Austrian bus driver finds $500,000...and turns it in?

Originally posted by Danowski
Well, I never thought we'd be talking about my people but here we go

Seems there are some good people left her, never thought of that. But the odd thing is, it's not the first time you hear such a story and just end up in scratching your head.

This garbage man (if someone could translate this with google, I am to stupid for this) found nearly $50.000 in the freaking trash!! and he gave it back. How did it end up in the trash? And old lady through it unintentionally away while cleaing up her place.

And also I don't think this person was involved with anything criminal. Again it was an old lady which forgot it in the bus. I think that's all to this story, went to the bank, picked up her life savings and forgot it in the freaking bus and it really fits with our old people.

Here's the thing though, you keep it, go on a spending spree and then a week later, you hear an appeal by this woman for the money she lost...she's going to be destitute...etc, etc...you can't give the money back? How bad would you feel? Or how bad would you be if you didn't feel anything?

The guy is honest, and that is a great quality. We should have more respect for that.

reply to post by KilgoreTrout


Completely agree with you on the last part, that bus driver is a really good person, he also stated in an interview that he just wanted to give the lady her back and make her happy again.

But seriously, I don't see myself like such a good person as him. I'm trying to be but humanity is letting me too oft down in the last years.

Originally posted by lee anoma

Originally posted by jude11
And that's what he gets for his honesty? Nothing.

Should we pay people for being honest?
Doesn't that in a sense defeat the purpose?

He shouldn't be paid for turning in money that did not belong to him.

If he turned the money in because he felt it would be wrong to steal it then he should be satisfied that he didn't compromise his moral code.

If he turned it in because he was expecting someone to pay him for NOT stealing it, then he will definitely be disappointed in this case.

Personally I don't keep things I find that don't belong to me.
I try and return them to their owner without expectations.

- Lee

My moral code is: if you leave half a mil on a bus you didn't deserve to keep it in the first place, it is now finders keepers. Hows that for moral code. Besides I would do plenty of good deeds with that money. Just because I would take it doesn't mean I would be selfish or greedy with it. A lot of people I know would get set up nicely

OP - if you wouldn't turn it in, then you're narcissistic, and i would bet that you have little empathy for others. What if that 500,000 was a life insurance pay-out and all an elderly individual has to live off of for the rest of their life?

I was actually in a similar situation many years ago, where I purchased a car and later found a $150,000 check tucked under the overhead visor. I knew the owner, and who the check was too, and knew that they had a brain injury which affected their memory, so keeping the check/fake-id/cashing it was a definite option, but I called him up, informed him of the finding and then gave it to him later that day. As suspected, due to his brain injury - he just forgot about the check. Regardless, it was an insurance payout due to the accident which caused said injury and was payment for medical expenses.

OP - again, you're a bad person.

Originally posted by gunshooter

Originally posted by lee anoma

Originally posted by jude11
And that's what he gets for his honesty? Nothing.

Should we pay people for being honest?
Doesn't that in a sense defeat the purpose?

He shouldn't be paid for turning in money that did not belong to him.

If he turned the money in because he felt it would be wrong to steal it then he should be satisfied that he didn't compromise his moral code.

If he turned it in because he was expecting someone to pay him for NOT stealing it, then he will definitely be disappointed in this case.

Personally I don't keep things I find that don't belong to me.
I try and return them to their owner without expectations.

- Lee

My moral code is: if you leave half a mil on a bus you didn't deserve to keep it in the first place, it is now finders keepers. Hows that for moral code. Besides I would do plenty of good deeds with that money. Just because I would take it doesn't mean I would be selfish or greedy with it. A lot of people I know would get set up nicely

That great how you can justify robbing another to yourself, in order to not feel guilty about stealing. What if the individual has a condition that affects their memory?

You're despicable.

Originally posted by Danowski
reply to post by KilgoreTrout

 

Completely agree with you on the last part, that bus driver is a really good person, he also stated in an interview that he just wanted to give the lady her back and make her happy again.

But seriously, I don't see myself like such a good person as him. I'm trying to be but humanity is letting me too oft down in the last years.

So - because others have sacrificed their moral code, it's justification for you to sacrifice your own?

reply to post by Danowski


Humanity will and does. Sad but true. No need for those of us who know better to sink down and join them though. I've never believed that there is a rationale in 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'...that's a defeatist attitude, and no less of a soul killer.

Originally posted by Evil_Santa
So - because others have sacrificed their moral code, it's justification for you to sacrifice your own?

Good point you have there. It is not like my moral code sunk but in the last years I somehow lost faith in humanity. I always knew there is something more we should do with ourselves, that we can be happier, living life to your full potential, learn to know and enjoy pure love. However, there was always this ignorance, where I felt I was the problem, the wrong thing, the black sheep. To recieve such feelings from family and friends and seeing none that emotionless roboters in humans, I tried to distanced myself from "them" and from feeling bad.

A few years back I had the plan to help people in the future, I always wanted to become a therapist and help people with psychological problems, especially childrens. Nowadays this isn't the case anymore. I don't feel they want help, it seems they rather live their life unhappy than taking risks, trully become happy and experience life.

I am not saying I am doing all this, I'm learning and there are lot of things I can't do for certain reasons but at least I can see what is waiting for all of us.

But I don't want to derail this thread, because this is a whole different story.

Originally posted by Evil_Santa
OP - if you wouldn't turn it in, then you're narcissistic, and i would bet that you have little empathy for others. What if that 500,000 was a life insurance pay-out and all an elderly individual has to live off of for the rest of their life?

I was actually in a similar situation many years ago, where I purchased a car and later found a $150,000 check tucked under the overhead visor. I knew the owner, and who the check was too, and knew that they had a brain injury which affected their memory, so keeping the check/fake-id/cashing it was a definite option, but I called him up, informed him of the finding and then gave it to him later that day. As suspected, due to his brain injury - he just forgot about the check. Regardless, it was an insurance payout due to the accident which caused said injury and was payment for medical expenses.

OP - again, you're a bad person.

That's ok.

I gave you a star anyway..

Peace

Originally posted by jude11
Ok,

Call me what you want but would I turn it in? Nope, nada, Hell no!

And this my friends is why Western civilization is spiraling down into the abyss. You see what made us great was that as long as we followed God and the Bible we were good. A moral society is a great society to live in. People help each other out and are concerned about others. Business deals are fair, cheaters are few. Property rights were respected and someone who worked hard could reasonably expect to be well rewarded for their efforts, and moreover it was possible to save for one's personal needs or for investing in new technology or taking on risk.

However now this is not the case. Oligarchs rule, the capital markets can't be trusted. Patents are stolen by rich monopolies and inventors are left with nothing. You can not accumulate wealth safely because property can be stolen by the government, or you can be robbed or swindled by thieves with no conscience or morals.

Your attitude also shows that you are utterly Godless. You apparently must believe that God wouldn't notice if you stole from someone, no matter what the value is. You know outside of God's protection and blessings a lot of bad things can happen that money can not fix.

Originally posted by lee anoma

Originally posted by Vasa Croe
Totally agree....that amount of cash was most likely being used for something underhanded.

Either way...bus driver should have kept it....

So let me get this straight.

You and a few others acknowledge the possibility that this could be "blood/drug money" made through illicit activities and probably belonged to a criminal(s)...and so the bus driver should keep it?

How is he any different then?

Stealing and spending money stolen from criminals means...you guessed it...you just benefited from the crimes that made the money!

This reminds me of the former police officer from Florida on death-row for robbing and murdering drug dealers. His defense was that they were scum and didn't deserve to live.

Meanwhile his lifestyle was bankrolled off of the crimes of that same scum.

Very weak justification in my opinion.

- Lee

Ummmm...a bus driver FINDING and keeping the money, regardless of where it is from, is quite a bit different from your referenced story of a cop KILLING dealers to STEAL the money. The bus driver had no idea where the money came from while the cop you reference knew EXACTLY where the money was coming from.....two VERY different scenarios.

Not sure what idealogical society you live in or where you are from but your reference is far removed from the reality of the situation.

Now while in my own personal opinion, the story you referenced is fine with me, don't compare a completely unrelated and very different situation to the one the OP references....

If you are going to be idealogical on a subject then at least compare apples to apples....what you compared the OP story to has absolutely no subjective nor objective relevance....they are two COMPLETELY different situations.

I've found other people's money laying around in public many times. Never close to $500,000 of course but a few hundred. I want to keep it, but I always turn it in. Honestly I've had the same arguments with myself that are happening in this very thread. Maybe it's because I'm poor and if I lost money I would hope some nice person would return it. But for whatever reason, when I find money I am incapable of keeping it. Maybe I'd feel differently if I saw some fat-cat DC politician whose been selling us out, or the CEO of Goldman Sachs drop his wallet or something.

I don't think if the bus driver kept the money that would make him a bad person. But it certainly makes him a good person that he DID turn it in.

I found over $400 loose in the mails once when i was working for gthe Post Office. I turned it in. I was always of the opinion that it had been planted to test the honesty of postal employees. That could be the case here.

If the $500K (Surely we're talking Euros here?) were loose, and if whomever had it was of a criminal mind, then said criminal mind would start eliminating possibilities, and attempt to find who had it, and take it back by force. I mean, the mob gets all excited about $10K, much less $500K. A bus driver on this route just quit? How convenient. How would you like to be looking over your back the rest of your life?

I'm right there with you op. Finders keepers is my motto. What an awesome vacation I could take.....

Originally posted by SevenThunders

Originally posted by jude11
Ok,

Call me what you want but would I turn it in? Nope, nada, Hell no!

And this my friends is why Western civilization is spiraling down into the abyss. You see what made us great was that as long as we followed God and the Bible we were good. A moral society is a great society to live in. People help each other out and are concerned about others. Business deals are fair, cheaters are few. Property rights were respected and someone who worked hard could reasonably expect to be well rewarded for their efforts, and moreover it was possible to save for one's personal needs or for investing in new technology or taking on risk.

However now this is not the case. Oligarchs rule, the capital markets can't be trusted. Patents are stolen by rich monopolies and inventors are left with nothing. You can not accumulate wealth safely because property can be stolen by the government, or you can be robbed or swindled by thieves with no conscience or morals.

Your attitude also shows that you are utterly Godless. You apparently must believe that God wouldn't notice if you stole from someone, no matter what the value is. You know outside of God's protection and blessings a lot of bad things can happen that money can not fix.

edit on 7-12-2012 by SevenThunders because: spelling

Convenient way to quote the OP to suit your agenda.

You just missed this part:

What I would do is wait and search to find out who lost it. Drug dealers? Nope. Wealthy individual? Nope. Government employee of any sort...definitely never. If I found that it was destined for a good cause...ok.

But I guess that wouldn't make for a negative post...right?

aw hell...I'll star you anyway.

Oh...And Godless? I guess if I believed in it I would be.

No way. I wouldn't spend it, either. I'd hang on to it until someone came looking for it, then I'd personally give it back to them if I saw a story int he paper or on the news. Not because I want to be on the evening news because I don't. I want to know that whoever lost their money gets all of it back. I do not trust ANY government official with that kind of money these days.

If no one came forward after 6 months or so, then I keep it, assuming it was drug money or something. I certainly am not letting the criminal government keep it so it can disappear from police evidence. Screw that.

reply to post by imawlinn


Change your signature...

reply to post by Evil_Santa


It wouldn't be stealing, it's finding. There's a difference. If you're stupid enough to travel with that much money without an armed guard and a briefcase handcuffed to your arm, and then you're stupid enough to leave it set on the bus, then your money is better off with me.

Originally posted by imawlinn
reply to post by Evil_Santa

 

It wouldn't be stealing, it's finding. There's a difference. If you're stupid enough to travel with that much money without an armed guard and a briefcase handcuffed to your arm, and then you're stupid enough to leave it set on the bus, then your money is better off with me.

Stupid? Or, as in this case, possibly senile, vulnerable and confused? Shouldn't we be looking out for those who need care and support, rather than waiting for them to mess up so that we can profit from their honest mistakes?

Originally posted by imawlinn
reply to post by Evil_Santa

 

It wouldn't be stealing, it's finding. There's a difference. If you're stupid enough to travel with that much money without an armed guard and a briefcase handcuffed to your arm, and then you're stupid enough to leave it set on the bus, then your money is better off with me.

edit on 7-12-2012 by imawlinn because: (no reason given)

Taking something that doesn't belong to you is stealing. It doesn't matter if you find it on a bus, on a street, or on the dresser in a persons bedroom.

It also doen't matter where the money came from. All that matters is it wasn't the bus driver's money, and he did the right thing.
If I had been in his situation, and I have been, I would have done the same thing.