Most Financially Ethically Dubious Act?
Posted on October 06, 2006 by Him and tagged money, morals
Over at Get Rich Slowly there is a great debate over the ethics of frugality - with topics such as "free" wi-fi, or is is wrong to bring food into a movie theater.
For the record, I have only "borrowed" an unsecured wi-fi connection when my own was down, and I have brought in food to a movie theater, but more often than not I'll just skip eating for the two hours.
There are a lot of things that I have done to get money in my life that I'm not of proud of. My dad has a habit of leaving his wallet in another room when he was sleeping. When I was a kid, I would often take a few $20's from his wallet to...wait for it...buy my friends. Having $40 when you're 13 was like being like Donald Trump. My friends and I would usually end up spending the whole thing on arcade games. Now, I don't even remember a lot of those kids' names. My total lifetime "borrowed" from my dad - probably over $1,000.
Another not-too-proud thing I did for money was steal from my employee when I was a teenager. I worked at a fast food chain, and a manager and I became close friends. We came up with a pretty good way to "keep" a lot of money that was supposed to go into the cash drawer. Total money scammed: over $3,000. I used that money to buy my first car, insurance, and a pager.
I'm going to continue to reiterate this: I'm not proud of what I've done and I'm quite ashamed of things that I've done in my past. Currently, I try to atone for my past grievances by doing as much volunteer work as I possible and donating to charities. Those two acts in themselves will never replace that money that I took, but will shift me towards the positive in terms of moral balance.
What is the most ethically dubious thing you've ever done to either save a buck, or gain more money? Anonymous comments are accepted and even encouraged.
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Anonymous | Oct 7, 2006
As a college student, I went through a phase of changing my hours on the time sheets after they'd been signed. One hour became four, and so on. I couldn't work any more than I did, but I needed the money.
Anonymous | Oct 7, 2006
When I was 20 or 21 years old, my girlfriends and I LOVED to shop. We typically bought INC brand clothes (not the most expensive, but definitely not cheap) and never gave it a second thought. We regularly wore things and then returned them (thinking 'who would want to wear something more than once?'). Although I did the returning thing as well, I finally stopped and realized what was happening after one of the girls bought a TAG GUN so that we could take the tags off our clothes, and return them as though they hadn't been worn at all (and therefore, less questions asked).
rose | Oct 7, 2006
Hi,
I thought I was the only one who stole from my employer when I was young.
Not alot, but enough for me to feel ashamed, even 14 years on.
I guess the amount doesn't matter, it's the act of stealing. But I believe that we end with punishment in one way or another and it may be in a week of stealing or ten years on.
Spooky!
Funny thing is now I pride myself on being honest and respectable ie, A couple of times I've found wallets/bags I've always returned them with money and everything intact.
The one time when my husband lost his wallet it was returned with the money still in it!
In my job now I handle large amounts of cash, up to $30k,everyday, I've never felt the temptation to steal and I never will because I know it's not my money.
I learn't my lesson!
beeble | Oct 8, 2006
My most dubious act would have to be adding purchases onto my gas bill when I used my dad's credit card for gas. My brother taught me how to do it. I would always buy soda and candy bars. I also did this when I went grocery shopping for my parents however later it became more accepted because my mom hates grocery shopping. I felt bad about later in life. I don't do it anymore and when I grocery shop I always tell my mom about it but she's okay with it.
"Those two acts in themselves will never replace that money that I took, but will shift me towards the positive in terms of moral balance."
Wouldn't replacing the money that you took replace the money you took? What I'm suggesting is, the debt isn't truly re-paid until you give that $3,000 back to wherever you've stolen it from.
Doing volunteer work is commendable, but it in no way absolves you of the theft. And it's very easy to think your way out of responsibility -- "it was a fast food chain," "the money was never missed," "they didn't pay me overtime/health benefits/ever" -- but that doesn't mean that initial responsibility isn't there.
You need to add $3,000 to your debt column. And you need to pay it back.
Rae | Oct 10, 2006
Wow... can you imagine if someone pilphered $1000 from your current budget? You oughtta pay back your dad at least. You know the value of $4000 now! Or maybe you're so in debt that you don't.
jaijimbo | Oct 11, 2006
1) When i was young (6 years old) , i stole Rs 5 i.e. like 10 cents in todays price. My mom discovered my theft and I got 2 hard slaps. Lesson learnt.
2) Once i pocketed Rs 500 ($ 10) from a Reebok store. The cashier there could not do the multiplication and I ended up having Rs 500. This 500 did not belong to me as a whole bunch of my friends were buying stuff from the reebok store.
The very next week Rs 500 were stolen from my wallet.
When I was about six my friend and I had a lemonade stand or something, and we stole some coins from her mother's purse so we'd have change to give to people who paid us with dollar bills.
Of course she would have given us some change if we'd asked, but we didn't ask, and it was a big deal. My friend's mom called my mother and we got lectured about stealing. It was so traumatic and humiliating that I've never been able to even keep the money if a cashier gives me the wrong change. I have what you might call an overdeveloped conscience.
And yet I have occasionally taken home pens and stickies and stuff from the supply closet at work. Some people would consider that stealing. But I figure I use my home computer and internet connection that I pay for to work for my employer, so they can provide me with the occasional mechanical pencil.
I guess I've stolen from my employer when I did non-work stuff at work. You know, chat with a coworker for half an hour. Read blogs just a little longer than my allotted lunch hour. That kind of thing. It depends on what you consider stealing.
I think many, many people do what Him did when he was young. The good thing is you learned your lesson without getting caught, and you have grown up to be an honest person. I don't know if I'd stir up old stuff by trying to pay back that employer or whatever. Unless you go through a 12-step program where they make you do that kind of thing. ;)
A few years back, my aunt owned a liquor store and my dad worked there as a full time employee. On those odd days that I'd have off from school and my mom couldn't watch me, I'd go to work with my dad and he'd spoil me with junk food and television until it was time to get home. On one particular occasion, dad left the cash register unattended a few times. Recognizing this as my only chance,I seized the opportunity and extracted some coins. Two quarters turned into four. Four turned into ten. Later on in the day, I went a little haywire and hit the dollar bill section- thinking they'd never miss it. Ha! That night when I went to bed dreaming about the handful of twenties I had in my purse, my parents raided my room, took the money and all of the contents of my piggy bank. They never mentioned their reasons and I guess my own shame never allowed me to bring it up :)
NCN | Oct 6, 2006
Make Love, Not Debt,
You rocked a pager... and a sub 3000 dollar car. You've paid your debt to society... :>
Your blog is purple and PURPLE,
NCN
This comment is part of my 100 Comments Series over at No Credit Needed.
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