Question of Ethics

Replace the silver with your own quarters, cashiers do that a lot.

Don't give it a thought unless someone comes to reclaim them you are fine.

One of the perks of working with cash.

Good for you!

I'd never give you a job, if you are as dishonest as that post suggests.

Well I would never work for you.

Many people are unaware of the value of things they own. That's been proven at garage sales. You can't blame the buyer for getting a bargain.

Agreeing with you depending on the situation.

If working as a cashier where anyone/everyone comes in an out, I'd have no qualms about some random or few coins.

If however, it was a situation like relaxed said, I'd hold on to them.
If there are a limited number of people, or I knew a lot, most or all of the people who would have used that money, I'd put it aside.

I'm not going to say "stealing is wrong, don't ever do it" That could get to the point of ridiculous. You could come to the point of spliting hairs where you question if every bill/note or coin could have meant something to the person spending it, and it was an accident they used it to pay.

You know, I've actually thought about that when I hear stories of something of big value being found at an individuals garage sale.

I think it would be bad karma to not go back and give the original person a reasonable percentage of what I gained by selling that object. To do otherwise would be greedy.

However, if it was bought at a Goodwill or other thrift store, of course you don't know who donated it.

I guess maybe I'd give a donation to the thrift store.

I already give donations to charities. Maybe, giving the proceeds to a charity is the best way to resolve this.

I once walked up to an ATM at a gas station and the cash drawer was open and there were some notes showing. It looked like someone had walked away without collecting the cash. (50 UK pounds, about $65 US) I took it and thought I was clever. 3 days later I got mugged by 2 guys. One held my arms while the other searched my pockets and found 15 pounds, about $20. When I shouted "**** off", he punched me in the face. Karma or concidence? My minds says 'conicidence' but something else says 'karma'. I picked them out at an ID parade a month later and they got 2 years for a string of similar offences, so they got their karma too.

Now I work in financial governance and part of my job is detecting and addressing fraud, theft and other types of irregularity, which might explain my somewhat strict attitude towards theft of cash.

I agree Chai there can be mitigating circumstances. For instance if the owner of the machines happened to mention they collect silver quarters then it would be highly dishonest.

But in a few days these quarters will in all probability be counted at bank by a machine and the only one who profits then are the already greedy banks who make their living off "stealing money".

Then again trying to track down whose quarters these belonged (past tense) to and then you have invested time that is otherwise wasted and better served elsewhere.

Unless the owner has stipulated a like for silver quarters I still say replace 'em and don't say a word unless asked about them.

If asked about them say, well, you never stipulated you collected silver quarters, now that I know I will reconsider if this job is worth my time...

TheCobbler, I see people like you in court every week. They don't sound so clever when they are handed a big fine or jail time.

I see people like you all the time so uptight they live a miserable life and need to take it out on others to appease their sorry existence. They make life hard on others to satisfy their miserable state of mind.

Have you ever been a clerk at a 7-11?

I have! I worked for minimum wage, and was held up at gunpoint! Every single day I had to call the police on some vagrant running out of the store with a bag of beer. Every day I put my life in danger for the lowest pay possible. If I ran out of the store into the parking lot to chase down a thief I was no longer insured!

This "stealing"you elude to, if a cashier does not swap a coin they will simply hand it out to the next person who comes into the store needing change.

You are behaving like an idiot. Unless the owner of the machines has stipulated this is not acceptable then there is no reason to worry about it.

It is not stealing.

Not at what this person is being paid hourly.

I did, Chai.
But, you are 'assuming' the 'right-thing's' purpose in accordance to your cultural-training.

The OP's job is to take the contents of a box from point A to point B.
The content/s of the box are not his concern.

So, you're saying you would not have looked or cared that the coins were silver, and therefore more valuable? That you would have just deposited it in the bank?

If you did, then the person who it turns out did not mean to have his silver coins used in a washing machine would have permanently lost his property.

You're not stealing the coins if you exchange them for regular coins, then make an effort to find the proper owner.

That's called being kind.

As it stands, it worked, because the owner of the silver coins has stepped forward.

If a reasonable/signifcant amount the time had passed, and reasonable efforts had been made, they are available to you.

Many people glance at the coins in their pockets to see if any are unusual, or of worth. There's nothing wrong with noticing what was in the coin box of the washing machine.

Let's say the coin box was full of slugs (conterfeit coins). Are you saying since your only "job" is to transport the contents from point a to point b, you wouldn't alert the owner someone is cheating him?

Unless point b is the bank and the employee was charged with depositing the money into the owner's account, I don't think it would be necessary to tell him or her of the presence of slugs in the take, but I take your point.

Based on the notion, though, that the employee may only transport the take from point a to point b, his effort to find the owner of the silver coins would be a breach of his "employment contract" if not his ethics.

I still maintain that the owner has no more right to the benefit of a customer's error than anyone else.

If in the course of a day, 25 customers each deposit in the machines a total of $1.00 in coins, at the end of the day the owner is due $25.00. It's what he expects and what he has a right to.

Of course, the situation would be different if the owner specifically told the employee something to the effect of "I want you to bring me all the coins deposited in the machine because I go through them to see if anyone has used a silver coin or even a rare coin."

In such a case the expectations of the owner will have been expanded and communicated to the employee who, I will argue, is then obligated to meet them, even if he feels sorry for the person who might have made the mistake. It's not a crime to accept a silver coin so he wouldn't be abetting one.

If the employee finds a wallet stuffed with cash in one of the machines, is he obligated to give the wallet to his employer simply because it was found in his machine? I don't think so. Is he obligated to make a good faith effort to return it to the rightful owner? I do think so.

You're exactly making the case here for the employee to separate out the silver coins, put them aside, replace with his own, and try to seek the owner of the wallet.

In real life, I think we can both agree that few, if any employers would say to the employee "Don't look in the coin box! You're not allowed to see what's in there. Just take the contents to the bank and let them worry about it." is silly. This isn't an armoured car business.

In this case, from my experience as a kid at emptying out the soda machine coins from the machine at my fathers business, you had to look at the coins. You didn't take out the coin holder and take it to the bank, or to the owner, in this case my dad. Then there would be no compartment for the customers to drop their coins in. You had to empty it out into another container. I don't remember specifically silver coins, but I remember seeing a few Canadian coins mixed in there. Funny, back then though, it wasn't any big deal. I also remember getting and giving the random Canadian coin at stores.

The guy had to view the coins to empty them from the washing machines

If you found a wallet, or silver coins or anything in the normal course of things, the ethical thing is to put the specific object aside, if appropriate turn over to your boss, and if possible find the rightful owner. That might include passing it along to the authorities, as in police. If after a reasonable time no one claims it, it's yours.

Cultural training? None of your concern?

Even in the bible Jesus tells the story of 3 servants given money, and the one who basically said "it's none of my concern" and buried it for safe keeping got in trouble with the boss for basically being an idiot and not looking beyond his nose.

I believe the lesson in the bible was to use your abilities to help others. (boss, God, other people)

I think it applies here by being intelligent enough to separate out the objects of value, for the potential benefit of someone else, or if not possible, for yourself.

I'm not even religious, never even cared to that bible story, but it seems my ethics tell me the same thing.

There's also that bit in Genesis about being your brothers keeper.

One story I do recall I liked was about the Good Samaritan. We used to sing a song about it that's running through my head right now. The refrain went

Who is my neighbor?
Who claims my words and deeds?
Anyone in need, everyone indeed.



When I was working, I had to organize a lot of events, and make a lot of purchases. No one ever specifically told me to get the best deal but I would have been a fool if I didn't. I'm glad I didn't walk around with my finger up my nose thinking "it's not my concern"

Heh. Here's the song, it was written in 1968. I would have been 10 years old.

It had a bouncy little beat I remember. I liked it a lot.

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
He fell among robbers who beat him and left him to die,
abandoned him and branded him for every passerby.
Refrain
Who is my neighbor? Who claims my word and deed.
Anyone in need, anyone in need.
A priest came along the road, looked upon the stranger,
winced at his nakedness, shrugged, and passed him by.
A Levite came along, looked away, and let him lie. Refrain
Then a Samaritan chanced upon the stranger,
and deeply moved as though he were of kin,
he put him on his beast and took him to an inn. Refrain
So a Samaritan took pity on a stranger,
bound up his wounds and never even left his name.
And Jesus said: “Go out and do the same.” Refrain

I like the story in Les Miserables.

How are you making the connection ci?

This article describes the story very well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Misérables

It was required reading in junior high school, and when the musical was playing at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC when we were there on vacation, I took my sister and niece to see the show. Another story in how I was able to obtain the tickets when it was sold out.