Robbed

[keiko]

I was robbed. Every dime I had (okay it was eight $20's, four $5's and fourteen $1's) was taken out of my purse either before it was turned into the mall lost and found, or after when the security team was looking for my ID.

I had all the money in my wallet to take to the bank on my way home from an early Doctor's appointment. I stopped at the mall to get Timmy a birthday present and to get some new pants. Grabbed lunch at the food court, apparently left my purse hanging on the chair when I went to the ladies room. I noticed it was missing when I got to the pretzel stand and was tempted to purchase a strawberry lemonade. Purse, wallet, lighter, cough drops, credit cards, ID's, all turned in by a black adult male in a blue t-shirt. The cash was gone. I had to take the things I had already purchased back to the shops so that I had cash to get home.

Anyone else had a suck ass day? Would you ever be tempted to take the cash out of a wallet/purse you were turning in to lost and found?

~K

[Aza]

No... no, my day was spent with you getting robbed, and so pretty much sucked all around.

[Amelia G]

Oh, that blows. I'm always almost forgetting my purse. *hugs*

Cool at least that someone turned it in, so you don't have to get new ID and all that.

[Raza]

Depends? I think I'd check the ID and how much money was in there. Apparent middle-class and up, it's going into my pocket, possibly with some prejudice against particularly bad mugshots. Bit of a stretch to call that a robbery though...

[Aza]

I think I'd check the ID and how much money was in there. Apparent middle-class and up, it's going into my pocket, possibly with some prejudice against particularly bad mugshots. Bit of a stretch to call that a robbery though...

How is that not robbery?

I'm about as lower-class as it gets at the moment, but if I pull a $10 bill out of a rich bastard's pants pocket, I'm still robbing him. He may have "robbed" me first somewhere down the line, but that doesn't justify what I've done... unless that $10 was saving mine or someone else's life on the spot.

And how exactly do you accurately judge a person's class status on how much money was in their wallet? K had $200 approximately in hers, but we're not exactly wealthy enough to be "middle class"; that was the vast majority of her present funds.

I'm hoping only that the asshole who took the cash really needed it... as in, his child's life was hanging in the balance or something. That's the only excuse I'll accept in the unlikely-to-impossible chance that I run into the guy again.

[Raza]

How is that not robbery?

I'm about as lower-class as it gets at the moment, but if I pull a $10 bill out of a rich bastard's pants pocket, I'm still robbing him.

If he's wearing the pants, maybe. If he threw them out forgetting there was money in them or something of that ilk, not so much. Can't really steal something from somebody if they've already lost it, themselves, although I'm sure the bastard would object on account of being robbed sounding far less like his own fault.

And how exactly do you accurately judge a person's class status on how much money was in their wallet? K had $200 approximately in hers, but we're not exactly wealthy enough to be "middle class"; that was the vast majority of her present funds.

Accurately? You don't, but that doesn't bother me much. If I'm holding the money in my hands, making an effort to look for things to convince me to return it is already an act of charity on my part, especially considering I wouldn't trust a middle man and thus would have to go to lengths to return it personally. If the situation fails to sway me in the window I allow it, pocketing it is a perfectly acceptable default.

[Nos]

Sorry to hear that sweetie! I had my camera stolen, from my bag, at school a couple weeks back .... this kinda thing always sucks

[Aza]

Can't really steal something from somebody if they've already lost it, themselves, although I'm sure the bastard would object on account of being robbed sounding far less like his own fault.

Ehhh... this doesn't hold up in this case. The money was marked as K's by the presence of K's photo ID and numerous other items of identification. The money clearly belonged to K. An ID accompanies a wallet or purse for the partial purpose of making sure the wallet or purse - and its contents - are eventually returned to their proper owner.

loose bills = morally acceptable salvage
money accompanied by ID = theft

[keiko]

the cash was accompanied by 2 state ids, a ss card, two insurance cards two work ids and a phone number to call if found, as well as receipts, deposit slips, two credit cards (both thankfully still in the wallet) two appointment reminders for my drs office and the insurance info on my boobs, all in a wallet that says KAE in big red letters on the side.Tthis was not a crown royal bag full of waded up ones found under a seat in a strip club, or a fiver next to the register, this was a wallet, a distinctive, identifiable wallet. the money might as well have been taken out of my hand, every dime I had to my name (the credit card is empty and the bank card has $6.14 on it). Taking the $200 out and turning the purse and wallet in is theft. There is no grey area here. I was robbed, plain and simple. And if you're the kind of person that would take any amount of money that isn't yours from a wallet that isn't yours, it makes you a thief. If you think I'm a bitch, wait till you meet Karma.

~K

[Mr Karl]

pockets are good

[nathanmbailey]

Personally, I wouldn't have even opened the bag, although a good portion of the reasoning deals with the stereotyped male purse phobia.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

Taking money that isn't yours is definietly bad karma. I wouldn't pull that shit. If it's $200.00, sitting in the street and nobody is around...Sure. Other than that...If you know WHO it belongs to and still decide to keep it....Karma gonna creep up on you and bite ya. Fuck that.

[Mr Karl]

don't dogma the karma............

[ForrestBlack]

I found a girls purse in the street in Beverly Hills a while back. It had a cell phone, a couple hundred dollars I think, and some other assorted junk, including a address book. I don't recall if it had an ID, but if it did, I think it was out of state. So, I just started at the beginning of the address book ad called every number that looked like a relative or someone close to the girl. Eventually word got back to her, although apparently some of the people I called were a little weirded out and unreasonably suspicious. She called me back, we arranged to meet. I gave her her purse and everything in it and she bought me a coffee. Turns out she was a student at like UCLA or something.

I tend to turn money in. I once found like $40 on the floor in a department store when I was much younger and I turned it in to the customer service counter. They looked at me like I was crazy, but I felt like maybe that money was really important to somebody. It always nagged at me after that, wondering if the customer service person would turn the money over to someone if they did show up looking for it.

[mystoo]

Wow, you do not have good luck with money eh? Didn't you lose a bunch a while back? You should get one of those nerd belts that travelers wear under their clothes.
And would I be tempted to keep money that wasn't mine? Hell ya, but, and it's been mentioned already, karma really IS a bitch.

[Morning Glory]

You are a saint Forrest. No one is ever going to go up to a lost and found and say that they dropped 40 bucks, or any ammount of loose cash.

I'd say that Keiko was lucky to get her purse back at all, not to mention those credit cards.

When I worked at the movie theater people would constantly leave thier purses and wallets behind. I know that some of the employees would take the money and then throw the rest in the trashcan rather than return it so that they could have deniability that they took the cash and just say that they never saw it.

[Rockwulf]

I will never understand women.

What makes you chicks decide that putting all your valuables in a single bag, toting that bag around, and most likely losing it is a good plan?

You want to know the last time I lost all my money?


How about the last time my wallet full of ID and credit cards went missing?

How many times have I lost my cell phone?


None. Not once, not ever.

THEY'RE CALLED FUCKING "POCKETS!"

Try them out, they're awesome. In order to lose any of my shit, I'd have to walk into a store, drop my pants, pull them over my boots and walk out.

[Rockwulf]

I'm rarely with Raza on anything, but I'm with him on this one.

I like you and I hate to put it so bluntly, but it sounds like you just paid the "stupid-tax."

[Raza]

Ehhh... this doesn't hold up in this case. The money was marked as K's by the presence of K's photo ID and numerous other items of identification. The money clearly belonged to K. An ID accompanies a wallet or purse for the partial purpose of making sure the wallet or purse - and its contents - are eventually returned to their proper owner.

loose bills = morally acceptable salvage
money accompanied by ID = theft

Really? I thought it was just easy to stick flat paper things you need on your person a lot in one place. I think as a security mechanism, it needs some work.

[Aza]

Really? I thought it was just easy to stick flat paper things you need on your person a lot in one place. I think as a security mechanism, it needs some work.

*golf-claps* Your subtle ability to insult as you pretend to educate never ceases to amuse me. Rockwulf's direct approach is always affective, but all the same...

There is no security system beyond "hang-onto-your-own-shit-and-hope-you-can-kick-the-other-guy's-ass," but accepting that there are greedy, desperate and conscienceless assholes in the world doesn't mean the asshole is in the right when he finally gets the drop on me at my most distracted.

Believe me, neither K. or I are saying she shouldn't have kept better track of her purse, but as we're presently weathering one major shit-storm over here (and no, I'm not going to elaborate further on personal business), I can fully understand why an ordinarily very attentive person could get momentarily distracted enough to experience one single isolated bout of forgetfulness. Everyone's done it... including every member of this present peanut gallery. Chances are you'll probably do it again; you'll find yourself at a weak moment in life, and some asshole is going to step in and take advantage.

If you believe in being treated the way you treat others, then when it does happen you'll completely understand when I call you an idiot-in-so-many-words and offer laughter in place of sympathy.

Ending my participation in this thread,

~Aza

[Ingridsca1]

Sorry to hear that Keiko. I wouldn't steal your money. At least you got your purse and all the cards and stuff back. When my purse was stolen there really wasn't any money in it. But I really did want my nifty purse back. And cancelling cards/getting new ones is a bitch. Hey, you might want to put a flag on your credit info with the big three online, just in case you experience identity theft.

[Velvet-Tongue]

I can see why women carry purses, they're trendy and all but theres a reason a wallet was invented. Just way too easy to lose shit/have it stolen.

Sorry you had your money taken away keiko. Its sad we can't leave something out for a few mins without someone stealing it. At least the guy/gal did not take all of your id's/license. That would have been a huge nightmare.

Also taking other peoples things without a huge need is wrong, greedy and stupid. I've found wallets, cellphones, keys before and always turn them in to the store or call the phone numbers. I do it because its the right thing to do and I'd want someone to do it for me too.

[Ingridsca1]

Stuff falls out of my pockets too. Almost lost my cell phone that way at Disneyland last time. The pockets on womens pants aren't very practical sometimes.

[Rockwulf]

Dear women,

BUY PRACTICAL CLOTHES! And while we're talking about it, SHOES TOO!

If I have to hear one more of you bitch about how your shoes hurt your feet I'm going to take my comfortable and utilitarian yet stylish boots and kick your fuckin' heads in with them.

Love and Kisses,
Rockwulf

[mystoo]

Sometimes Rockwulf, fashion just has to come before function.
Practical= not so much fun.

[Nos]

Some things a women has to carry are hard to keep in pockets ... like tampons and birth control. And I don't think many guys would like if all started running around in cargo pants and vans.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

If I wanted a woman who dressed practical, I'd date a butch bulldyke.

[keiko]

I do dress practically. Jeans, tshirt, sneakers. Unfortunately there is no fucking way that a wallet of any size would manage to hold all the crap I have to keep on my person at all times and still fit in anything other than a purse. I gave up on pocketing my wallet when i was in the bathroom taking a piss and the wallet popped out of the back pocket and landed in the toilet. Cell phones, unless you have one of the new ultra slim $400 models, they don't go in pockets. Cigarettes get smashed in pockets. Make up gets crushed and broken, as well as lost when left in a pocket. keys, no matter how compact you make the ring, will never fit comfortably in any pair of pants that isn't a pair of camos. there's a reason we carry purses. they are practical. some of them just happen to also be stylish. mine is not, i spent $12 on two years ago because my wallet keys and phone all fit neatly and the strap was long enough to go over my shoulder... where i thought said purse was hanging when i got up from lunch.

yeah it's 99% my fault for leaving the purse there in the first place, doesn't mean i don't have a right to be pissed off that someone undid not one but two zippers, rifled through my wallet, took my entire savings, turned in the less valuable items, and got away with it.

It's taken a lot of mental focus to look on the positive side and believe that karmically it'll come back to me... universal balance and all that.

Nice to know I'm too pretty to have Raza steal from me.


~K

[Raza]

Actually, I've been sticking pouches and pockets all over everything I make lately, and it's functional as well as a great excuse for an excess of belts and buckles. I carry a wallet, a fair sized keyring (hooked on a belt ring so it hangs flat in my pocket, rather than being a spiky ball on the bottom - also becouse that pocket is full of holes), makeup, a small water bottle, a pair of swiss army pliers for when I need to reduce some unyieldy trash or fleamarket find to its useful components, a cellphone and assorted random stuff - all without loose purses or bags. Doesn't mean I don't use those, but even when I'm carrying one I wouldn't keep such basics as my wallet there.

Nice to know I'm too pretty to have Raza steal from me.

See? My system works. Doesn't matter which arbitrary and self serving definition of 'theft' you use; there's always somebody getting the happy end of the stick, too.

[Rockwulf]

Okay, check this shit out. At any given day, in a pair of standard, 5-pocket jeans I have:

Wallet
Billfold
Cell Phone
Keyring (9 keys, thumb drive, cigar punch)
Pack of Gum
Dayplanner
Flashlight
Comb
Mp3 Player

Wanna guess how many times I've lost any of it?

[Mr Karl]

wallet, billfold, dayplanner, comb??.............what are you, a woman?

[Rockwulf]

wallet, billfold, dayplanner, comb??.............what are you, a woman?

No, I can't be a woman, I'm way too organized and I haven't thrown all my shit into a trendy, overpriced sack.

[Morning Glory]

my stuff does not go into a trendy, overpriced sack.

It goes into a european man-bag.

[OliX]

What more do you need than a mobile phone, ID card and a credit card?

[Raza]

You don't even need those three. It's more about wants, I think.

[Eclipse]

I'm sorry to hear that Keiko. As for all of you claiming how stupid having a purse is, I know the situation would be all kinds of turned around if it was your girlfriend who'd lost all her cash via a similar situation. I also find it hard to believe that those of you claiming to have NEVER lost or left something somewhere. Maybe you were just lucky enough to have gotten it back in one piece, that no one had gotten to it yet, but I don't believe that anyone here has never left a cellphone on a table and turned their back or left their CC on a counter etc.. We're supposed to be friends on this board, or at least friendly, so if someone is posting about something shitty that happened, you really don't need to add insult to injury.

[OliX]

Unfortunately for me it's still a necessity, otherwise I would gladly get rid of those too.

[TheDeathKnight]

Yeah, I suppose it's a lesson learned,
about always keeping a close eye on your stuff...

But I still agree that people shouldn't be assholes,
and take other people's stuff, even if they leave it somewhere.

It's not like robbery is a fair punishment for being forgetful.

It's different if you lose something, and never find it again.
Then you can just blame yourself.
But when it's obvious that someone stole it,
or stole the money out of it, that's just uncool.

I don't totally believe in Karma, but the world is created
by our actions. So if we all act selfish, and just do what
we want, and ignore other people's feelings, then you
end up with a crappy world. If you are nice to people,
then you are making the world a better place. And in
the long run, people like nice people. So they do better
in life. People who are mean and selfish, people don't
like them, and so they don't get as many opportunities.

[Aza]

I know I said I was ending my participation in this thread, but someone had to give bonus kudos to Eclipse and DeathKnight for theirs!

I know the situation would be all kinds of turned around if it was your girlfriend who'd lost all her cash via a similar situation.

It's not like robbery is a fair punishment for being forgetful.

These are the two most pertinent - and most truthful - thoughts yet offered on this topic. Thank you each respectively!

[keiko]

I know I said I was ending my participation in this thread, but someone had to give bonus kudos to Eclipse and DeathKnight for theirs!





These are the two most pertinent - and most truthful - thoughts yet offered on this topic. Thank you each respectively!

Ditto!


Internet Cookies all around!

~K