Finding things / breaking the law

[Kathrin]

Where I live, as far as I know, the law is that if you find something that is worth over ~10 dollars you have to turn it in.
For a scrupulous person like me this has often led to me turning in things at a lost and found or police station that I thought MIGHT be worth something.
Today I was running for a train and saw a little chain lying there, from a broken necklace probably, picked it up, wondered if it might be silver… it felt light so I thought, more likely that it isn’t. But I wasn’t sure. And left it there because I wanted to catch the train.
Does anybody here think that was morally wrong?
I thought I’d ask before I go back to that station tonight or try again to call somebody about it…

Kathrin

 

[1ke]

No, Kathrin, you did nothing wrong.

This is your scrupulosity kicking in. No one will be looking for the broken chain, nor do you have any obligation to turn it in to anyone.

 

[GemmaRose]

No, Kathrin, you did nothing wrong.

This is your scrupulosity kicking in. No one will be looking for the broken chain, nor do you have any obligation to turn it in to anyone.

I agree with 1ke.

If anything like this ever happens again, you could always pick it up, catch your train, and turn it in later.

For this time, just say a little prayer that if it was something of any value, that someone else picked it up and turned it in. And then be at peace. I’m sure that the Lord is very pleased with you that you have made it a habit to turn things in to Lost and Found. So many people, despite the law of their land, care nothing about anyone other than themselves!

 

[Caesar517]

Sometimes I wish people wouldn’t turn things in to lost & found. You run back to where you dropped something and it’s gone; then you spend 15 minutes trying to track down the nearest lost & found station…

 

[Kathrin]

Thanks for your replies… Ike, when it was just your reply, I was going to say thank you to you personally because I didn’t want to bump the thread up again. But now it’s already gotten more answers… ha ha and after feeling that it was really just my scrupulosity I now think maybe not after all… I did say a prayer, GemmaRose.

See, one thing I wonder is, does that law mean we have to go out of our ways and turn everything in that we see passing by… sometimes I’ve been looked at weird before I can imagine. Or does it mean if it is something of value we are not allowed to KEEP it, but then we’d have to turn it in.

Ceasar, I agree with you though, sometimes it is better to leave something where it is. It really depends on where it is and what it is.

Kathrin

 

[Caesar517]

I think any law like that would mean that you can’t keep it without turning it in to make sure no one is looking for it. A law prohibiting leaving a lost item where you found it would be unreasonable, I think.