Just a little over a week ago, I got a very encouraging message from a reader in India who also said he would send a story about honesty form his country. A few days later, he sent a summary of a story that was published in the newspaper called the THE HINDU Chennai Edition. He wrote the following:
“A woman, who was returning home after attending a wedding in Kerala left behind her bag in an paid autorikhaw on Tuesday morning. The bag contained goldjewels and silksarees worth Rs 3 lakhs (equivalent of $6,700).When her husband went to police station to lodge a report after a franctic search for the taxi, the driver himself honestly had returned home with the bag and gave the valuables intact to the woman simultaneously. On information police traced the honest driver and appreaciated him for his honesty and the woman paid him money as the reward.”
Many thanks to Surendranath R. for having sent in this story about honesty in India. Please share stories of honesty from your country. The world needs more stories about honesty and good deeds.
December 20th, 2009
At this point most people have heard about the story lost and found iPhone 4G that an Apple employee allegedly lost at a bar. In case you haven’t here is a quick summary: The person that found the iPhone realized it wasn’t just a regular iPhone so he offered it to a few tech news outlets. Gizmodo accepted and paid the finder for the iPhone 4G, took it apart and exposed the new features of Apple’s upcoming Smartphone. Both the finder and Gizmodo knew who the owner was since they were able to access the person’s Facebook account from the iPhone app.
There are all sorts of questions being asked and discussed regarding whether or not what Gizmodo did was legal. I will leave this to the lawyers of Apple, Gizmodo and the State of California to decide the legality. The question that nobody is asking is whether or not the right and honest thing was done. It is sad that more and more it seems that nobody cares whether the right, honest and ethical thing was done. So I would like to ask some different questions.
- Was it honest for the finder of the lost iPhone 4G to receive money for it even though he knew who the owner was?
- Was it honest for Gizmodo to pay money for a lost Smartphone knowing it belonged to someone?
- Was it honest for Gizmodo to expose Apple’s trade secrets that were not intended to be made public?
Please let me know your thoughts and whether you think there are any other questions that are not being asked. Also, why do you think there seems to be less concern whether the right thing is being done as long as it is legal. Thank you.
May 7th, 2010
On March 11th 2011, the worst tsunami in recent Japanese history slammed into the eastern coastal communities devastating thousands of homes and businesses in its path. Though this tsunami destroyed Japanese communities, there is one thing it didn’t destroy: honesty.
Photograph by David Guttenfelder, EPA
In a story written by Akiko Fujita on the ABC International site, rescue workers, police authorities, and regular citizens in Japan are reported to have returned approximately $78 million in cash and other valuables to their rightful owners. Since March 11th, people have turned in thousands of wallets that were scattered throughout the debris, containing $48 million in cash as well as identification cards and other valuables. The Tokyo Times reported more than 5,700 safes carried away by the tsunami have been returned to the police. Volunteers and rescues workers hauled these safes, some containing the equivalent of $1 Million, to police stations. Authorities with the Japanese National Police Agency reported the combined value of belongs from these safes that has been returned to their owners is at $30 Million.
Identifying the owner of the safe turned out relatively easy since most safes had official documentation such as land rights documents and bankbooks that contain names and addresses. However locating the missing owners proved the more daunting task. Koetsu Saiki explained, “The fact that these safes were washed away, meant the homes were washed away too. We had to first determine if the owners were alive, then find where they had evacuated to.” Searching for names in evacuation centers, missing person listings, digging through change of address forms, and even calling town halls and asking for the owner by name are the main methods the police are using.
Many people in the Miyagi prefecture were employed by fisheries along the coast and these companies prefer the paying workers in cash transactions, which explains why stashing cash a common method among fishing communities. Other valuables such as gold bars and momentous family heirlooms were also found inside these safes. They have been using garages and spare office rooms piled high with safes waiting to meet their owners again. Although, the number of recovered valuables declines every passing month, more and more police departments continue receiving wallets, safes, and other things every week.
Even though buildings may fall and communities crumble, the Japanese people have a strong foundation built on honesty. It will take more than a tsunami to take away the honesty of the Japanese people. Our hearts’ go out to the victims of this catastrophe and our respect goes out to those honest individuals who are doing their best to revive their communities.
August 19th, 2011
