Sunday, November 4, 2012

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

My friend sent me this article a while back and said, "this is just soooo weird". A wealthy individual from Silicon Valley is being accused of stealing Lego sets from Target by replacing the barcode, with a home-made barcode sticker, enabling him to purchase the Lego sets at a very discounted rate. He further went on to sell the Lego sets on Ebay, making $30,000. "Was it compulsion, a desire to beat the system, or just pure greed" is the question pestering the public's mind. 

I am in no way endorsing this type of behavior, but if an individual was barely trying to make ends meet or in dire need money, this act would "make sense." In this situation, the individual was already wealthy on his own. Did he do it just to be rebellious? Do you ever get tired of always doing the "right" thing, and want to be rebellious also? What would you do? For whatever the intent was, there's a thing called "logic". Why would this individual jeopardize his current occupation, of which he makes much more than 30K, for Legos. Was he trying to prove a point? 

In the Spring, I started watching Switched at Birth on Netflix. [At the time, there were 22 episodes, each one being about 45 minutes each. I started watching it Friday evening and finished the entire season by Saturday afternoon. I took a small break to sleep, but other than that, I practically finished it all in one sitting.] ANYWAYS, in that show, there are two girls who are switched at birth. One of the families, is extremely wealthy and is suing the hospital for a multi-million dollar settlement. Not for the money, but mostly to prevent any such happenings in the future and to get an apology from the hospital. 

Suppose you were in their situation, would you sue the hospital and want an apology? Or would you think that you have enough money already, why waste time on a lawsuit? Having your child being switched at birth is quite severe, but think about a less drastic situation. Suppose you are extremely wealthy, would you still spend time calling your electric company because they over-charged you? Obviously, a number of factors would go into deciding this, but for the most part I do challenge discrepancies. Not for the money, not for free stuff, but sometimes I like to feel that I'm being treated well. And sometimes, the other side could be making an honest mistake, and they wouldn't know otherwise unless someone corrects them. Does this make sense? What would you do?

2 comments:

  1. Right is right, and wrong is wrong - but that is just my view, I rarely see gray unless it is mingled with my hair. Not knowing about a charge is one thing, but knowing about it and choosing to let it slide is another. I am sure some might think the time/value of disputing a charge isn't in their favor and overlook it, but I don't think I would. Mistakes need to be corrected regardless of their size. Switched at Birth? I may have to take a peek at that series.

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  2. I think we should stand up and expect wrongs to be corrected if and when we can.
    That is one of my daughter's favorite series!

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