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Back in the 1980s as a student I found a backpack with a little Radio Shack handheld computer in it. I turned the backpack in to the lost & found but kept the computer. At the time it seemed a reasonable action because hey, I found it. And it really was kinda cool.
These days I consider that to be one of the major ethical failures of my life. I can't imagine anymore how I made a choice like that -- I honestly can't get into the head of this person I used to be, who would take something even when I had a good chance of giving it back to its true owner.
Apparently some time in the intervening years my personal code of ethics has grown more robust than it used to be. At the time, my thoughts were on myself, but my current reflex would be to immediately feel compassion for the poor slob who paid for this nifty device and then lost it and is probably beating her/his head against the wall right now.
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