Moral Dilemma!?

Question

I found a cell phone on the sidewalk the other day. Now, this is one highend phone, worth up to $100 by itself. Should I keep it, or try my hardest to return it to its owner? It's not often I get this close to expensive things like this. (I can't afford them). Do you think karma is working my way and giving me this phone, or is it telling me that I should return it?

My close friends 'ere at college have been givin me mixed advice... Help me out, will ya? Thanks :)

Thanks for all these awesome answers.

I could actually have used the phone, because the phone I currently have is the same carrier... it was only a matter of switching sim cards and that's it.

However, I managed to find the owner and give it back to her. I barely got any thanks, let alone a reward for returning the phone to her. She'd lost it on some street due to some drunken Halloween partying (of which I was also guilty of..haha).

So even though I don't feel too great about returning it to an ungrateful person, I don't care.

Thanks for the help all... this site is actually really good for this kind of stuff!

Answer 1

You have seven great answers before mine staring you in the face. The answer is simple...if you had lost that phone, you would want the finder to return it. So, return it. God could be testing you. And there could be a reward. And if there isn't a reward, sometimes peace of mind is reward enough. (You are not at peace with this because you are wrestling with it even as we speak.) Now, I personally believe your reward for returning it may be immediate, or it may come years from now. But you will be rewarded - there IS karma! I experience it all the time. You are a good person. I know this because a bad person wouldn't have cared enough to ask the question on this site. So I'm already proud of you. Go do the right thing. And really, no matter how expensive it is...it's still just a phone.

Answer 2

Well, the absolute moral decision is to try your reasonably best to return it. As for karma, and karma is real, it may be good karma
that you found the cellphone. But, remember that this is karma we are talking about, so you would get even better karma if you try to return it, but if are willing to to keep it and risk having a little bad karma down the road it's not going to end the world. It's up to you only.

oh yeah, you probably won't able to use the phone anyway because it could be reported stolen/lost.

Answer 3

Give it back , it may have important numbers and things that the person needs. Besides they will have it turned off and you would have to open your own account . You may not even be able to do that , if they report their phone lost and you bring it in trying to open an account it will look VERY bad. Find the owner. Would you want someone to keep your phone if you lost it?Karma isn't finding something , its when you do something good for another person and then something good happens in your life unexpectedly.

Answer 4

Give it back. Plus you may get a reward for returning the phone. WHo knows the person may give you a big reward. Honesty is always the best policy.

Answer 5

Remember the Golden Rule,"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Have you ever lost something and were ever so grateful that someone returned it to you?Monetary considerations aside,things are also valuable for business,personal,social or sentimental reasons.

Answer 6

try to return it. look thru the phonebook and ring mum or dad. If you cant find the owner. keep it. you tried ure best

Answer 7

Turn it over to the police and avoid trouble.

Answer 8

Its not yours, give it back.