Well I Wouldn't Do That Because It's Bad Karma...Found Money Discussion Continued

[Andara Bledin]

In 23 years, I've seen too many bad people prosper and too many good people suffer for there to be any reason to even believe it exists in any way, shape, or form.

That's really not at all how karma is supposed to work. But if you don't believe in either an afterlife or reincarnation, then you wouldn't have any reason to believe in karma, either.

I'm doubtful of those who claim they would "turn the bill in".

Been there, done that. More than once. Although those would all be at places such as inside stores or at events that a person who lost the money would have a chance of thinking to retrieve it. $20 lying in the street with no way to tell where it came from? Money from Heaven.

As much as I like to have found money, I really dislike being the person who lost it (can't remember the last time this actually happened), so I try to return it whenever it's feasible.

A little empathy goes a long way. I wish more people would try it.

^-.-^

[Peppergirl]

Is anyone else tickled at the fact that people are bickering and arguing in a thread about karma?


Relax, I'm just kidding. I know that's what Fratch is for...I just found it a bit ironic.

[Andara Bledin]

This isn't so much about karma as about people's mis-use and misunderstanding of karma as a platform for their own display of supposed superiority.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

I guess I'm arguing over the misused karma people seem to love to talk about. Not the "the events will sum up at the end of your life and will base your next life on them".

But no, I don't believe in afterlife or reincarnation so I wouldn't believe in the actual karma. But I'm not arguing because it's no different from arguing over whether there's a God or not.

[HYHYBT]

I don't believe in karma either, but have no problem with those who do. Since, if I lost something, I'd like to be able to find it, when I find something I try to see it's returned if there's any ready way of doing so. Do as you would be done by and all that. But a nondescript 20, in a busy street or parking lot, that's just not going to happen. Last time I did find such a thing, I did first stand by it a couple minutes to see if anyone came looking for what they'd dropped before claiming it as mine. If it were at work, I'd have held onto it in case anyone came looking. (Because really, who goes around asking people if they've seen random amounts of money just in case someone else had just lost the same thing in the same place and the person who found it was still there?) If it were something more unusual (say, the $20 was ten old red-serial-numbered $2 bills) or a large amount (say, a roll of 100's) then you *know* someone will come looking for it, and therefore you ought to do what you reasonably can to give them a chance to find it. If not because it's the right thing to do, then because the roll of 100's could have a history that would cause trouble.

[Mytical]

Well, with all the horrible luck I have, and being a rather nice person..I must be the reincarnation of somebody that made Attila the Hun look like a girl scout . There for a time, I would get a job..and..

My vehicle at the time would just stop running. OR
I'd be in an accident and get hurt OR
The place that hired me would suddenly go belly up (when they were on a hiring bonanza..indicating things were good). OR
Some other freak occurrence would happen. *shrugs*

Which is why I've had way too many jobs .

[Kaylyn]

The Wiccan version of karma is summed up as such, and I'm paraphrasing: Any energy you put forth will be returned to you threefold. So basically, if you cause harm to someone, you're theoretically expected to have three times as much harm done to you in some way. It's meant to be like the Golden Rule of Christianity, as in if everyone followed it, the world would be a better place.

I'm no longer Wiccan (actually have recently tipped the scales into atheism lately) and, like you, Greenday, no longer believe in karma for the same reasons as you. I was sick of bending over backwards for people that really didn't deserve it, only to have the universe barf on my shoes. And I know the Buddhist concept of karma is different, so I won't speak of it because I'm not an expert.

But in a nutshell, I don't think you did anything karmically wrong. An unmarked $20 laying on the ground, with no one around searching for it, is fair game in my opinion. For all you know, it could be GOOD karma being returned to you for whatever reason. Now if I were to pick up that $20 and step outside, and see someone sitting on the curb crying because they just lost $20, I'd give it to them, whether that was specifically their $20 or not. But I probably wouldn't just turn a random $20 into the lost-and-found; chances are just as good that someone in L&F would take it for their own than it finding its way back to its owner. And if I realized I felt really bad about taking that $20, I'd donate it to some charity I felt deserved it.

[NateSean]

Found Money Discussion Continued

I decided to bring this here, because it's exactly where the discussion was going to go.

The discussion in CS.com was over finding money and whether or not to return it or keep it. My response was that if I don't see who dropped it I will pocket it. And consequently, if someone asks me if I found money (either the exact denomination, or the area where I found it) then I will of course give it up to them.

My argument is that it could be easily replaced.

The response to this was in this post and this is why I brought it here to Fratching.

When my husband left me and our one year old son I had $50 to my name-couldn't get a job as my ex-husband had all my paperwork. My son got sick and needed medicine(he had cryptosporidium, vomiting and diarrhea), his medicine was $30-which left me with $20 to buy food for him for two weeks. No way to get to any kind of food bank.

So $20 may not seem like much, and may seem "easily replaceable", but if I had dropped that final $20-yeah you'd have had maybe 3 drinks, and my child would've gone hungry. As it was I went without food so he could eat-I rationed myself to one packet of ramen per day($1.50), he got 3 meals.

Now, I definitely understand where you're coming from. And I'm not in anyway downplaying the severity of your situation, or the situation of someone else who might have lost the bills.

But unfortunately, even I were to return say, a 50$ to the proper authorities, there's no guarantee that it would return to you. There just isn't.

And my parents told me a similar story of how they found a $100 dollar bill once and used it to buy diapers and such. In your situation, if it was the reverse and you had found the money, I have no doubt you would have used it towards your child.

So, likewise, guilt doesn't play into my actions when it comes to finding money.

[Gravekeeper]

Guilt laden sob story aside, money is very difficult to trace back to the proper owner even for the authorities. Unless it was in some sort of indentifying container, you're pretty much SOL. Especially small amounts or single bills. Just not going to happen. It doesn't matter how much or how little you needed that money, its not going to make it any more traceable even for the proper authorities. I don't think you need worry you're destroying lives by picking a $50 off the sidewalk.

[Ree]

Since we had 2 threads that were both inspired by the same thread on CS, I have merged them into one.

[Gravekeeper]

Oh, Voltron thread. Didn't know karma was suppose to be a part of it too.

And I know the Buddhist concept of karma is different, so I won't speak of it because I'm not an expert.

<Resident Buddhist> It's not bad karma to pick up an errant bill off the ground. Its your intended action that matters. If you saw someone drop it, picked it up and pocketed it yourself. That would be "bad" karma. But finding it with no indication of its owner and no way to get it back to its owner isn't bad karma. Technically, you could even look at it as good karma for yourself. >.> </Resident Buddhist>