Getting a Kick in Taking what's not OURS!

Now that December is here, all the Christmas street decorations are up and what a sight to behold indeed. This reminds me of a 60ft inflatable snowman that vanished from a shop roof overnight in November 2012. Officials at Wicklow town issued a public appeal for the safe return of ‘Snowy’.  Snowy was one of the centre pieces of Victorian Wicklow but it disappeared less than 48 hours after the launch of the Christmas festival. A few days later, the Gardai (Police) got an anonymous call to say that Snowy was in Wicklow Fitzwilliam Square. It was a much deflated Snowy that was recovered alongside a note which said ‘sorry’. In another unrelated event, a drunk was caught stealing an inflatable reindeer and walking with it about town.

Then there was this other report that a college graduate, had sent a box of 80 toilet rolls to repay the school for loot taken from a dormitory. Eastern New Mexico University says it received the gift box and a written apology. The box contained five packs of 16 rolls of two-ply, septic-safe tissue for a total of 80 rolls.

I honestly do not know whether to be amused or horrified

Call it a prank or a theft but sometimes we just cannot resist flicking a few cute and irresistible ‘souvenirs’. Some guests do it because it offers “mere access to a great product that’s hard to get.” If we think about it, most of us are culprits ourselves some point in time even though we are well able to purchase them if we had wanted to.

Examples abound: Flight passengers are known to smuggle out cutlery. I know a friend who even smuggled out a pillow from an aeroplane. Others steal floor mats from rented cars. Diners throw in sachets of sugar and tubs of marmalade into their Louis Vuitton  bags.

It is common knowledge that hotel guests steal towels, shampoo bottles, bathrobes and slippers. By stuffing the suitcase with as many hotel ‘goodies’ as possible they justify paying hefty hotel prices. While most hotels do not mind parting with their toiletries or stationery, there is a fine line when it comes to towels and such.

Apparently one woman in Nigeria was sentenced to three months in prison for stealing two towels from the Transcorp Hilton Abjua Hotel. Someone also wheeled out of reception a grand piano and someone’s pet dog.

TripAdvisor’s travel survey conducted in June-July 2013 reveals that 65% of global travellers and 69% of Malaysians admit to taking something from a hotel following their stay. Toiletries are the most popular pilfered items. 59% global hoteliers report that their guests often take a variety of items when they leave.

Apparently the reasons for stealing can be rather convoluted: some do it for fame, some for social justice (think Robin  Hood), some for the thrill of transgression, some as a dare and some even for a desire to be caught!

Actually, if we like to take the little tubes home, all we need to do is to ask, and far often than not, the management will give us the little tubes and even complimentary sachets of coffee and tea notwithstanding.

While some take things that do not belong to them, there are others who return what do not belong to them.

Sometime in May this year, three roommates in New York bought an old and smelly sofa from a charity shop for USD $20 only to discover approximately USD $40000 in cash stashed inside. Finders keepers would have been their justification should they choose to split the loot among themselves. But they chose to return it to the rightful owner and each was rewarded with USD $1K which was still a bit of a windfall to a student especially.

In another incident in Las Vegas, a taxi driver returned USD$300K that was left in the back seat of his taxi, to the rightful owner.

Unfortunately these are isolated incidents rather than the norm and we can say that most of us have lost our prized possessions and have never got them back.

SOURCE: http://www.nst.com.my/node/57779