Honesty - How honest are you?!

My brother had no intention of keeping the item he found outside his house. He took it to the local police station, in the next street and handed it in. He did ask for his belt back which he had tied round the item. Luckily the police knew where the goat had escaped from. Apparently it had got out of the allotment before.

Years ago as a teenager I found a pay packet then in my 30s found a wallet bulging with money in the freezer section in the supermarket. I handed the pay packet into police station and carried the wallet to a supervisor holding it in the air just incase I was accused of stealing it. I’ve found car keys a few times on our local beach which I handed in.

I would always hand something in if I found it and it looked important or had money in. However, a few years ago now, my young SonIL found a handbag in the street with some of its contents scattered and called the police to alert them just in case somebody was looking for it. We were literally within 5 minutes of catching a coach to the airport so he explained why he couldn't wait for the police to collect it and he offered to leave it with the house sitter. The way he was treated was disgraceful. They threatened him with all sorts if he didn't stay to answer questions and hand it in himself. In the end my husband had to talk to a more senior person whilst we were travelling on the coach to make them see sense. As he said, why would you hand something in if you had committed some sort of crime. The police were still suspicious when they collected the bag from the house sitter but we didn't hear any more.

unless you are mentally disorded in some way,then i hope most people at heart want to help and do good.Big problem that humans face is the constant onslaught of wanting more ,beating the other down or getting to the winning post,You don't have to look far to see where the ideas come from!

Years ago I found a wallet stuffed with cash on a bus in Italy. I handed it to the driver and if he kept it it’s on his conscience . Not mine.

I am completely honest in terms of returning something I have found, I wouldnt dream of doing anything other, I do tell quite a few white lies though, so not completely honest.

We use to have a clothing shop and a woman ordered three hoodies online. I happened to take the parcel to the post office and the man on the counter was very fussy and always put the actual weight of the parcel into the system which also appears on the proof postage slip.
The woman phoned up and said there were only two hoodies in the package. It seemed strange as I had remembered packing it up but she was insistent that there were only two. While on the phone I was able to find the proof of postage slip. The weight was equal to three hoodies which she then replied “oh here it is, it slipped off the bed”.
Me thinks she was trying it on. Needless to say her name was red flagged!

I once found a solitaire diamond ring in a kiddies playground by the swings, I assumed it had been lost by someone pushing a swing. I took it to the police station and a few months later a policewoman arrived at my front door to give it back to me as nobody has claimed it. I thought that was very sad for someone to have probably lost their engagement ring. This was pre internet days, now my local fb page is full of cards, keys and phones that have been lost or found.

Being from the Netherlands I’m glad to hear that she had such a positive experience in my country. My mum years ago, lost her handbag in the airport in Eindhoven and caused a massive security alert as this was not that long after 9/11. She had to go and collect her bag from the military police but she got her bag back unharmed

I am pleased that your daughter was reunited with her bag. There are many honest people around, even if we sometimes doubt it.

I once found a purse bulging with notes in a car park and immediately handed it in.

Quid pro quo: in Canada, my husband and I sat on a bench and chatted to a lovely local lady. We stood up, said goodbye and it was only half an hour later that I realised I had left my handbag (containing everything holiday related, passport, tickets, money, credit cards, etc.) by the bench.

We rushed back and the lady was still there, she looked up and said 'hello dear, I thought you'd be back'! The relief was overwhelming and I am still grateful to her to this day.

I loved the story regarding a stolen parcel and the glitter bomb. Karma indeed!

This is a lovely tale... and I agree, most people are pretty honest. I have had my handbag & purse, full of money, cards, and other official things lost/left four times since 1978. That was the first one - I left my bag in a telephone box in Auckland NZ, when over there from Australia, for our infant son to have open heart surgery - I was a bit distracted! It was returned to me - delivered by a taxi driver, whose customer found it in the phone box. I have done this now four times - about once a decade! Each time so fortunate that my moments of stress, distress, illness, and even absent-mindedness (once) have been met with the utmost kindness and help from strangers.

My next door neighbour is a thief. She stole a small parcel which was mis-delivered to her door in the run up to christmas. She made no attempt to inform me it was there and could easily have left it on my doorstep or thrown it over the gate. Instead she kept and opened it.

It was a spring loaded glitter bomb I had bought for a young friend to take to a party. I know she opened it because her bin had red glitter in it the following week.

It would have made quite a mess of her house.

hahahahaha

karma can be a bitch.

I'm no paragon but I did what I see as "the right thing" last weekend. I was raking out some drawers and came across several watches that had stopped working years ago. I took three, including one that was my favourite back then, to a local jeweller's shop to have the batteries replaced. On calling to collect them, two were working and one (my favourite) was not. There was no charge for that one.

Subsequently, I was chatting with a friend and showed her the defunct watch. I put it on my wrist and left it there while we chatted. You guessed it! The watch started working. It just needed some body heat to get going.

Next day I went in to the shop and paid for the fitting of the battery. They were astonished! They said very few people would have done that. They had done the job for me and had a right to be paid. Would you agree?

Years ago, backpacking in Greece, I lent a few hundred pounds to a couple of Aussie backpackers who'd run out of money. A few weeks after I got home they returned it all with a huge bunch of flowers. Loads of good honest people in the world.

When my first marriage was ending we went to see a marriage counsellor. He asked my OH if there was one particular thing about me that really bothered him. He answered “Yes. It’s her honesty”. When pressed he explained that “on a score of 1-10 for honesty, most people were about a 7. She’s a 14”. The therapist nailed my OH by replying “So, in order for you to feel comfortable with your wife, she needs to learn how to lie?”!!! I will never forget the look on OH’s face when that sank in.

I was in Canterbury about ten years ago, very tired after a night (nursing) shift. I went to the ATM and took out £200. After retrieving my card I started to walk away, when a teenage boy came after me with the wad of cash in his hand!! I was so grateful!

In the days of phones with less security my husband found 2 or 3 phones left on public transport, dialled “ mum” in the contacts and explained he had the phone and to get in touch re return. Several happy people - and probably some exasperated mums!

M0nica

I think we all have our own, small petty dishonesties. No, I am not going to admit any, but on all serious issues of honesty. I would always hand in anything I found - and have and i always query someone in a shop if I think they have undercharged.

I think this is very true. I know, for example, that I would never hand in a pound coin I found lying in the street, but it might be a child’s pocket money, and I’m sure there are other petty dishonesties I just can’t think of offhand.
( Just remembered I was using my son’s Netflix until they got wise to it and forced me to buy my own, so I suppose that was dishonest)

So pleased she got her bag back. Myself I would always hand a bag in. I’ve found a few things on my travels I always think how I would feel if I lost something.I’ve misplaced things over the years and felt really sick about it it’s an awful feeling. And that’s in my own home but to lose something outside is far worse

I think we all have our own, small petty dishonesties. No, I am not going to admit any, but on all serious issues of honesty. I would always hand in anything I found - and have and i always query someone in a shop if I think they have undercharged.

yes there are a lot of honest people about, I would always hand it in or try to find who it belonged to, I think how I would feel if I lost something ...

I also think most people are decent and honest round here. If they are not I think you sense it in some way. Thinking about someone we know who you wouldn’t trust as far as you could throw him. He doesn’t realise that he’s been sussed out but everyone else knows it.

foxie48

I think most people are honest unfortunately we hear about the dishonest ones. I also find people are very kind and helpful. We live in a much nicer world than is sometimes shown in the media.

I completely agree

I would ALWAYS hand in anything I find, and have done so in the past a few times.

I like to think the majority of us are decent, honest people.

So glad for your daughter.

I’m totally honest, although I did sneak into a museum saying I was a pensioner a year early, sorry about that.