I self-checked out my groceries today..

[Roon]

when I noticed that there was 6 dollars left in the change return slot from the previous shopper. I immediatly turned it in to the cashier that oversees the checkout and she was shocked! That is when I started feeling like a sap, I could have really used that money.

I started thinking about what made me turn the money in so quick..
1.Each checkout station has a camera and lord knows who was watching me at the time.

2.The rightful owner of the money could come barreling back anytime and he would know that it was me that pocketed the money.

3.The money wasn't mine and turning it in was the right thing to do.

What would you have done?

[flvegan]

1. Given it back, too.

Bad karma to keep it. Though, the store's just going to pocket it, anyway, most likely. Do the right thing in hopes the right person comes back to get it.

[Roon]

6. Everything was fine

until the cashier reacted the way she did.

[Not_Giving_Up]

2. I ran a register for years

I'll say this - it's unlikely tha someone would go back looking for six bucks, but then again, they might.

Good for you for doing the right thing.

My daughter has a gift for finding money on the ground. Too bad for the person that dropped it. I've seen this little eight year old pick up 20 bucks in one day, and I saw it all come from the ground.

[Roon]

8. With my luck

they would have come running up just as I was taking the money.

[MuseRider]

3. Exactly what you did for reason #3.

I am the dope who will go back to the gas station as soon as I find out that I walked out with their pen in my hand. You did the right thing. My guess is that no matter how much you need the money it would have felt bad when you spent it.

[Roon]

11. Thanks

Now I don't feel like such a sap. Damn that cashier lady..

[qanda]

4. You did the right thing...

However, you should have told them that if no one came to claim the money within a certain amount of time you would be back to collect it. I found $20 in a store once and that's what I did. I went back a week later and no one had claimed it, so they gave it to me.

[Roon]

5. That is what I'll do next time eom

[blueknight]

10. NEVER USE SELF CHECKOUT!

JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR BUSH AND CO TO BUST UNIONS AND GET RID OF JOBS!

[Roon]

13. Self checkout rules..

I make record time in and out of the store these days.

[Kenneth ken]

19. yep

- just like corporations rule. :(
Profits over people, that's why stores have self-checkout machines.

I used one once, several years ago the first time I saw one. I decided I was glad I didn't work as a checker.

Now I think of them as the job-killer lanes, so I don't use them.

Yay for you not pocketing the money - boo for you using the job-killer lane.

:hi:

[Roon]

38. I don't see it that way..

I see the people who would normally be cashiering freed up to tell me what aisle the peanut butter is in and doing other things to make the customer's shopping experience more pleasant.

[Kenneth ken]

48. that makes sense

like pumping your own gas - it frees up people to wash your windows, check your tire pressure and oil levels; do car repairs, etc. and we all know how much that sort of service has improved since stations stopped having people pump our gas for us. :eyes:

As for not owning a car, you live in Denver, so there is bus service, though admittedly, it isn't great bus service. I have a grocery right across the street from me, so if/when they go on strike, I will also be inconvenienced by it, but I've already decided I won't cross the lines.

To me, being a liberal is about looking at the ways society works as a whole, and trying to make good choices on that basis. Some times that means that "I" personally may not benefit directly, but if I can see a societal benefit, I have to support it.

I don't benefit from supporting gay rights, but people I know do benefit, and society as a whole benefits. :hug:

[durablend]

58. Not to mention...

Everyone seems to be under the impression that without the 4 (or 6 or whatever) number of self checkout terminals the store would've otherwise hired the same number of humans in lieu of them to run registers.

Doesn't work that way.

[GingerSnaps]

25. I am with you!

When you live in an area that cuts its staff down and the lines are long you take the quickest way out of the store which is self checkout. :hug:

[mitchum]

26. And "rules" rhymes with "tools"...

don't be one

[GingerSnaps]

17. People in other countries need our jobs

I always use self checkout because I prefer them. If I am charged the wrong amount then I bitch myself out :silly:

[cestpaspossible]

32. Self checkout sucks

Do you get a discount for doing work the store used to hire someone to do for you? No? So you're giving yourself more work for the same cost and some poor checkout person is unemployed.

[unblock]

14. bingo! they key point is that the store has no more right to it than you.

returning lost money is always a challenge, and this is one of those classic moral conundrums that rabbis debate endlessly.

the usual outcome, is that you must make a reasonable effort to find the proper owner. if cannot reasonably do so, or, in any event, you cannot locate the proper owner, it is in fact a moral failing to squander the lost item. you should make use of it yourself, or perhaps give it to a charity, as you see fit.

in any event, letting the store keep it is a crime, as far as i'm concerned.

[Liberal Veteran]

7. It is the right thing to do.

It's one thing to pick up a dollar in the street or something.

But in a situation where you can turn it in, why not?

It could have been some old lady who is senile and on a fixed income. Who knows?

I congratulate you on your honesty.

[Roon]

15. Thank you! eom

[TexasSissy]

9. You did the right thing. Karma. You will be paid in kind in the future

for your winning ways.

Each of us is a winner or a loser. That was a winner's deed you did. You will reap the benefits in the long run of being a winner. Congratulations.

Only losers risk their reputation and their karma on six bucks. (Besides, the real owner of the $6 may have needed it more than you did.)

[Roon]

16. That is what I thought too..

hopefully it will come back to me!

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. It's mine!

Just kidding - but the first time I ever used self checkout I was halfway home before I realized I had left my change! It was only a few bucks, so I didn't go back to get it.

[Roon]

18. more than likely

that's what happened in this case, of course everything would have been different if I decided to keep the money.

[GingerSnaps]

20. You did a good deed

:hug: I would feel guilty keeping the cash because it wasn't mine.

[Roon]

29. thanks! eom

[eaprez]

21. I Never would have used self check out!!!!!!

First of all self scanners don't get a discount for self scanning and bagging their groceries. You pay the same amount as those getting full service. Secondly, it takes jobs --- same as if you sent them overseas.

[48pan]

22. Number 3 is the Key

The money wasn't yours and you did the right thing. Good work.

[Roon]

30. Thanks eom

[RevCheesehead]

23. Aw, c'mon! You KNOW you did the right thing!

Thank God there are still honest people in this world!

After this stolen election, why on earth would you want to steal anything which did not rightfully belong to you?

Here's to you, an honest soul of democracy! :toast:

[Roon]

31. mmmm

Beer!!

[mitchum]

24. Why in the hell are you anti-labor?

I don't care how convenient it is for you, you are helping to eliminate jobs.

[Roon]

33. Sorry, it's progress

Checkers are going to go the way of the pin chaser. Not my fault.

[cestpaspossible]

36. you are not a helpless victim of events

You have the choice. It is within your power to either to choose to shop at a store where you can receive full service, or to shop at a store where you pay the same amount, but have to do more work yourself.

[Roon]

40. No different than pumping your own gas eom

[cestpaspossible]

50. Absolutely untrue.

You receive no discount for checking your own groceries.

BTW, I don't even know of a gas station that offers full service in my area and it's too bad.

[mitchum]

37. So you're not concerned about labor issues?

Good to know that

[Roon]

44. I have a beef with grocery unions

I don't have a car,so I have to walk to get my groceries. When these stores decide to have a strike I have no choice but to cross the picket line to get my food. There are no non-union grocery stores around here. Forcing me to cross the picket line is unfair to me.

[mitchum]

51. Those damn unions and their special interest agendas

We'll just have to disagree. Peace.

[Obamarama]

27. You did the right thing...

A few years ago my partner and I had left the grocery store and were loading up when I noticed a cart in the next parking space with a 12-pack of Mountain Dew.

I told him I was taking it into the service counter because someone might come back for it. I used to work in a grocery store and people were always coming back to the service counter explaing they had left this or that in their cart and did anyone turn it in?

He thought I was nuts, but what else were we going to do with it? First, it wasn't ours, and second, nether one of us is very fond of Mountain Dew.

I dunno...it's just the principle of the matter.

I think cold hard cash is a little more tempting, but even though it was only $6, it could have belonged to someone for whom $6 is a lot of money to lose. Chances are the person who left it probably won't return for it, but nevertheless I tend to beleive in karma in these instances.

Just out of curiosity, what if a cashier at Wal-Mart gave you back a $100 bill instead of a $10 for your change. If you knew the cashier wouldn't get in trouble, would you shut up and take the $100 and say nothing? This one poses some problems for me, as I would look at that as karma in action (i.e. Wal-Mart losing money)and pocket it, although later I might give it to a charity just to balance out the equation.

[Roon]

35. No, I wouldn't take the 100.00

because as soon as I opened my wallet to put the money away, the cashier would realize the mistake and start freaking out. Then I look like scum for trying to pocket an extra 100.00 knowing it wasn't mine.

[ixion]

28. it was the right thing, IMO

I would have done it the same way. :hi:

[jellybelly]

34. was the money returned?

Maybe the woman kept it, I'm sure you didn't stick around to find out.

[Roon]

39. No, I didn't stick around eom

[jonnyblitz]

41. I drove all the way back to a McDonalds drive-thru once

because the girl working the window gave me back too much change. I had visions of her getting in trouble because her cash register amount wouldnt jive with her sales. I pictured her counting and recounting and not being able to go home until everything added up properly.

[Roon]

45. Good for you!

I did something similar in a drive-thru, but it was ME giving the cashier a fifty for a five dollar tab and then I drove off without getting my change. Had my food though!! I went back and they were laughing telling me that they were waiting for me.

[Uzybone]

42. it was only $6....

I would have given that back. Now if it was $600...hmmmmm

[Contrary1]

43. I try to look at it this way...

If it had been me who forgot to take my change,
what would I want the person who found it to do?

You did the right thing. It was next up to the
cashier to do the right thing also. If she didn't,
then it falls on her shoulders.

[Roon]

46. Thanks eom

[Historic NY]

47. Honesty is the best policy........cause it could have been you...

the cashier was probably shocked because she did not expect someone to turn in money. I've had it happen to me too, found ten bucks lying in lobby at work gave it to our records clerk since it look like someone was using her window. Now if it was in the parking lot, it would have went into my pocket.

[Threedifferentones]

49. I woulda kept it

because I know that the chances of anyone coming back for six bucks are very low. The cashier probably kept it when no one came to claim it.

[TXlib]

52. You're never a sap for doing the ethical thing.

You don't know how badly the other person needs the money.

[Rabrrrrrr]

53. Screw self checkout lanes.

If people use them, then eventually the whole store will be self checkout, and the only people working there will be a few stockers. And then, when they start screwing with the self-check system that constantly cahrges wrong, there will be one person supervising to take care of the issues and the line up behind you will be yelling at you to just forget the *@(%^(#$%& $2.00 extra it charged you for one item, and the 6 items that were supposed to be on sale but didn't ring up as such, so that everyone can get checked the hell out.

No, as a metter of principle, I will never, ever use a self checkout lane.

That said, you did the right thing in giving the money back. Though perhaps it would have been better used to give it to one of the checkers, since their job is gonna be gone soon if people keep using self check lanes.

[Patiod]

54. The cashier at Dick's didn't ring up my $48 tennis skirt

while he was ringing up a can of tennis balls, a cheap t-shirt and cheap shorts. He did, however, take off the security doo-hickey.

It was tempting, but my conscious won out - I asked him if the total included the skirt. He acted kind of stunned that I asked, and thanked me.

I just wouldn't have enjoyed the skirt if I'd known it wasn't paid for (I'm having a hard enough time feeling comfortable wearing a $48 tennis skirt as it is, but all my other skirts have, er, shrunk).

So it doesn't matter what the cashier thinks, or what the people behind you think - it's your own kharma you have to worry about

[Phillycat]

55. I don't understand.

You seem like a nice person, in that you returned the money, and then you also seem like NOT a nice person, in that you deliberately frequent self checkout lines, while knowing that you are putting some person who works for minimum wage out of a job. In my opinion, the latter is worse than taking the 6 bucks.

[mitchum]

59. Absolutely, janesez!

It IS much worse than taking the $6

[qnr]

56. Turned it in. I told the cashier they forgot to ring up a large

lighter fluid for $5-something the other day (I use it for my hand warmer, not tobacco). I'm on a fixed income, and could have used the money, but still....

You did the right thing.

[rbnyc]

57. Because it was probably the last person who was there...

...and there was a possibility of finding the person,I'd have turned it in/tried to give it back. But if I ever find cash with no hope of finding the person it belonged to, it's mine...UNLESS I find it at either of my jobs, then I donate it. I work for 2 non-profits.

[Ilsa]

60. You did the right thing.

Great job! COnsider this: as much as you needed that money, it is possible that the person who left it needed it alot more.

I hope it is returned to you ten times over.