silversolitaire | (no subject)

I'm just too freaking honest... LOL. Yesterday I went to the bank to transfer money from my college account to my normal account so I can fund my new laptop. After that I went to the ATM to grab some money... and found a huge wad of cash in the slot! x_x! For a split second maybe I thought "OMG! Laptop! Car repair! Vacation!" but it really only lasted as long as it took me to grab the wad and carry it over to the counter. The money was counted and it was 500 EUR! x_x They filled out a form and made me sign it, recording I had found the money, when and how much. Apparently, if nobody claims it within a 6 months time frame I'm getting the shinies. Not that it's very likely to happen. I mean, the person missing the money will most likely notice it soon and rush back to the bank. That or the bank will check the ATM and see who withdrew cash before me.

Oh well... it wasn't my money to begin with, so no use feeling regretful about it. Maybe I'll get a reward for my honesty at least! ^^ And it's definitely good karma. So maybe now money will be returning to me...*smiles*

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that is very good karma. :)

that being said though...i do hope a little reward comes your way. i would be so grateful if that had happened to me and the person who found it returned it.

Yes that's what I was thinking too. It's my life motto. Always behave as you want others to behave towards you. So it was only natural to return it.

yep...but i know it's hard! i would have been like...omg...credit cards paid off! :P

>>>So maybe now money will be returning to me...
or maybe not. life is a joker. ;p

on the other hand.. i'm thinking, who can be so dumb or absent-minded to forget his 500 EUR in the ATM?
and there are two extreme possibilities.. they are being missed a lot and the poor original owner will be very glad to have them back and even grateful and generous enough to reward the honest finder. or the forgetful pigheaded bastard who has four similar wads around his pockets will care shit about the "honest finder". :)

"good karma"? hmm. since hoping in good karma is but still just a self-centered thought - in disguise, though - i wonder if taking the money would be such a lowly thing. :) i'm quite sure that i'd had a problem spending it on myself, but i could give it away or get a lot of nice stuff to the poeple around me. nevermind me.. i'm just thinking aloud..

I do believe in things returning to you. I truly am. I've experienced it myself enough to have confidence in it.

I also can't understand how you can forget so much money at the ATM! Especially since it forces your attention to it by making you remove your card first before releasing the money. That's just bizarre. I'm inclined to believe it's some uberrich bastard who might not even realize the shinies missing! That'd be good for me of course... LOL.

I don't think that hoping in good karma is self-centered. It's just a fact of life, if you want to believe in it. The good you do will return to you, as will the evil. So it's not like I returned the money because it'll bump up my karma count. It's because it was the only right thing to do and that in itself is karma.

I think taking money that's not yours definitely is a lowly thing. It's money you don't deserve, you didn't work for it or do anything for it. And you don't know where it came from. Sure, if it was Bill Gates who dropped it and won't even notice it seems okay to take. But it could also be a single mother of 3 taking this month's groceries money out of the account. You just can't tell. Like I said, I feel better knowing I did the right thing than celebrating finding money that wasn't mine to take.

>>>I don't think that hoping in good karma is self-centered.
why, it is. it's your good karma. :)
>>>The good you do will return to you, as will the evil.
probably, although the way, shape and form of that.. that is another matter. much less obvious. haven't you observed? the good, honest, caring and sensitive people very often have the tougher life. sometimes even the odds seem to be against them.
i think, doing "good" is its own reward. anything you might get in addition, is superfluous. a bonus. :)

as to the last paragraph.. i don't think there is an absolute answer. it's always circumstantial (like you in fact illustrated).
and i believe in one other thing too.. do "good" where good is understood and appreciated. pearls are not for swines. ;p

Well if you want to argue that way life itself is self-centered since it's all about you. I see what you mean, but I don't agree. You basically accuse everyone of having underlying motives when doing good. So even if you're doing good because it's the right thing to do and you know it will do you good (you'll go the heaven, collect good karma, gather woozle or whatever your fenzy is), it's still not necessarily selfish. Doing good in itself is rewarding, as you pointed out. Would feeling good about that also make you self-centered? Or the other way round, NOT doing something evil for fear of bad karma, is that also self-centered?

The reason why I dislike your stance (albeit understandable) is because it's somewhat belittling everyone who's doing good out of conviction. I don't think the motivation of doing good matters really. If everyone accepted that fact that their actions will fall back on them somehow I think the world would be a better place. Arguing about this really is a vicious circle since, as I said, it's life's principle to be concerned with your own well-being. And if something good comes around from it I don't really think it's bad. You're just a cynic at heart, aren't you? ^^;

it's not that i have a specific goal with this dialogue, or an important point to make. guess i'm just in the mood of let's discuss something for sake of let's discuss something. :)

>>>Well if you want to argue that way life itself is self-centered since it's all about you.
whatever that "I" may be.
it's not "all about you", though. it of course can appear like that. of course, there is a way of looking and not seeing the wood for the trees.. or more precisely, the big tree of "me". and then there is a way of seeing the wood and the "me" as a part of it.

>>>You basically accuse everyone of having underlying motives when doing good.
just because it's most often so. i'm not saying it's "wrong" or branding it.

>>>So even if you're doing good because it's the right thing to do and you know it will do you good (you'll go the heaven, collect good karma, gather woozle or whatever your fenzy is), it's still not necessarily selfish.
i'd argue with that. :)

>>>Doing good in itself is rewarding, as you pointed out. Would feeling good about that also make you self-centered?
the devil's in the details. it would depend on how, in-what-way-good it makes you feel. to make an exaggerated illustration.. you can feel good in the "oh, i'm so good and generous i think i'll faint from myself" way. or you can simply feel good because someone was made to feel good.

>>>Or the other way round, NOT doing something evil for fear of bad karma, is that also self-centered?
that would be calculating and cowardly as well. :) i sometimes wondered about the situation when all those imposed inhibitions.. law, societal norms and morals, etc., which are basically fear based.. would cease to exist and poeple would be free to do as they really pleased. that would be an interesting sight. :)

>>>I don't think the motivation of doing good matters really. If everyone accepted that fact that their actions will fall back on them somehow I think the world would be a better place.
on the outside.
sure, an act is an act. and the motivation behind it is only in part relevant. if i kill XY in self defence or from a vision of financial gain.. XY is dead so or so. wasn't the motivation relevant? i don't think it's separable from the deed itself. at most it can be ignored.

>>>it's life's principle to be concerned with your own well-being.
certainly. but within limits. as i said, the devil's in the details.

>>>You're just a cynic at heart, aren't you? ^^;
maybe. but not a sour one. :)

let's not forget, though.. through history.. so many atrocious acts were done in the name (and perhaps even true conviction) of "doing good"..

Wow! Congratulations! Most people never get an opportunity to test their high moral standards but you did and you passed the test! You must feel good about yourself!

Let's just say I hope the BANK can be trusted... who says the cleric won't keep it to himself?

Well you know our country is one of bureaucracy, so once it was filed and registered (and I was present as they did that), there's no chance for them to just pocket it. After all, I'd ask about the money in 6 months if I haven't received word of it having been found. But I know what you mean. Whenever they run tests in hotels, front desks and what not, they learn that usually the person in charge there takes out the money first before filing the purse as lost and then blames it on the person who returned the purse.