Okay, there is a whole lot here, so I'm going to break it up and respond to one opinion at a time:
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
If you are worried about which decision will let you "sleep better", or "feel better", then why not keep the Kindle? If you return a Kindle to fulfill your own desire to do good for others, then you are every bit as selfish as the person who kept the Kindle.
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I may be wrong here, but I don't think the OP was thinking about sleeping or feeling better, s/he was asking what was the right thing. The right thing is to do what can be done to return the Kindle to it's owner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
Seeing as you didn't actually steal the Kindle, but only found it, you have several reasonable choices to decide between. The fact that you are asking at all leads me to believe that you are on the fence on this issue. It is an easy decision for other posters to make for you, from their envious position atop the peak of self-righteousness, and yet know that a majority of those claiming they would return the Kindle would very likely keep it, if not hesitate with greater delay than you yourself have provided with whatever ignoble motivations you may in fact have.
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I resent the fact that you're saying that I would keep it if something similar were to happen to me. I absolutely would not. If it doesn't belong to me, then I have no interest inkeeping it. Whether someone steals something or finds it, it belongs to someone else and is therefore not mine to keep. As far as I'm concerned there is only 1 option in this case, and that is to try to return it to it's owner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
Most people, when finding something, do not value it as the lost possession of another. "Finders keepers; losers weepers" goes the proverb I'm sure we are all familiar with.
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"Finders keepers, losers weepers" is something second graders say to each other when they find a crayon that another child wants or see a toy another has set down. As they grow up, they are properly taught that that is not true. It is not something that grown adults say to each other over stolen cars and lost Kindles. If that is how you and your friends value each other's posessions, I am glad I do not socialize with you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
I've never personally found something just laying around as valuable as you yourself have, and yet I have lost enough valuable possessions to assume that karma is not the harmonic balance some would claim it to be.
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Perhaps that is karma at work...
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
If karma is a balance, then what kind of karma was it to lose the Kindle to begin with?
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Maybe it was a chance to test the finder of the Kindle. Maybe it was a chance for the loser to meet someone in the process of reporting it. Maybe it was meant that the finder would meet someone in trying to return it. Maybe the loser wasn't meant to have it at all. Who are we to try to figure out the reasons?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
How does an action, through no fault of your own, provide the opportunity to act on good faith at your expense, or on bad faith, so too at your expense?
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What expense has s/he incurred? Is making a few phone calls not worth the effort of returning something that someone is surely missing?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
What a cruel fate that has stumbled upon you if losing what you have only just found is the only "right" way to go about it.
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S/he would not be "losing it." S/he would be returning it to its owner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
I wish those who found my lost possessions reasoned with the unbridled generosity of the rather mischievous lot in this thread, but alas, this system of karma does not pay out such dividends.
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That is no surprise, considering the company you keep.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
It is easy to imagine that you have yourself once lost something of great value: an accidental discovery for the person who stumbled upon it. I think you need to decide whether Karma has been good to you, or bad to you, and whether or not you are entitled to "give" or "receive" on this occasion. If Karma only worked in the favor of those around us, and not everybody is playing the game, then the good people will suffer at the expense of the evil; this is hardly the game these Karma advocates have been claiming to be playing all this time, is it not?
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Let's forget for a moment about Karma, which you are obviously not a big fan of, yet spent an inordinate amount of time pontificating on, and concentrate on right and wrong. There is no entitlement or giving or receiving. It's simply the right, honest thing to do. Why does it matter whether you will be recieving a huge karmic payback sometime in the future?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
Why is it that karma never pays off? Would finding this Kindle not be a sign of good karma? How did these posters assume that this Kindle did not miraculously appear to you as a reward from the karma gods? They just as readily assume that not returning the Kindle is poor karma, so I hesitate at this double standard.
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How do you know it doesn't pay off? Maybe everything in your life that's good you owe to karma. Maybe karma is a myth somebody made up that only suckers believe in. Whatever the case may be, there is right and wrong. That's the bottom line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
Constantly we force ourselves to appease this imaginary deity, never quite appreciating any of its rewards for ourselves. "It's karma" to return it, and yet finding it of course wasn't just a stroke of good luck for you; that would be consistent. The last time I returned a lost item to its owner, I received so little gratification for this sacrifice as to vow never to do so again. Was that also karma- my punishment for a good deed? Is it not proof that karma is inexplicable?
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Since when is doing the right thing something somebody has to force himself to do? Perhaps knowing they did the right thing is somebody's karma. Perhaps not getting hit by a car on the way home from work is somebody's karma. Perhaps the fact that you didn't get struck by lightening today on the golf course was karma at work. Perhaps the fact that a wife makes dinner for her husband tonight is his karma for doing the right thing today. How do we know what karma is? You seem to think it involves flashing neon lights and big payouts that leave no doubt as to their intent. Maybe that's not what it is.
I'm sorry you didn't receive a huge sum of money or a nice big kiss as reward for returning a lost item to its owner. I'm sure if the owner knew you were expecting "gratification," he would have surely done much more to thank you. And since when is not receiving gratification punishment? Sounds like you were greedily expecting something simply for doing the right thing and you were disappointed. Boo hoo. Poor you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
Do with the Kindle what would make you feel most happy; there is no guarantee that Amazon does anything but keep the device for themselves, and have two owners lose out instead of one. There is also no guarantee that the owner would be appreciative, however I will guarantee that when you return it, a part of you will wish you had kept it, for fear that this karma gig is all a bunch of smoke and mirrors.
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If the person that found the Kindle returned it to Amazon, two owners would not lose out. Only the owner of the Kindle would (and that's assuming Amazon simply chucks the Kindle in the trash). The person who returned it did not own the Kindle, so would not lose out. And I can pretty much guarantee that anyone who has ever had anything returned to them is appreciative. They might not offer you a big sum of money or a handjob as thanks, but they are thankful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dtrainor
You will be enabling the owner to rely on strangers when he loses things, perhaps leading to an irresponsible lifestyle of extravagant online purchases of investments he has no motivation to protect. Why isn't it good karma to teach the owner of the lost Kindle a valuable lesson in life? Why is it only good karma to sustain his poor financial responsibilities?
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They are surely more protective and aware of what they are doing now that they have lost something, but returning it to them does not ensure that they will become complacent with their belongings. That's quite a leap to make. It is not our job to teach lessons to strangers about losing their belongings, nor is it our job to attempt to divvy up karma as we see fit.
I don't recall the last time a post has made me so up in arms, so forgive the length of this post. I'm sure the intent was to incite someone's emotions, and in that case it succeeded. To quote kindlekitten - welcome to the forums.