What Happened After a Man Found $98,000 Inside a CraigsList Desk

[Vitalux]

*wow


Talk about being put to the test of human honesty and moral value.:nod:



A Connecticut man bought a large desk from Craigslist and luckily it was too big to fit through the door.

"The desk did not fit into this office by fraction of an inch," said Rabbi Noah Muroff.

He and his wife took the desk apart only to find a huge pile of cash hidden in a plastic bag behind the deep file drawers.

The original owner had hidden her father's inheritance in the desk and it had fallen behind the drawers, which could not be taken out, according to the report from Vozisneias.com (http://www.vosizneias.com/146157/2013/11/11/new-haven-ct-kiddush-hashem-mesivta-rebbe-returns-98k-found-in-secondhand-desk/). She figured the bag must have been moved to another hiding place.

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/images/stories/business/money_found_in_desk.jpg




When the money was returned she offered a reward. "I do not think there are too many people in this world who would have done what you did," she wrote in a thank you note.

The rabbi, who has four children, consulted with his spiritual advisor on what to do with a reward. Though uncomfortable with the idea of accepting anything in return for doing a good deed, the desk’s owner insisted -- and she threw in a refund for the $200 he paid for the desk.

The rabbi decided to go public with the story so he could serve as an example of honesty.

(WATCH the video below, or READ the story from Times of Israel (http://www.timesofisrael.com/rabbi-finds-98000-in-desk-purchased-on-craigslist/))


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9EYqPwAgLk

[gittarpikk]

which proves there is simply waaay too much money being made to the point that even 98,000 is not important..

If I had 98,000 and lost it in a given room... I would nt care what was in it...every item including the walls themselves would have been taken apart piece by piece until it was found...no matter how ridiculous it would have seemed...

[Nasu]

I would have seen it as a gift from the universe, this story just remindes me that I clearly still have much to work on and continue to occupy the moral low ground... N

[Mike]

I would have kept the $, honestly.

it's just that the rewards for returning happened-upon cash are always so paltry. I always read of stories like this, where some brainwash finds and then returns a million bucks...and the eternally grateful owner hands him a few crumply bills and a coupon for a free all-you-can-eat at a local buffet. it's insulting.

if I lost $98,000, and someone was dumb enough to return it to me, I would likely give this individual half as a reward. simply put: without the guy you would have had nothing. zip. nada. zero. it must be considered this way.

[RMorgan]

Yeah...That would be a hard dilemma. To return or not return it?

The Rabbi, who returned the money, did it because he probably didn't need it...

If it was a poor guy who had bought the desk, and he decided to keep the money, I wouldn't blame him at all.

How come the original owner lost 98K and didn't seem to care about it, in the first place? I mean, if it was me, I would rigorously inspect the whole house, starting with the desk, obviously...Did it ever cross his mind, since the last time he checked the money was in the desk, to at least remove the drawers and check behind them? I don't know...Maybe the guy was just old and/or mentally confused...Or maybe the money was like pocket change to him.

Anyway, if this had happened to me, honestly, I don't know what I would do...I could really use this money right now...

[Calz]

I would have kept the $, honestly.

it's just that the rewards for returning happened-upon cash are always so paltry. I always read of stories like this, where some brainwash finds and then returns a million bucks...and the eternally grateful owner hands him a few crumply bills and a coupon for a free all-you-can eat at a local buffet. it's insulting.

if I lost $98,000, and someone was dumb enough to return it to me, I would likely give this individual half as a reward. simply put: without the guy you would have had nothing. zip. nada. zero. it must be considered this way.

... or perhaps another way of considering it would be in the afterlife???


http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000gYF8AbiuLgE/s/900/720/Henry-Martin-Cartoons-Punch-1980-03-26-531-2.jpg

[Mike]

upon further consideration...

maybe I would anonymously mail the original owner a sizeable portion - perhaps half - to satisfy both sides of myself: the one that wouldn't let me sleep if I returned it, and the one who wouldn't let me sleep if I did.

as far as the Rabbi going public...this rubs me the wrong way. "look what ive done everyone! look how wonderfully pious I am!", he seems to be saying. it's hubris masquerading as magnanimity, in my opinion. it's always much better to hear of these things thru a 3rd party. the horn-tooting practically erases the original gesture, from where i'm seeing it.

[Redstar Kachina]

..........

[Mike]

the afterlife, Calzy? (I was waiting for someone to bring that up)

this is likely where i'd suddenly and hypocritically adopt a new-agey mentality, and force myself to believe that it was a gift from God, or the "universe";)...and based on this rationale, that returning it would be egregiously rude...like declining food offered by an old Italian lady or something:p

[Nasu]

the afterlife, Calzy? (I was waiting for someone to bring that up)

this is likely where i'd suddenly and hypocritically adopt a new-agey mentality, and force myself to believe that it was a gift from God, or the "universe";)...and based on this rationale, that returning it would be egregiously rude...like declining food offered by an old Italian lady or something:p

That's the way I would see it. The universes way of thanking me for troubles served and optimism saved. I would make sure at least half was put towards helping others, the other half? When I awoke bleary eyed, with a thumping headache, in my battle scarred suite at the Tropicana, only then would I say...

Ps. Please Chinaski, with respect, stand down, please stop pointing that gun at everyone, point it down, or put it down, it makes it me uncomfortable and our chat a little one sided, or carry on but consider that cushion beside you as my tool, primed and ready, I have a dead man switch, meaning, if Anyone goes you go...

Let's not be MAD, carefull with that axe Eugine.... N

[sigma6]

I would have seen it as a gift from the universe, this story just remindes me that I clearly still have much to work on and continue to occupy the moral low ground... N

I can't lie either... I'd have to agree... what if you were praying for something like that before it happened...??? Seriously how badly could they have missed it...?

[Vitalux]

Myself....

i would have turned the money in.

as I see it, it was a test

[confused]

The problem in this scenario with keeping the money is that there was a personal interaction with the person involved. It's not like the guy just found the desk on the street or in a dumpster. He bought it from someone, someone whom he had to have met and have contact info for, and thus the impact on the conscience is just too strong (if you have one). It's not like he put the find on craigslist or reported to the police to look for the original owner. This was someone whom he had a transaction with, and that person had made a simple but huge mistake. To keep the money would be just plain wrong with no rationalizing out of it unless there was a close friend or family member who would die without the money (say, if they needed it for medical purposes)....

[seleka]

I definitely would have to spend it. Buy land, RV, build a slab floor insulated metal building to park the RV in for the winter. What I should have done with all the money I ever pissed away... To me, it would have been divine gift for the basis to transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. We could start building shelters and building villages again IRL... this thread is good to help us dream...

[Nasu]

Myself....

i would have turned the money in.

as I see it, it was a test

Experience is the hardest master, as she gives the lesson after the test.... N

[sigma6]

Myself....

i would have turned the money in.

as I see it, it was a test

Experience is the hardest master, as she gives the lesson after the test.... N

Fail.... LOL!

[Milneman]

I would probably end up buying the desk with the dead rabbit in a bag behind the drawer. I never get that lucky. ;)

[Operator]

Why is finding $ 98K considered here as being 'lucky'?

There is no real value ... only an ideological one. Consider this as an example:

You could think of free 'energy' and wish you you had your own decentralized power at your home.
Wouldn't that be great ?

Ok, how about some genie in a bottle put a nuclear power plant in your backyard? You would have
power in for life and even so much over capacity that you have no other way than to share it with
your neighbors etc. But would you be happy with that situation?

The 'value' of this amount can be dangerous if you did not (consciously or sub-consciously) manifest
it yourself. It will be out of your 'control'. ;)

[GNC Harteveld]

Weird.
He bought the desk so it's legally his.
Anyone who keeps this much cash at home is either a criminal or someone who can afford to lose it.

[sigma6]

Weird.
He bought the desk so it's legally his.
Anyone who keeps this much cash at home is either a criminal or someone who can afford to lose it.

I vote this the best post of the thread.