Karma?

[South Texan]

We took a day trip to the Texas coast today. Most beaches were crowded, to say the least, but we happen to know of a stretch that is relatively unknown to most tourists.

I made a trip to the HEB grocery store about ten miles from the beach spot for lunch makings while the rest of my clan was on the beach. After unloading my purchases into my car, I had just put my cart into one of the parking lot cart corrals, when I saw some young college age “men” dumping a few cases of beer into ice chests next to a Jeep Cherokee.

All was fine until I noticed one of the guys just push their cart a little way away from the vehicle and start to get into the driver’s seat as his buddies threw the ice chests into the back. I must have allowed my facial features to display what I was thinking, as the driver took notice of me, got back out of the vehicle and shoved the cart hard in my direction while shouting, “Here, mother (faker). You don’t like it? YOU put it away.”

He and his buddies then cracked up as they all jumped into the vehicle and sped out of the parking lot while shooting me the fingers.

I just shook my head, caught the cart and pushed it into the corral. I decided to be nice and throw away the empty ice bags and beer boxes they had left in the cart. It was then that I noticed something in the kid’s seat area of the cart. A bank’s teller envelope was sitting there.

It did not appear empty.

I looked inside.

It WASN’T empty!!!!!!!!

The guy had left over four hundred dollars in the cart.

What was I to do? I mean I COULDN’T just leave it there for some dishonest person to pick up and walk away with. So I decided that I would keep the cash for safety and would return it to him when (and if) I ever see him again – even though he was wearing sun glasses and a ball cap which makes it very difficult for me to remember what he really looks like. I wrote that very message out to him on the envelope and left it on the cart should he have decided to come back looking for it, but (darn it) I ran out of room before I could put down my name or cell phone number. Such ROTTEN luck!

At least I know he and his buds had plenty of beer.

[Krivak]

hmm. What a generous tip he gave you in return for helping him put his cart away.

[Andara Bledin]

*points at party douchebag and laughs*

Nice karmic bonus.

^-.-^

[Red_Dazes]

Oh man... some part of me wants to tell you that 'That was the wrong thing to do, and you shouldn't have let your emotions suck you down to his level..."

....But I only pretend to be a nice person... and $400 well makes up for any 'good feelings' I might get about doing the right thing. ^_^ Well played. Hope you bought something nice.

[Midorikawa]

Nice tip he left you!

...so uhh...share with a fellow Texan? :-P

[bainsidhe]

Since we're talking karma here, the right thing to do would be to turn it in to the police. Just sayin'

Besides, if they don't contact the police, that usually means you get to claim it after a few weeks. Now that's karma.

[magician5]

Sometimes, by surprise, we're called upon to be the agents of the gods in this world. SouthTexan answered the call and rose to the occasion. Ain't it glorious?

[dalesys]

Funniest of all, somehole isn't going to get any more beer this week!

[LillFilly]

Wow. I'm torn. He so deserved punishment, but $400 is a pretty expensive punishment!

Maybe I would have left half for him...

[Ree]

OK...we've had a bit of behind the scenes second guessing of this situation by some members who are concerned about the legality of this situation, and I've noticed a few gently worded posts in the thread questioning how it was handled.

I've been doing some thinking about it, and I guess it's time to send a little mod reminder.

What's done is done.
This situation has already occurred. It is not in progress.
There's no point in people posting what they would have done, or lecturing South Texan on what should have been done.

We all handle ethical situations in different ways, and just because you would do something a certain way, that does not mean everyone will do the same.

South Texan posted an incident where a guy acted like a prick, and in the process, ended up leaving something valuable behind.
There are a lot of life rules and proverbs that could apply here.
To the dude who was behaving badly we can apply the good old, "Pride goeth before a fall."
To the OP, we can offer a reminder of the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do to you."

Then there's the other little rule of the playground, "Finders, keepers. Losers, weepers."

On the other hand, we have the laws of the land, which vary from place to place, but probably all have some form of a law that deals with this type of situation when a person finds something and has knowledge of who it belongs to, but keeps it anyway.

We can also point out the irony of the post title and remind the OP that Karma goes both ways.
Just as the asshole brought bad karma onto himself by acting like a dick, the OP could be doing the same by not making an effort to turn the money in to the police as a found item.

The OP left a note to tell the dude his money had been found if he comes back looking for it. He didn't leave any contact info, but then, why would he leave his identifying info on a paper in a public place?

Yes, he could have left a note telling the dude to go check with the store lost and found or the police because he had turned it in to them.

As I said, there was a right way and a wrong way to handle this, and each of us knows how we personally would have dealt with it.

The fact is, South Texan handled it one way, and whether we agree with it or not, this is not the place for lectures on morality, discussions of the legality of the situation, or debates over whether the right thing was done.
If anyone wants to discuss that aspect, start a fratching thread.

The dude on the parking lot acted like a dick and ended up doing something pretty stupid in the process.

That should be the focus of this thread.

[Sheldonrs]

It would be cool if you had his address, made a donation to AA and sent him the donation receipt. :-)

[ralerin]

Actually, I second the donation aspect. Forget turning in the money to the police-he, in all probability, is a tourist and would not have noticed it until he was 500 miles away-too far to drive back.

Donating it to a charity is a way to keep the circle of karma going.

[MrTim]

I must have allowed my facial features to display what I was thinking, as the driver took notice of me, got back out of the vehicle and shoved the cart hard in my direction while shouting, “Here, mother (faker). You don’t like it? YOU put it away.”
A bank’s teller envelope was sitting there.
It did not appear empty.
I looked inside.
It WASN’T empty!!!!!!!!
The guy had left over four hundred dollars in the cart.

You put it away, just as he told you to do. Enjoy your cash!

[RetailWorkhorse]

I'm gonna take a WILD guess and say....you went to Padre Island National Seashore?

It would figure, seeing as I found so many empty beer bottles on the beach....right under the NO GLASS CONTAINERS sign yesterday. -_-

SANDFEST THIS WEEKEND.

[HYHYBT]

Well after all, he *did* give it to you