- Joined
- Dec 3, 2017
- Messages
- 19,545
This topic is one I have been fascinated with for most of my life. For me, it is not just an ethical thought, but also having an idea about what to do if you do find or lose something. It may not be a life and death situation now, but it may have been for others. Values and ethics play strongly into this, but strategy does as well.
It is also about training. If your parents ever lost or found something, how they handled it rubbed off on you.
If someone drops or leaves something behind, does it truly belong to the person who finds it? Is it Finder's keepers, losers weepers?
And if you lose something, what are the strategies to finding it? Can it be found? Was it stolen? Does it matter?
What do people lose? Keys, wallets, phones, cameras, bags, dogs, cats, other animals, rings, watches, money, glasses, suitcases, and more.
The most valuable thing I have lost, that I can remember, was a pair of prescription sunglasses. I retraced my steps, have asked, and have never found them. I think I left them at Home Depot one evening when I was teaching. I asked at the service counter, and they were not turned in. They were of little use to anyone else, unless they had the lenses replaced with their own prescription.
I looked and watched on Craigslist Lost and Found as well. Nothing.
If someone cared to get them back to their owner, they would have been left at the service counter. They never were.
I lost a purse when I was a teenager. I was visiting a relative at an air base and my purse was later found in a ditch close to the PX where it went missing.
I have shared this story, on the previous forum about finding a very large gym bag in the middle of a multi-lane freeway, early in the morning. I had research to do, but I found the owner. It belonged to a girl who played on a softball team that was on it's way to National's in Nevada. The bag was worth more than $1,000. How did I find out whose it was? There was no name on anything! I saw the uniform with the team name and searched for that team on the internet. I found it. Then I looked into the site and contacted someone whose number was listed. It was determined whose bag it was. I arranged to meet someone and return the bag.
What have you lost, and what have you found? What strategies do you use to find your lost items or to return items you have found?
The other thing, how well are your items labeled that you would like returned if they were to be accidentally dropped or lost? I have a 4 x 6 zippered pouch that I keep in my purse with lip conditioner, band aids, tweezers, etc. I also keep my extra cash in there and it is no small amount. I do need a new plan for where to keep my cash. I misplaced that pouch just a couple days ago. Yikes. I looked and looked for it, and thought maybe I had dropped it in a parking lot after I used the lip treatment. I found it in the console in my car. I have no idea when I put it there, but I do keep a small tackle container that is divided into 5 sections to keep coins sorted, so I can grab exact change when I want it. I must have gotten coins out, took a $20 bill out of my pouch and put them both in the console.
When I was looking for the pouch, it occurred to me that there was zero identification in or on it. I am going to make some laminated basic information cards with first name (maybe) and phone number. I will do this for a few items (purse, backpacks, etc.). I should have done this long ago. It occurs to me that I could make up a few of these for gifts as well. I have plenty of cardstock, lamination, laminator, and rings for attaching them.
It is also about training. If your parents ever lost or found something, how they handled it rubbed off on you.
If someone drops or leaves something behind, does it truly belong to the person who finds it? Is it Finder's keepers, losers weepers?
And if you lose something, what are the strategies to finding it? Can it be found? Was it stolen? Does it matter?
What do people lose? Keys, wallets, phones, cameras, bags, dogs, cats, other animals, rings, watches, money, glasses, suitcases, and more.
The most valuable thing I have lost, that I can remember, was a pair of prescription sunglasses. I retraced my steps, have asked, and have never found them. I think I left them at Home Depot one evening when I was teaching. I asked at the service counter, and they were not turned in. They were of little use to anyone else, unless they had the lenses replaced with their own prescription.
I looked and watched on Craigslist Lost and Found as well. Nothing.
If someone cared to get them back to their owner, they would have been left at the service counter. They never were.
I lost a purse when I was a teenager. I was visiting a relative at an air base and my purse was later found in a ditch close to the PX where it went missing.
I have shared this story, on the previous forum about finding a very large gym bag in the middle of a multi-lane freeway, early in the morning. I had research to do, but I found the owner. It belonged to a girl who played on a softball team that was on it's way to National's in Nevada. The bag was worth more than $1,000. How did I find out whose it was? There was no name on anything! I saw the uniform with the team name and searched for that team on the internet. I found it. Then I looked into the site and contacted someone whose number was listed. It was determined whose bag it was. I arranged to meet someone and return the bag.
What have you lost, and what have you found? What strategies do you use to find your lost items or to return items you have found?
The other thing, how well are your items labeled that you would like returned if they were to be accidentally dropped or lost? I have a 4 x 6 zippered pouch that I keep in my purse with lip conditioner, band aids, tweezers, etc. I also keep my extra cash in there and it is no small amount. I do need a new plan for where to keep my cash. I misplaced that pouch just a couple days ago. Yikes. I looked and looked for it, and thought maybe I had dropped it in a parking lot after I used the lip treatment. I found it in the console in my car. I have no idea when I put it there, but I do keep a small tackle container that is divided into 5 sections to keep coins sorted, so I can grab exact change when I want it. I must have gotten coins out, took a $20 bill out of my pouch and put them both in the console.
When I was looking for the pouch, it occurred to me that there was zero identification in or on it. I am going to make some laminated basic information cards with first name (maybe) and phone number. I will do this for a few items (purse, backpacks, etc.). I should have done this long ago. It occurs to me that I could make up a few of these for gifts as well. I have plenty of cardstock, lamination, laminator, and rings for attaching them.