I won an ipod nano at Tim Hortons. Well, not really but kinda.
This past week, we had a video technician install our new video projector and video system at the church. He is a really nice guy and did a great job.
On Friday morning, he showed up with his breakfast: a coffee and a muffin from Tim Hortons.
He finished his work Friday afternoon and headed back to the coast - job well done.
On Saturday night, I was working late in the sound/video room playing with the projector and setting stuff up for Sunday. On my way home, I noticed his discarded Tim Hortons cup in a box of garbage that he had left from Friday. It seemed to me that the rim had not been rolled up yet. My curiosity got the better of me and I checked it out. The first word I saw was "ipod"! My heart raced. My suspicions were confirmed once I fully unraveled the rim: I was holding a winning Tim Horton's cup and the prize was an ipod nano!
I did know that the cup wasn't mine. I knew it was Terry's (video tech). And my immediate thought was that I should tell him and offer to send it to him.
I had Angela read the rim at home and proceeded to burst her bubble when I said it was not mine.
Now, Sunday morning rolls around and I'm telling people this story. The overwhelming response was: "finder's keeper's, loosers wheepers." Everyone except my parents and my senior pastor said that I should claim it as mine. Terry would never know. So, untill I talked to people about it, I didn't feel like I was suffering from a moral dilema.
After weighing the decision, I decided to still tell Terry about the cup. And this morning I did. I asked him what he wanted me to do with it. He wants me to mail it to him!
Honestly, when I recieved that reply via email, I was crestfallen and I still am. I let myself believe that he was a nice person who would probably let me keep it since he allready had an ipod and since he did throw the cup in the garbage. I thought he may operate by the "finder's keeper's" rule but I guess not.
So, I was a winner for a while. Now I am not.
And I don't really know if I have done the right thing.
One of the pat answeres I heard was "well, you will be rewarded in other ways." Not what I want to hear and I would argue that it is not necessarily true.
But I need something better to raise my spirits. What do you think? Did I do the right thing?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
How do you know if you have done the right thing?
@ 10:56 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
14 comments:
I still think you did the right thing although I was sure you were going to get to keep the thing...crazy...and about rewards for doing the right thing? I don't think they always come they way we think or would want...but it should would be nice to win the car...
I would have told him about the cup as well. Doesn't matter if he would never know, you would. Better to lose an IPOD you never had than to have an ill-gotten IPOD to remind you. :)
(also how did i get signed up on this? Lenny automatically entered as my display name? can you say creepy?)
"Whoever would keep the iPod will lose it, but whoever gives the iPod away for my sake will get one someday, somehow."
Jesus said, it man. :)
Seriously, though, I think you did the right thing. For some reason, "finders keepers, losers weepers" doesn't sound like a Christian principle to me, at least in this situation where you knew the person who discarded the cup. I think the proper Christian perspective is "do unto others..."
If you just found the cup without knowing the circumstances it would be different, of course.
My question is, can you really be sure it was Terry's cup... its not like he's the only person in the world who drinks a cup 'o Tim's every now and then.
course you already have an ipod anyways my friend, which seems to be serving you well if my memory serves me
I think the question is, how far up the prize scale do you go before you keep it? An IPOD, ok, so you give it back...that's a medium loss (although I'm sure you have liked another one)...but what if it had been a vehicle? Does that make it easier or harder?
Well, it's good to know that others feel it was the right thing to do.
Totally Lenny, I'd be reminded all the time that the ipod wasn't really mine - that would suck.
Marc, do you think we Christians who would have done the right thing in this case would have chosen to act differently if we were not Christ followers? I would hope we would do the right thing but maybe my question is what is our standard for right and wrong? A question I am putting out there. (I know the answer for myself but I'd be interested in what a non-Christ follower would say).
If it were the car, I would like to think that I would have done the same thing, only, I'd really make it known to Terry how much of a temptation it was to keep it and if it weren't for my "goodness" he would never get the car. I don't know what that would really accomplish.
And, I put the brim in the mail today. It's now gone. . .
Good for you for calling the guy and good for you for sending it off...If your kids were old enough to see and know what was going on, they'd be proud of you too.
Hmmm...I was sure I'd posted another comment here. Did I get buh-leted?
Bizarre. Maybe blogger was acting up. Or maybe I posted the comment on the wrong post...
No, idea what happened there Marc. I only know of that one post.
Bizarre. Well, let me say it again.
I mentioned your little predicament to our small group and was surprised that most people thought you should have kept the iPod. They were of the opinion that if you had to dig through the trash to find the cup, it certainly wasn't wanted. Whatever. I stand by my original position on the issue.
Dixie asked an interesting question about this last night. If it was me that received a call about a winning cup which I had discarded, what would I do? I'd like to think that I'd say, "Nah, you keep it. I threw it out." But that's easy to say when we're speaking hypothetically.
As for your question about non-Christ-followers, I couldn't tell you. It would depend on the person, as each one would have a different approach. Standards of right and wrong? Also from a variety of places. But then I am a Christ-follower, so I couldn't say for sure...
What would I do if I were called and the caller said they had found my cup and I won a prize? Honestly, I would probably say "thanks! Send it over!." If it were a coffee or a donut, I wouldn't really care but anything else . . .
It's crazy how caught up I can get in all this prize thinking.
I take people out for coffee and I'll usually buy - it's part of the job. I sometimes thinkg (instead of listening) that if they roll up some sweet prize, would I argue that I bought it therefore it is mine or would I be happy for them and congratulate them? What if it were the car? Does it make a difference at the size of the prize? What if someone buys me a coffee and I win? Should I give them the prize.
I hate that I get caught up in all that thinking. It is very unlikely that any of that would happen.
Legally, it was yours. Personally, I think it was yours as well. Someone throws something in the trash, it becomes public domain. But you did a nice thing, no question.
And if you buy someone a coffee, you are giving a gift, and the prize goes with it, unfortunately...
Post a Comment