RANT: BAMBOO SUNGLASS SNATCHERS!

[JoB]

Munchkin..

i am not a criminal apologist… i advocate personal responsibility…

even when the person responsible is not entirely someone else.

In this case, the waitress took the sunglasses… but if she hadn’t… there is still no guarantee that they would have been returned.

They were left on the table and it is only chance and a fair amount of stupidity that pointed to the person who picked them up.

****

wikipedia would tend to agree with the assessment that this is theft..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theft

but before you all get too righteous… in this definition theft applies to any abandoned property..

there is no “finders keepers” … only thieves who take things that don’t belong to them.

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[beachdrivegirl]

When I pay someone an amount of money, I would assume they are going to look out for my best interest. The fact that she took them implies she didnt care about my best interest. It was theft. It was wrong. Knowing that these type of people are employed by Bamboo makes me not want to patrionize their restaurant.

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[flowerpetal]

I’ve read back through these posts. I cannot find where it is that we know that the sticky fingered waitress is still employed there. Did I miss that? Maybe Bamboo did the right thing.

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[beachdrivegirl]

Flowepetal you are right. I would be interested to know b/c if Bamboo did the right thing i would sitll patronize them.

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[JoB]

there seem to be a whole lot of judgments going down here on both people and businesses without knowing a whole lot of facts…

that’s why we have courts… so we don’t have to do the vigilante thing ourselves.

oh…. and so it can’t be done to us.

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[cjboffoli]

This story is just like another I read about here:

http://happywaffle.livejournal.com/5890.html

This guy accidentally left his iPhone in a restaurant and an employee of the restaurant picked it up and kept it for himself. But the iPhone owner used the new “Find my iPhone” service to track the phone in real time, caught up with the guy and retrieved his phone.

breanna43: Good for you for getting your glasses back. I think restaurant employees should do whatever they can to be sure their patrons get their lost property back. Employees who simply take lost property for themselves are indeed stealing.

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[Bikefor1]

#1 problem with story: The sunglasses were not new when the waitress took them. So why make her cough up $170 for them? Breanna CHOSE to buy a new pair at that price.

#2: The extent of how ‘badly scratched up’ they could be given (a) the one week timeline; and (b) the fact that the waitress was STILL wearing them, on her head, when they were discovered? Give the girl’s vanity some credit for not wearing f’ed up sunglasses at her job.

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[maplesyrup]

Just go back and pull a dine and dash. Make sure to order some expensive drinks.

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[vincent]

This thread is so full of fail I can hardly deal with it all.
if you accepted you lost your glasses what’s with the self righteous post about someone who picked your trash up off the table? ( your glasses) if you care so much about 200 glasses, then don’t leave them on tables!

also what’s with trying to defraud the store with returning the old ones? This whole thread is some warped vindictive judgemental trash.

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[celeste17]

Yes she admitted that she left the sunglasses and that it was a dumb thing to do but she went back within 24 hours and they weren’t there. The restaurant should have a policy that states all lost and found items must be returned to the lost and found area immediately. If they had and the glasses were scratched up then fine. But they weren’t returned and they were on the waitresses head. I feel that the waitress should be made to pay something towards the glasses. I don’t feel she should have to pay the whole amount as they weren’t brand new. How long has the owner had the glasses? There should be a percentage due to the owner unless she can prove that they were indeed brand new.

I do agree that trying to return the glasses that were scratched up was the wrong thing to do as they weren’t sold that way to her and the store can’t return them to the manufacturer in that condition so the store would be out the cost of the glasses if they gave her a refund.

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[JoB]

if the glasses were knocked to the floor.. they might get scratched…

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[breanna43]

I appreciate all of the opinions….seems like everyone sees things a little differently.

Celeste17 and bikefor1- I got the original glasses in February as a birthday present. So I’d only had them a few months. They were in perfect condition until they were taken. The reason the waitress should pay completely for them is that she ruined them. They aren’t wearable. Legally, it’s called restitution. And the courts would require her to pay the cost of the replacement, in full.

Vincent- I wasn’t trying to defraud the store. In fact, the store manager has been helping me since I went in and bought the new pair, the day after the waitress took them. I told him that I was buying the exact same pair and why, and he encouraged me to return one of them if I got mine back and ended up with two pairs. Assuming, of course, they were in the same condition. That’s the problem. Now I can’t return the pair she destroyed, only the other ones. And, then I’d be left with the unwearable pair.

Flowerpetal- I don’t know if the waitress is still working. I spoke with the dayshift manager in person on Sunday and she said she’d be speaking to the waitress when she got there later that day and would give her the option of paying for my glasses without the GM being notified. I havent heard back. I figure I’ll wait till the end of the week, and then follow up.

Thanks for everyone’s advice. Even if I don’t agree with some of it, I appreciate you taking the energy to share it. I’ll keep you posted…

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[ws4ever]

Breanna,

I’m glad you’re assertive in seeing the waitress experiences consequences for her misbehavior. I have a feeling this story will get around the restaurant community, one way or the other.:)

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[MrJT]

Breanna, Sounds like you could give Jesse Jones some pointers.. Nice Job !

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[vincent]

I can’t believe this is a disscusion thats being had by adults.

The restaurant should have a policy that states all lost and found items must be returned to the lost and found area immediately. If they had and the glasses were scratched up then fine. But they weren’t returned and they were on the waitresses head. I feel that the waitress should be made to pay something towards the glasses.

This isn’t kindergarden, you leave your things behind, its trash thats it. The fact someone scooped it out of a bus tub, or didn’t have a “lost and found” is your problem, and your responsibility. Occasionally you get something back when someone extends the courtesy to hold it for you. Just because someone didn’t clean up after your mistakes doesn’t make it malice, or theft.

The armchair lawyering on here verges on slander, and is frankly embarrassing that people in our community feel so entitled to accuse people under circumstances they know nothing about.

breanna43: your glasses are scratched because you were careless, stop trying to blame it on someone else.

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[Cait]

I think the real issue lies somewhere in between. I think that if I left my 180 dollar glasses somewhere and got them back in any way I would count myself lucky. The root of the whole issue lies in the fact that they were left on a table. Now if I had 180 dollar glasses they would never leave my sight, but I have left things behind before myself and probably will again. But when I do I would consider them lost for good and anything I get above that is good luck. I probably wouldn’t have been as hard on the waitress, just asked her for them back. Bad things happen when you’re careless or forgetful about something, but that doesn’t mean that that gives other people the right to maliciously profit off of it.

Like I said earlier, we’re in no position to judge this woman until we know whether or not she’s going to pay for a new pair. If she does, that means that she’s sorry, she knows she’s wrong (we already know this) AND she’s willing to pay for the damage (though if she’s still wearing them they must not be completely ruined.) If she doesn’t pay for them it’s an expensive lesson about leaving your glasses somewhere and a bad lesson to learn about how many people these days show common courtesy.

Vincent is right that keeping your property when you’ve left it on theirs is a courtesy, but in this economy I’m surprised that they’re not willing to go a little out of their way to keep business coming in. The other issue with this is that it’s hard to know when the person claiming the item is the person who lost them. When multiple people claim the glasses (especially if the description of the glasses has been posted somewhere public) that leaves them liable if they give it to the wrong person which can get messy.

It’s not a legal issue, it’s a matter of common courtesy. Some people don’t have it and we encounter it all the time – it’s sad but that’s why you have to CYA.

Don’t get me wrong, Breanna, I’m sorry about what happened to your glasses. But I think the answer is somewhere between the extremes.

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[KBear]

Sorry, Vincent, you’re wrong. You do not have the right to take something just because the owner has misplaced it. That’s still theft, and it’s still illegal. The waitress is a thief, and she should pay for the sunglasses.

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[vincent]

hi KBear!

1. (Law) The act of stealing; specifically, the felonious taking and removing of personal property, with an intent to deprive the rightful owner of the same; larceny.

Good thing your the expert on everything, that way we don’t have to use pesky things like laws that define items as requiring “intent” for instance. That way I can just say that if I left my bag of dog doo in your lawn and you threw it away, that you stole it from me.

If I ever find a pair of sunglasses I will be sure to just throw them in the trash straight away and be done with it, so I don’t have to deal with the wrath of the legal experts I apparently live near.

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[KBear]

Vincent, keep your dog off my lawn. Thanks.

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[HMC Rich]

I’m from the ZZ Top school of sunglasses. CHEAP SUNGLASSES. That way if they get lost or stolen, who cares!

The waitress was not ethical. Her moral standards are in question. She was caught. She and the restaurant should cut Breanna a deal. The waitress made a huge mistake. Maybe she can learn from it and be an even better person.

In criminal law, theft (also known as stealing or filching) is the illegal taking of another person’s property without that person’s freely-given consent. (Wiki law – Shout Out to the other blog!).

As far as I can tell, the waitress was morally wrong and she should pay for replacement pair. She is lucky that the manager didn’t fire her.

Breanna is giving her the benefit of the doubt. We will see if the waitress is honorable.

I think Breanna is being very magnanimous. Maybe this thread could have waited for resolution but hindsight is 20/20 with UV protection.

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[mrhineh]

I guess we should be thankful that the car keys weren’t left behind because obviously some people think it would be an open invitation to keep it, eh? Or better yet, the house keys! :)

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[sam-c]

(when I first saw the post heading, I thought- who’d wanna steel sunglasses made out of bamboo?)

I read through the posts and I don’t understand why there was a debate about whether or not this was a theft?!

If someone left their credit card on the table, should a server keep that and start using it (maybe to buy a pair of sunglasses)? NO!

how are sunglasses different? it’s someone’s property- not the property of the server/ busser.

In waiting tables in the past, there were a couple times I snarkily thought- oh- they left this umbrella for me to make up for the crappy tip they left, but NEVER would I consider just keeping something that someone left. it goes in ‘lost and found’

I know a lot of restaurants have signs that say ‘not responsible for lost or stolen items’- but really, that just applies to a situation where you leave something and another restaurant patron takes it.

it’s certainly not meant to cover employees’ butts and take whatever they want.

I’m with HMC Rich- I’m so bad at keeping up with sunglasses, that just get cheap ones.

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[JoB]

hey guys… some of us wear expensive sunglasses to better protect our eyes.. mine were more than $170… because that’s what i had to pay to get a lens big enough that wrapped around for side protection and with enough ultraviolet protection to avoid eye strain while driving… i can avoid eyestrain from the lights of oncoming cars at night with these glasses.. and still see well in all light levels. they are worth every penny.

still.. i have left them on the table before..

because i can’t see well without them… they are literally my glasses… i generally do go back immediately.. and generally they have not yet been found by waitstaff even when the table is cleared. If i am distracted when i leave it can sometimes take me a while to realize that my head hurts because i am squinting to see:(

Once a manager was standing in the door with a smile on his face and my glasses in his hand.

I have been lucky so far… but one of these days i am going to find myself trundling down to the optician to replace them:(

as for scratches.. a better quality lens can be polished to remove most minor scratches unless the UV coating is on the outside of the lens… tho the salespeople sure don’t like to point that out…

and i think they can be polished and re-coated even then by a good optical shop.

i am not familiar with bamboo so couldn’t tell you if it is possible to repair them or not.

as for the law, i went beyond “wiki-law” and was surprised to find that “finders keepers losers weepers” or “possession is 9/10 of the law” are no more than social contrivances to rationalize keeping something that we know belongs to someone else… however.. they are common enough sayings because they are the common reaction to found items…

otherwise we would never rave about the person who returned the item we misplaced…

had these been a cheap pair of sunglasses instead of expensive… i suspect that this conversation would have been a lot less heated if it had been started at all.

And that’s too bad because the cheap sunglasses may be as important to the person who purchased them as those costing substantially more… the price shouldn’t matter so much, should it? But it does… both in conversation and in what we keep when we find it abandoned.

With the knockoffs these days.. i wouldn’t know a cheap pair of sunglasses from an expensive if i found them…

unless of course they were mine .. or someone else’s prescription :) with those i could tell right away .. as could any fool who put them on their face ;->

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[austin]

I lost a pair of prescription giorgio armanis under similar circumstances as the OP (left them on a table, came back a few minutes later and they were gone forever); I don’t even want to think about what those cost. The lenses alone.. ugh.

That was some time ago, and in the intervening years I’ve managed to train myself to my glasses pretty strictly. The one advantage to being somewhat sightless I suppose. That’s become my trick- if you’re blind and light sensitive, leaving your glasses behind is like forgetting to wear pants.

In other news, when I was new to west seattle my housemate lost his cell phone on the ped path somewhere under the bridge while he was biking to work one day. A pair of girls found the phone and used it to track one of his friends down, who then referred them to me. They met me at luna park and returned the phone. It wasn’t a super nice phone or anything but it did have all his address book information it it, so it was really awesome that they took the time to see it back to its rightful owner.

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[JoB]

Austin..

LOL.. now that is an image i could do without:)

My experience has been that far more people go out of their way to return things than not… i feel lucky that so many people have my back… most days i can use a little help:)

I am working at training myself with these glasses… it’s not good to go in public naked ;->

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