to recycle it in any way shape or form.

Let me say this about the BMW thing, Just because someone drives a BMW, does not in any way, shape or form, mean that they are rich!! That is just an assumption. Someone could have given them the car as a gift, they could have inherited it, you just never know. When I was 32 years old, My husband was killed, leaving me to raise my 4 young children on my own. People that I THOUGHT were my friends started stealing money, and items from me. WHY? They figured that with what my husband had in Life ins, and whatever else, that I had money now, so they could just help themselves. Pretty disgusting isn't it? So just because you think someone MAY have money, does not give anyone the right to steal it from you.

I would have been more than happy to help someone out, had they just asked. But my husband worked just as hard for his money, as I am sure the person does that makes 15 dollars an hour.
kacram
22 years ago
here, it is illegal to take things from the curb.....
digging up plants is stealing...
I have told clerks that they haven't charged enough, or not at all. I have told cashiers that they gave me too much change back. I would take back cash that I found in a garage sale purchase....
costumecarol
22 years ago
We make it easy for folks. The one yard sale we had didn't raise any money to speak of, we'd have done better collecting cans and bottles by the road. So now, stuff goes out by the road with a sign that says, "Free- Take it." I'm surprized, sometimes, at how long it takes for some of the stuff to leave the curb. (Well, maybe there's not a huge market for cast-iron bathtubs.)
RE: stealing change from cars: My friend has had change stolen from her car, and it's 7 or 8 years old, and not a luxury car. And while I think that the health care workers who teld to folks in their last days, weeks, years, deserve a place at the right hand of G@d, I'm not simplistic enough to think that the reason they make so little money is because others earn more.
wichitarick
22 years ago
hi, wow blown away ,this was a good read ,trash is trash ,anything past the curb is stealing duh.
I still have a neighbor mad because she threw away a metal glider , I asked her for it took it home and re did it very well then she wanted it back not pay for the paint and labor but take it .well i,m a nice guy would have gave it to her for xmas but she called me a theif so I called the law ,wished I could show pics looks good in my yard
I also got a attendant at the car wash fired for taking 18 cents out of my ashtray did not want to get him fired but I asked for it back ,he said finders keepers ,there is a sign there that says if it is your car when you got here it will be when you leave , so I asked ,then his boss asked,
no change , NO JOB .
so I do stay on topic I saw lots of words ethics ,morals teach our children ,karma, do unto others,well I think most folks have morals ,and don,t steal there is not middle ground , if you pick my flowers without asking you stole them
30 dollars worth of ivy and a 20 dollar rock is going to get you arrested do we tell or don,t tell at sales is morals wether we sleep well and things like that is in my eyes the basics in most religion ,just one more way to try to keep us from killing each other off .
it is that limit ,that fine line that seperates the folks we are all afraid of and us .do you or don,t you.

as junkers if few of has morals pretty soon folks would not put out their junk because they would fear us coming into the yard .
I make less than 15$ an hr. and in my teens stole and vandalized enough to fry my karma ,so is the neighbor kid destroying my flowers payback that is the big ???
but it is illegal vandalism ,I will try to resolve it the coolest way possible ,if it does not work I call the law
one more thing my grandma for many yrs.left ten $ in her car when it went to the shop to test the shop after 9 yrs it was taken and she changed shops and stayed there for over 20 yrs. happy junkin ..rick in wichita
Yellow22
22 years ago
Here's a spin of scavenging while having a car worked on. I didn't think it was stealing and thought it was funny to let my son, about 8 years old, clean throught the sofa in the waiting room while getting an oil change. He found a few dollars in change and threw away the wrapper trash. I didn't think it was like cleaning out a fish pond of coin wishes etc. It was more like finder keepers loosers wheepers, but the custumers form the past didn't even know change fell out of there pockets. I guess I could have made it so he'd donate the money to a good cause or something but we're good people and I'm sure he'll be a giving peson throughout his life. I know how it feels to have something taken alittas le of the curb. I once put my sons car seat on a rock wall halfway from the curb to the garage by some empty trash cans and when I came back to my mothers it was gone. I was more disturbed at the fact I had to drive without my son in a car seat back home. I looked at it I could afford another one and just maybe another childs life would be safer, even if I had to put my son in jepordy for one trip. There is a line with curb shopping though some people still beleieve even though it's heading for the dump it's still their stuff and they really want it going to it's demise. Especially after a divorce.
chaos_quilt
22 years ago
We all have our sins that we have reverted to at different times...God knows that we're flawed because He made us that way. You all have a conscience, and are mostly aware of your limits under your present circumstances, and may be aware of what you will or will NOT do when pressed by difficult times. You may steal a loaf of bread to feed your children when unemployed...it's a sin, but...

There are degrees of sin...shades of gray...hopefully you will never be tested to the limit; hopefully you will be able to forgive the sinner, when recognizing the lowness of their sin. Ain't saying that I'm not capable of low sin, and I do try to remember "there but for the grace of God goes I".

I also feel guilt every day for things that I've done. If you feel a twinge of conscience when you do something "borderline", or feel no twinge at all, it doesn't change the sin, just the person. No one "needs" plants out of anyones yard...no one "needs" money for cigarettes... but there are some very needy people out there. They just better not take my stuff!
painteddragon
22 years ago
I just wanted to say that I am a Aide in a nursing home and I don't feel the need to "better" myself!!! I love my job and the people I work with. I am doing what i do because I love it and not because of the pay scale. You may think yourself better then I because you make more money. or you are better educated. to bad for you
ChismTrail
22 years ago
Painteddragon,

Thank you for your kind acts of service and LOVE. One canÂt accomplish more or do better. What would we do without people like you? You deserve a crown of jewels.
Katie S
22 years ago
Well said.

I am bummed because someone STOLE our recycling bins! I guess since they were at the curb, someone assumed they were trash. :(
Gdfnc
22 years ago
I have trash picked before, an old door that was truly in trash condition from a house that was being cleaned out for renovation or re-renting. And I still have guilt about it. Did I need that door? Nope. Did I ask for permission? Nope.
When I get tempted to take something that doesn't belong to me, like cool rocks or flowers or plants growing by the roadside, not near anyone's house, I remind myself of the Buddhist edict not to take anything that is not freely given. And the truth of it is, there's nothing out there on anyone's curb that I need.
An earlier post made mention of someone be willing to take a job at an illegal wage, referring to someone working for $15 per shift. As a teacher who's been desperately trying to find a summer job, let me assure you it's not that easy to get hired. For 2 of the retail stores that I applied to, I had to give my permission for them to run not just a background check but a credit check in order to be considered for a position. In the past month, I've submitted approximately 20 applications for part-time or temp work, largely focusing on the retail industry, and no responses. I'm college-educated, experienced in business and teaching, great interpersonal skills, good work ethic. No job. So I can easily understand why someone would take a job at an illegal wage--desperation. (That desperation of course does not make it right to steal.)
zmorten2002
22 years ago
I bought an old chest at auction. Door was locked, they gave me key, inside were 2 sets of antique curtains that I used for years. Plus an added bonus(?) bags of dry garbage lol there was a garbage strike on in our city, I guess they put a couple of bags in each locked cabinet sold.
nanatink
21 years ago
Ethics is what you do when you KNOW no one is watching.
Either you have them or you don't.

I choose to believe most do and pity those who don't.
razz
21 years ago
I drive a BMW and make 10 bucks an hour!..its a 72 lol just thought Id add that.
razz
ashli
21 years ago
Digging up old posts, eh? that's good.

I've always believed that if you didn't buy it, ot earn it, it isn't yours.
Funny how childhood morals can stay with you...I know that if I even thought about swipping a penny, a bolt of lightening would strike me down. Simple as that.

Honesty is always the best policy...But...what about being honest when someone asks you a question?...for instances,
"Do you like my new hairstyle?"..."And you really believe there is a Heaven?"
I've found that most people don't really want your opinon unless it's the same as theirs.
My sister was the nicest person that I've ever known...
she had a way of rearraging the truth because she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings...strangers were soon her friends.
I'm totally opposite...if you don't really want my opinon...then don't ask me.....You might not make any friends with my attitude, but that's ok, I'm a loner anyway...ha
$10.00 an hour sounds great to me!
more_to_grow
21 years ago
I am young and yet a scavenger from way back, I am also one who is not afraid to approach anyone and inquire about an object I find of interest. My experience has been great with people very often happy to be rid of the item in question; sometimes for a nominal price but more often free. Much of this stuff I sell or trade, some I keep, but it must be very unique as I am not into unecessary clutter.

I would never steal, have very clear moral and ethical perspective of the "gray areas", was brought up with good christian values, and would have to cross the bridge of finding something within something I had purchased when/if that situation arises; life is far too complex for sweeping judgements over matters such as these. Steal money from my car at the shop and I will push for your arse to be fired, come to my home with ill-intent and may god have mercy on your soul; because I will not.
Plow_In
21 years ago
A neighbor around the corner had beautiful, flat stones at her curb for weeks. When I drove by, I could see the pile slowly going down. So one day I stopped, rang the bell, and asked her if she was getting rid of them, and she said "No".And then she thanked me for asking, and said she probably should have them carried to her back yard, where someone was going to build her a patio. I sure could have used some (looked very heavy). But what in the world was she thinking? Couldn't she see that they were disappearing?I guess other people didn't ask.
gatormomx2
21 years ago
I recently had my recycling bins and my mailbox stolen. Not the post the box was sitting on , but just the old ratty nasty looking mailbox. What on earth were they thinking ? Even though the items had no great value and can easily be replaced , I will always have the feeling of once again being let down by those few inconsiderate humans .
Thank goodness, I am lucky enough to be reminded quite often by acts of kindness that there are more good people around than bad ones.
wannadanc
21 years ago
Interesting, interesting ---glad this one was dug up from the layers, and set to the curb for a recycle. I have no incredible wisdom - there are so many things about which folks don't agree - as evidenced by the myriad responses here.

I would rather give stuff away (as I do in Freecycle) than to have someone argue about a 10 cent price at a GS. I live too far in the country and down a rural private trail - so curb appeal doesn't work here. BUT we did have a Free For All, at a local park.......last weekend. No money, no worries - and folks did a good job of taking the completely unwanted items home w/ them or to a TS of their chosing. We will do it again in June and September........

grins

Vicki
loganhogan
21 years ago
My grandmother died 7 1/2 years ago but the estate was just settled less than 2 years ago. We donated alot of things that an uncle viewed as "junk". The lady from the "junk store" called my mother's sister and they had found family photos in a box that this lady thought must have been a mistake. These were the pictures like you see hanging in the cracker barrel. My 73 year old aunt gave me the pictures because I was the only one who showed any interest in them but they hadn't been given to me when I asked for them. When I visit that thrift store I'm always reminded of that lady's kindness and I would try to do they same in a similar situation. On another note my grandmother had her wedding rings hidden too and had tons of change in old medicine bottles.
Susan
use2bcapecodr
21 years ago
Remember the song, "God's Gonna Get You For That"?

I rest my case!

~Sandy~

Ethics of Scavenging

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