posted on February 8, 2007 04:11:36 AM new
Which is stronger after reading this:
Your disgust from the actions of the jeweler or your faith in humanity from the honesty of the cabbie?
It is inspiring that the cabbie took so much time & effort to get this lady her belongings back after the cheapskate left him a 30 cent tip!
and then that ridiculous reward ~ I'm sure he lost more than $100 in fares tracking her down.
how do you see it?
this story really bothers me....
posted on February 8, 2007 05:40:41 AM new
Three years ago a group of us split the cost of a limo to go to NYC for the day.
Our friends went shopping while Mark and I hit the museums...
While we were at "Ground Zero", I lost my wallet.
The next morning, at 10am, someone called saying they found my wallet. I received it via Federal Express two days later. Credit cards, money, everything was all there.
Mark sent them an award winning sculpture from his mask series and I enclosed enough money in a thank you card for them to go out to dinner....
I for one, was very grateful. It was refreshing to find honest people in the "Big City". All you ever hear about are the dishonest ones......
My first reation was to choose the cab driver's actions as laudable. But the truth is that each player had a self serving interest in this transaction.
The cab driver, for example, wants to maintain his perception of himself as someone with personal integrity and honesty. So, he returned the jewels and his self image is intact!
The jeweler was apparently aware that the personal satisfaction that the cab driver received was sufficient reward in itself. He gave the driver a token reward and they were both satisfied!
posted on February 8, 2007 07:55:55 AM new
"Which is stronger after reading this:
"Your disgust from the actions of the jeweler or your faith in humanity from the honesty of the cabbie?"
Stronger??? That would be my faith in humanity.
To me the way the jeweler acted is more the 'norm' now-a-days.
And imo, there are fewer and fewer people who are honest enough, willing to do the 'right' thing' just because it's the right thing TO do...with no other motivation.
Those who still have those high ethic principles give us hope there's more out there just like them. Just doing what is the right thing to do when they find something that's not theirs....and who don't expect a reward...and who actually practice the golden rule....'Do unto others as you would want them to do to you'.
twig - I think you were VERY fortunate to have your wallet returned - with all items in it.
edited to put correct name in there. sorry.
[ edited by Linda_K on Feb 8, 2007 08:51 AM ]
posted on February 8, 2007 09:01:34 AM new
There is nothing "negative" about understanding psychological motivation. What seems to be altruistic action is often found to be motivated by self interest.
posted on February 8, 2007 09:17:13 AM new
twig:
I'm glad you were fortunate enough to have such an honest person find your wallet!
I applaud the cabbie for his sense of obligation yet he went above and beyond. He could've just dropped the bag off at the police station ~ that still would've been considered doing the right thing. That 'token' was NOT a reward! IMHO it wasn't even a thank you ~ the cab driver lost out on way more than $100 in lost fares (not to mention tips) ~ I'm thinking that maybe he wasn't too happy with the reward, otherwise why bother to mention that she had left him a 30 cent tip?
what would you have done if you were the cabbie?
[ edited by zoomin on Feb 8, 2007 09:19 AM ]
posted on February 8, 2007 09:23:47 AM new
Personally I'd have chosen NOT to take it to any police station...but rather do my best to be sure it was returned to it's rightful owner.
I'd be leary that by taking it to the station...it might not find it's way back to it's owner.
posted on February 8, 2007 09:32:02 AM new
Like the cab driver, I would have returned the jewels directly to the owner rather than the police.
Since the cab driver had received a miserly tip of 30 cents from the jeweler. I doubt that he expected a generous monetary reward for the jewels. The drivers reward was in knowing that he had done the right thing in keeping with his sense of integrity.
posted on February 8, 2007 10:08:36 AM new
okay so if he was keeping his integrity and satisfied with the reward, what was the purpose of mentioning the initial 30 cent tip?
posted on February 8, 2007 10:53:51 AM newNEW YORK (Feb. 7) -- Never mind diamonds -- a New York cabbie was a Texas girl's best friend. The driver returned 31 diamond rings he found in his cab after dropping off the passenger, who had left him with a 30-cent tip on a $10.70 fare.
"All my life, I tried to be honest," said Osman Chowdhury, a native of Bangladesh. "Today is no different."
But the 41-year-old cabbie from Queens did have a message: "I'm proud of what I did so that people know New York taxi drivers are honest."
What he did started on Monday evening, when he picked up the woman at a hotel in midtown Manhattan and drove her to an apartment building several blocks away. She gave him $20 to pay the fare and asked for $9 back.
Hours later, at about 10 p.m., three other passengers with luggage discovered the woman's suitcase when Chowdhury popped the trunk open for them.
Chowdhury first drove to the building where he had dropped off the woman. But he had no idea in which of the many apartments she might be and didn't want to cause a disruption by knocking on doors.
He took the suitcase to the Manhattan headquarters of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a drivers' advocacy group to which he belongs. He and the alliance president looked inside and found two display cases with 31 diamond rings inside.
"I saw flashing, and I said, 'Oh my God! Diamonds!'" Chowdhury recalled. "I was shocked. I was trembling."
They also found a small luggage tag with a Texas telephone number they called -- the home of the woman's mother in Dallas. Meanwhile, she called the number, too.
The woman, who said she was a jeweler, got back the gems on Monday when she arrived at the alliance office around midnight -- incredulous at her luck. She offered Chowdhury a reward -- a check for $100.
I cannot take a penny for being honest," he said, but he reluctantly accepted the money to cover the fares he lost while trying to track her down.
He said it never occurred to him to keep the diamonds.
"I'm not going to take someone else's money or property to make me rich. I don't want it that way," said the soft-spoken cabbie, who was a contractor in Bangladesh until he came to the United States 15 years ago.
He does not own a cab but rents one.
"I enjoy my life. I'm satisfied," said Chowdhury, who is single.
He didn't even mind the meager tip.
"I think some people might be broke," he said. "Or they're distracted."
The woman from Dallas asked that her name not be made public.
Zoomin, you ask, "okay so if he was keeping his integrity and satisfied with the reward, what was the purpose of mentioning the initial 30 cent tip?"
The reporter who wrote the story may have asked the driver about the tip after learning the amount of the reward.
It's clear, based on the cab driver's words that he was not critical of the tip amount. He even tried to give a possible explanation of the small amout by attributing it to distraction or lack of money.
If anyone wants to consider a psychological motivation there is an interesting description of psychological egoism, ethical egoism and rational egoism here.
And an article on psychological egoism v. altruism can be found here
posted on February 8, 2007 11:16:03 AM new
Reports of corruption and crime are always part of the daily news reports. From my own experience after years of dealing with others from all over the world in daily life and online I find that most people are honest and like to do the right thing whether they get recognition for it or not. JMO
posted on February 8, 2007 11:20:05 AM new
I personally don't even see this '$.30 tip' as even being considered a tip nor is it relevant at all.
Imo, she gave him no tip...but rather just didn't want to be bothered waiting for him to give her the change in coinage. She just 'rounded up' what she owed him.
posted on February 8, 2007 03:01:01 PM new
I know I was fortunate. The people that returned my wallet did so at their own expense. I felt I needed to, at the very least, reimburse them the monies they were out.
The cab driver probably was asked how the "fare" tipped. Otherwise, I believe he wouldn't have mentioned it at all.
I have found wallets in the past and returned them. It was the right thing to do.
posted on February 8, 2007 06:02:46 PM new
That woman got Keith Olbermann's "Worst person in the world" award the other night. Well deserved. The cheapskate deserved to lose her jewelry.
He gave the driver a token reward and they were both satisfied!
