gremlin Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 while back home in w.mass a few weeks ago, i was waiting for a restuarant to open early sunday morning so i thought i would see if another store was open, but it wasn't. so there is a salvation army next door with a pile of crap left out in the rain that somebody must have donated. while playing with some old bowling balls i spotted an atari 2600! And it was inside of a tele-games storage center!!! there was even a power unit, which i needed cause mine died!!! SCORE! sadly there were no games to be found, but i really can't complain! the console actually works too, even though there was a bunch of dirty rainwater inside the storage unit. sweet. but i feel i bit guilty about taking it. was this stealing? i considered my options, and there was no possible way i could go back the next day to buy it, so i took advantage of the situation. am i a bad person for doing this? it was such a rare great oppurtunity that i could not pas it up no matter how wrong i thought it might be. any opinions? good luck in your searches! barrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 I curse you, I curse you! Yes I would say stealing from a thrift is wrong. And to even question it, you too know it's wrong. It would be understandable if it were an Air Raid sticking in the Atari. Seriously if I saw something of that magnitude, I'd probably pick up & drop a fiver in it's place.. Probably would only get as far as the first dude that notices it, but at least you paid for what you stole... btw, is your caps lock/shift keys broken? better than ALL CAPS I guess... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlin Posted August 12, 2004 Author Share Posted August 12, 2004 1. yeah i thought about making a donation before i left. maybe i could just mail it to them? it's not like they had a mail slot in the door, and to just leave a fiver out in the rain would be strange- could i hope that the guy who collects the donations doesn't just pocket the cash? 2. no problem with my caps, i'm just too lazy or had too much beer to keep hitting SHIFT . barrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candiru Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 Technically, yes it was stealing. Although if it were in danger of being damaged by the rain I would probably have done the same just to rescue it, then make a donation to the SA later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 Technically, yes it was stealing. Although if it were in danger of being damaged by the rain I would probably have done the same just to rescue it, then make a donation to the SA later on. I'd probably take, then come back the next day in that case, stating it was out in the rain, and you felt sorry for it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 Mail them a check! That's charity money sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassidy Nolen Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 I would guess the donator gave it to a good cause. Rather than labeling yourself, I would suggest just donating something else of equal value to the store, and let them sell it. I totally agree that being left in the rain would have rendered that useless to everyone if it had been turned on while wet. You actually helped them, because without games, they had no way of testing it. There are several area thrifts I know of that, by their own words, "dispose" of consoles, and only sell the games. Could be they would have thrown it away anyway. Don't sweat it. The donator meant for it to end up in your hands (ie, someone who would love it), and it did. Drop something else off, and be over the guilty feeling Cassidy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerG Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 There are often signs outside where you are to drop items off that state that items left before or after hours are not the responsibility of the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Tomlin Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 There are often signs outside where you are to drop items off that state that items left before or after hours are not the responsibility of the store. Around here in Texas, there are signs in front of many thrift stores saying that items left outside are considered dumping and will (if they catch you) be prosecuted as such, just as if you had left a bag of trash or a pee bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 snip..or a pee bottle. Here in GA, they make ya drink them "pee bottles" if caught! Dumb & Dumber moment there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 That's a ground score where I come from. Don't feel guilty life aint for the weak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcprs1 Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 That is a tough call. Technically I would consider it stealing, however the system would probably have been ruined if it was left out there for too long. I agree that you should make a donation to the SA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I had something similar happen at a flea market, I found a odyssey 2 system complete in the box in great condtion, with many boxed games in its box, including one of the master strategy series (wall street,) and there was no seller. I asked the seller at the next booth over and he said he didn't know whose it was and it had been there all weekend. I asked him if I could have it and he said he didn't care, it wasn't his and he was about to throw it out, so I quickly high-tailed it to my car. I still feel bad about it, but don't know what else I could have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackAtarian Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Mail them a money order and sign your name sloppily so they cant get your name and address and tell them what you did. They wont have any way of reporting you, and you will no longer have the theif status (in my opinion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saikyo Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 YES You thief you, you, you.... Look just find a way to pay, tell and explain to them everything that happened maybe they will see it as actually being charitable because you saved a product from being useless and had the honesty to go back and pay. @Godzilla you state that the "second" man said "It is'nt mine and I'm going to throw it out". So either way if you had taken it or not the owner would have lost out so you did the best thing by taking it I wouldn't call that stealing. If it really bothers you try going back to the sale and see if you can locate the man whom it belonged to and ask for a price, and tell him that someone was going to throw it away, he may be thankful that you took it so he didnt lose anything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ussexplorer Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Well, as for asking around and then taking it. That is fine. As for taking it from the back of the thrift store. Yea I would always donate or not argue on a price is something was a little high the next time I went to a thrift store. It always cheered me back up. Especially since most of the stuff I noticed form the drop boxes don't make it to the thirft store in the first place. At least in my area. Deseret industries like to mix up trucks sometimes. Not often enough though. One time I donated a whole bunch of dumb terminals, cpm machine, etc. Then a few days latter they ended up in the local thrift store. Sigh. later, ussexplorer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlin Posted August 15, 2004 Author Share Posted August 15, 2004 monday i shall send out some kind of monetary re-imbursement, and maybe a nice letter too! BUT what do consoles go for at thrift stores, i ain't ever seen one for sale there. since that day i have seen some places like SA that have signs stating that leaving items outside of the donation is illegal dumping and you can be arrested for it. oh what a confusing world.... barrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ussexplorer Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 To bad you didn't see a sign there. If they considered it dumping then it is considered trash and unless the city has a ordinance against taking trash. It is all yours. later, ussexplorer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhwolfman Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 monday i shall send out some kind of monetary re-imbursement, and maybe a nice letter too! BUT what do consoles go for at thrift stores, i ain't ever seen one for sale there. since that day i have seen some places like SA that have signs stating that leaving items outside of the donation is illegal dumping and you can be arrested for it. oh what a confusing world....barrett NO need to send a check just go donate something to your salvation ammy in your area or just drop by a check to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A2600 Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 monday i shall send out some kind of monetary re-imbursement, and maybe a nice letter too! BUT what do consoles go for at thrift stores, i ain't ever seen one for sale there. since that day i have seen some places like SA that have signs stating that leaving items outside of the donation is illegal dumping and you can be arrested for it. oh what a confusing world....barrett Look man!! Dont ask them or say you took anything in particular, go in and search the store to see if the have any other Atari items and purchase them, while there search for a donation box and give the casheer 5 bucks to put in dontaion! But dont mention the incident!! Trust Me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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