A question of ethics

[tenguzero]

I didn't purposefully "steal" the thing -- the girl messed up and didn't charge me for it, and it didn't really register to me until a day or two later. But yeah, that karma thing has always kinda hassled my ass. I found two dollars in the parking lot near Christmas time last year, and instead of keeping it I put it the Salvation Army pot on the sidewalk. And do you know what I said to myself? "It wasn't mine anyways, so karma says I'll benefit in the long run."

The catch is, what would karma think if I made a copy of the DVD on my computer THEN returned it? I AM making a copy of it for my own use, but I'm also returning the original to them... would that balance out?

[fredjacksonsan]

Originally Posted by tenguzero

I didn't purposefully "steal" the thing -- the girl messed up and didn't charge me for it, and it didn't really register to me until a day or two later.

Sounds like you're trying to justify keeping it.

Originally Posted by tenguzero

But yeah, that karma thing has always kinda hassled my ass. I found two dollars in the parking lot near Christmas time last year, and instead of keeping it I put it the Salvation Army pot on the sidewalk. And do you know what I said to myself? "It wasn't mine anyways, so karma says I'll benefit in the long run."

The catch is, what would karma think if I made a copy of the DVD on my computer THEN returned it? I AM making a copy of it for my own use, but I'm also returning the original to them... would that balance out?

There's right and wrong. You know the right thing to do.

[Rally Sport]

Well, you're not really doing anything bad except saving some money. Just depends on how you feel on it and sounds like you want a copy for yourself.

[tenguzero]

Bah. It's already gone back. I didn't really have the desire from the beginning to keep it (which as already noted was probably why I initially posted this) and I decided against copying it (I'm not so cheap a person that I can't just buy it.) Plus I've never been a fan of making copies of movies and whatnot, not so much because of copyright/piracy issues (want to guess how much the artists see from the sale of used CDs/DVDs?) but since I'd rather have the pretty packaging as well

[mike1224]

burn a copy of it, then return it. you both will be happy
edit: return the original of course


sorry, just saw your previous post..... didn't mean to voice my opinion a little late

[AlmostStock]

There was a new teller at our bank who quickly became known for being rude to customers. Once, in the drive through, she gave me two one hundred dollar bills for a $200 withdrawl. I handed one of the bills back and asked for change. She huffed, grabbed the bill and then made me wait while she continued with another transaction. When she finally came back to me she inadvertently gave me $200 in change! At first I wasn't sure if it was a mistake (since I was withdrawing $200) but then I asked my wife if she had kept one of the bills. She confirmed that she had. Since all my paperwork was correct, there was no way the one hundred shortfall could have been traced to us. Normally I would have given the money back right there, but because of this tellers record I went inside instead. While returning the money to the bank manager I was told that there had been several complaints about the new girl. A couple weeks later we never seen her again.

On the flip side I once left my wallet in a phone booth. It was returned intact, all the money included.

[Rally Sport]

Originally Posted by AlmostStock

There was a new teller at our bank who quickly become known for being rude to customers. Once, in the drive through, she gave me two one hundred dollar bills for a $200 withdraw. I handed one of the bills back and asked for change. She huffed, grabbed the bill and then made me wait while she continued with another transaction. When she finally came back to me she inadvertently gave me $200 in change! At first I wasn't sure if it was a mistake (since I was withdrawing $200) but then I asked my wife if she had kept one of the bills. She confirmed that she had. Since all my paperwork was correct, there was no way the one hundred shortfall could have been traced to us. Normally I would have given the money back right there, but because of this tellers record I went inside instead. While returning the money to the bank manager I was told that there had been several complaints about the new girl. A couple weeks later we never seen her again.

Thats an awesome story.