My simple story

[Storm Clarence]

A few months ago I was in the market.  I queued. There were only three of us on line (in the queue) at the service desk. The supermarket service desk only handles 'other' transactions e.g., wire funds, cigarettes, lottery, and check cashing; it doesn't concern itself with peas, meatloaf, or bacon strips (although I do wish they had a weed dispensary available; they do not, but that's not really what I want to write about.) I was in the queue for a couple of minutes when the next person began his transaction--one customer down, two of us to go.

The gentleman being serviced was taking some time to complete whatever he was doing. The woman in front of me started loudly complaining about the gentleman taking his sweet time to complete his transactions. She started cursing the gentleman; she ripped into the service clerk, she even turned to me and started complaining--I can only guess that she wanted my support. I turned away from her. She was so obnoxious and rude, and what a foul tongue. I could see the gentleman at the counter getting flustered by her insults, but he remained calm and polite. A few more minutes went by and the woman again started her complaints, and her tone grew louder by the word. I think most people in the market were laughing at her and shaking their heads in disbelief. A total time of about 12 minutes elapsed before the gentleman finished his transaction. As he walked away he looked at the woman and shook his head--she cursed him to no end. She approached the clerk with a very discernible insult before asking for an assortment of lottery tickets and daily number tickets. Between each ticket printing she scolded the clerk for being so slow and for being such a jerk. I sensed so much anger and hatred in this woman's words as she spewed rant after rant and curse after curse.

As she was finishing her transaction the clerk admonished her for being so rude. She ripped the tickets from the clerks hand throwing the money at the clerk as she stuffed the lottery tickets into her pocket as she walked away shouting obscenities and other derogatory remarks at one person who dared to look at her.

As all eyes were focused on her I noticed she dropped a couple of tickets as she was shoving them in her pocket. I wanted to tell her she dropped her tickets, but I did not. I picked up the tickets and stuffed them in my pocket.

Later that evening, while having a cocktail and posting to SLF, I remembered the lottery tickets and went to retrieved them from my jacket pocket.

Lo and behold one ticket hit.
$1,287,000.00

Is there a moral to this story? Should I care?

[Syo Emerald]

You just wanted to tell us you won something :catwink:

[Storm Clarence]

I always win something.  That's why I play... I am a winner.

 

[Perrie Juran]

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Storm Clarence wrote:

 

Is there a moral to this story? Should I care?

---

Depends on whether you want to go to jail or not.

[Storm Clarence]

Would you do a year for a cool million?  Another moral dilemma.

[Perrie Juran]

---

Storm Clarence wrote:

Would you do a year for a cool million?  Another moral dilemma.

---

“They are telling this of Lord Beaverbrook and a visiting Yankee actress. In a game of hypothetical questions, Beaverbrook asked the lady: ‘Would you live with a stranger if he paid you one million pounds?’ She said she would. ‘And if be paid you five pounds?’ The irate lady fumed: ‘Five pounds. What do you think I am?’ Beaverbrook replied: ‘We’ve already established that. Now we are trying to determine the degree.”

(mis-attributed to Winston Churchill)

But actually, if you were convicted you would also lose the proceeds.

[Storm Clarence]

... and in the meantime LATWTTB.

 

 

[Venus Petrov]

Two things come to mind:

1) Be kind to strangers and

2)  Finders; keepers

[Perrie Juran]

---

Storm Clarence wrote:

... and in the meantime LATWTTB.

 

 

---

But what do you do when the next day the Bank closes and all the money is gone?

Does he who laughs last really laugh best?

 

[Perrie Juran]

 

---

Venus Petrov wrote:

Two things come to mind:

1) Be kind to strangers and

2)  Finders; keepers

---

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Here in the US lottery tickets are not registered to a particular person.  As long as it is unsigned by the owner, whoever is in possession of the ticket sign it and can cash it in.  If you lose a winning ticket like this, you are just SOL.

[Perrie Juran]

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

Here in the US lottery tickets are not registered to a particular person.  As long as it is unsigned by the owner, whoever is in possession of the ticket sign it and can cash it in.  If you lose a winning ticket like this, you are just SOL.

---

Theft By Finding (pops)

 

Storm asked, "Is there a moral to this story? Should I care?"

I responded with a possible reason to care.

If there is a moral to the story, it would be "don't be a rude arse hole........you could lose all that you have," or what some would refer to as, "Karma is a **bleep**."

[SLtesterL2]

Good things shouldn't come to bad people. Then again, money does complicate things for some people so maybe it would've been karma if that woman got the money and it ruined her life

[Storm Clarence]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

Theft By Finding (pops)

 

 

---

Your link seems a tad outdated as it cites 1694 to 1869 British rulings.  This is the year 2013 and in the U.S. of A.

 

[Sephina Frostbite]

 Hey Storm remember me your best friend! lol jk..

[Perrie Juran]

---

Storm Clarence wrote:

---

Perrie Juran wrote:

Theft By Finding (pops)

 

 

---

Your link seems a tad outdated as it cites 1694 to 1869 British rulings.  This is the year 2013 and in the U.S. of A.

 

---

You are correct though the link does reference a U.S. case.

In the U.S., Larceny has mostly been incorporated into broader theft laws. Pops.

For a citation of a current U.S. law I give you Illinois Revised Statutes:

First, 765 ILCS 1020/27 establishes a Finders responsibilty and the code provides for Civil Penalties.

"If any person or persons find any lost goods, money, bank notes, or other choses in action, of any description whatever, such person or persons shall inform the owner thereof,"

But in addition, the action falls under the Theft laws, 720 ILCS 5/16-1 :

"a) A person commits theft when he or she knowingly:

        (1) Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over property of the owner

and (A) Intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property.

Because the Law establishes a responsibilty concerning found property in 1020/27, failing to follow the rules there is construed criminally under the broader terms of theft in 5/16-1.

 

[Dresden Ceriano]

This was a while back so I can't remember why my mom and I were standing in the supermarket service desk line.  The person before us was asking for a rain check on raisin bran so the clerk took out a rain check form and started filling it out on the counter in plain view.  Half way through, my mom looked at me and gestured with her eyes at the form and, when I looked at it, I saw that the clerk was filling out a rain check for "Raisin Brain".  Both my mother and I managed to contain ourselves from bursting out laughing until we left the store.

...Dres (Alright, so it's not as good a story... shoot me.)

[Madelaine McMasters]

...shoots you.

[Dresden Ceriano]

---

Madelaine McMasters wrote:

...shoots you.

---

I expect copies.

...Dres (You did mean with a camera, right?)

[Madelaine McMasters]

---

Dresden Ceriano wrote:

---

Madelaine McMasters wrote:

...shoots you.

---

I expect copies.

...Dres (You did mean with a camera, right?)

---

No, I don't think I could throw a camera hard enough to get the job done... and the recoil from a gun would knock me off my unicycle.

[Marigold Devin]

---

Storm Clarence wrote:

A few months ago I was in the market.  I queued. There were only three of us on line (in the queue) at the service desk. The supermarket service desk only handles 'other' transactions e.g., wire funds, cigarettes, lottery, and check cashing; it doesn't concern itself with peas, meatloaf, or bacon strips (although I do wish they had a weed dispensary available; they do not, but that's not really what I want to write about.) I was in the queue for a couple of minutes when the next person began his transaction--one customer down, two of us to go.

 

The gentleman being serviced was taking some time to complete whatever he was doing. The woman in front of me started loudly complaining about the gentleman taking his sweet time to complete his transactions. She started cursing the gentleman; she ripped into the service clerk, she even turned to me and started complaining--I can only guess that she wanted my support. I turned away from her. She was so obnoxious and rude, and what a foul tongue. I could see the gentleman at the counter getting flustered by her insults, but he remained calm and polite. A few more minutes went by and the woman again started her complaints, and her tone grew louder by the word. I think most people in the market were laughing at her and shaking their heads in disbelief. A total time of about 12 minutes elapsed before the gentleman finished his transaction. As he walked away he looked at the woman and shook his head--she cursed him to no end. She approached the clerk with a very discernible insult before asking for an assortment of lottery tickets and daily number tickets. Between each ticket printing she scolded the clerk for being so slow and for being such a jerk. I sensed so much anger and hatred in this woman's words as she spewed rant after rant and curse after curse.

As she was finishing her transaction the clerk admonished her for being so rude. She ripped the tickets from the clerks hand throwing the money at the clerk as she stuffed the lottery tickets into her pocket as she walked away shouting obscenities and other derogatory remarks at one person who dared to look at her.

As all eyes were focused on her I noticed she dropped a couple of tickets as she was shoving them in her pocket. I wanted to tell her she dropped her tickets, but I did not. I picked up the tickets and stuffed them in my pocket.

Later that evening, while having a cocktail and posting to SLF, I remembered the lottery tickets and went to retrieved them from my jacket pocket.

Lo and behold one ticket hit.

$1,287,000.00

Is there a moral to this story? Should I care?

---

The Puppetmaster sent you a test.  And you're damned if you care and damned if you don't, which reminds me of a situation that is closer to home currently.

And so, because you are damned anyway, you should just keep the money. But when you go and pick up your winnings and find the silly cursed cursing woman was so preoccupied with all the hate and venom she constantly has inside herself, she didn't realise she had actually slipped the cashier duplicated forms for her Lottery that week, and she also still had a winning ticket for $1,287,000.00, how are you going to feel coming face to face with her? 

Maybe what is at face value isn't all that there is. She's there, picking up her winnings, you're there, picking up your winnings too, and she's nicer and sweeter than apple pie, because she's been able to afford the meds that keep her physical and mental pains at bay, and no longer feels every second in a queue dragging like four minutes at a Photo-Me booth.

Karma, The Puppetmaster, (God?), Fate, your heart, your conscience, who is really in charge? Now that's the $1,287,000 dollar question.

[Solaria Goldshark]

---

Storm Clarence wrote:

 

As all eyes were focused on her I noticed she dropped a couple of tickets as she was shoving them in her pocket.

I wanted to tell her she dropped her tickets, but I did not. I picked up the tickets and stuffed them in my pocket.

Later that evening, while having a cocktail and posting to SLF, I remembered the lottery tickets and went to retrieved them from my jacket pocket.

Lo and behold one ticket hit.

$1,287,000.00

Is there a moral to this story? Should I care?

---

After you saw the woman drop the tickets, you wanted to tell her she had dropped her tickets.  The question for you, is to explain to us what stopped you from telling her.  You took revenge on something that wasn't about you, you took a moral high ground that you felt was justified, presumably because you also were irritated by this woman's actions.  You made your own morality judgment the moment you stuffed the tickets in your pocket.  What purpose did it serve?  No one saw you do it, the woman is ignorant of it.  The whole ordeal appears to have happened without anyone ever being the wiser for it.  The ticket hits, you cash it in and take the money.

You've already missed the opportunity to do the right thing, and I suppose the moral of the story is the actions we choose when emotional, or feeling offended, or just down right irritated, frustrated and annoyed are not the one's we'd otherwise choose.  But those are the moments that define a person's character.

...and having said all that, all that is left to say is....dang!  That's a lot of money.  Tempting indeed.

[Dresden Ceriano]

Wow, I thought the moral of the story was don't be an asshat in line at the customer service counter.

I have no doubt that whatever monies Storm may make from this experience will go to a worthy cause... after all, he is so very well endowed that he surely doesn't need it.  The only thing I think Storm should care about is whether he should donate the money to a useful charity or give it back to the douche bag in line.

...Dres

[Phil Deakins]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

“They are telling this of Lord Beaverbrook and a visiting Yankee actress. In a game of hypothetical questions, Beaverbrook asked the lady: ‘Would you live with a stranger if he paid you one million pounds?’ She said she would. ‘And if be paid you five pounds?’ The irate lady fumed: ‘Five pounds. What do you think I am?’ Beaverbrook replied: ‘We’ve already established that. Now we are trying to determine the degree.”

(mis-attributed to Winston Churchill)

---

I remember it being attributed to Winston Churchill and I also remember learning that that was wrong when I learned that it was someone else who said it, but it wasn't Beaverbrook. I think it was Noel Coward but I'm not certain. Whoever said it, it's brilliant

[Venus Petrov]

---

Marigold Devin wrote:

The Puppetmaster sent you a test.  And you're damned if you care and damned if you don't, which reminds me of a situation that is closer to home currently.

And so, because you are damned anyway, you should just keep the money. But when you go and pick up your winnings and find the silly cursed cursing woman was so preoccupied with all the hate and venom she constantly has inside herself, she didn't realise she had actually slipped the cashier duplicated forms for her Lottery that week, and she also still had a winning ticket for $1,287,000.00, how are you going to feel coming face to face with her? 

Maybe what is at face value isn't all that there is. She's there, picking up her winnings, you're there, picking up your winnings too, and she's nicer and sweeter than apple pie,

because she's been able to afford the meds that keep her physical and mental pains at bay, and no longer feels every second in a queue dragging like four minutes at a Photo-Me booth.

Karma, The Puppetmaster, (God?), Fate, your heart, your conscience, who is really in charge? Now that's the $1,287,000 dollar question.

---

That line is supposed to make me go 'awwwwe' and 'tsk' at Storm for keeping her dropped tickets.  However, I would ask why is she spending money purchasing tickets, the vast majority of which will yield nothing, when she needs those funds for meds to improve her quality of life?  Another dilemma? 

This is the bane of lottery systems.  People who have few funds squander them on tickets hoping to roll the big one and the big one never comes.  Of course, people who can afford five homes also play the lottery and they lose, too.