To be gutted and quite shocked that anyone would do this? Possible theft

[Pyjamaramadrama]

Was in PC World today, we were sat at the sale desks with a salesman. We were going to buy something but didn't, another story but was told one price on entering the store then another.

In all the confusion I put ds (6) character wallet on the desk which contained his £20 Christmas money and was going to buy a toy in the sales. It also contained some pretend play money so quite clearly a child's wallet.

We left the store then realised an hour later and went straight back. I was really convinced that somebody would have handed it in, especially being a child's. But nobody has, the lady had a good look around the area where it was left and the salesman said that he left the desk straight away and didn't see anything.

I'm obviously very trusting and naive, gutted to think anyone would steal from a lid for £20.

Trip trap I'm frustrated with the whole thing. If we'd known the actual price of the item we'd have just left straight away. Salesperson going on and on trying to sell us a care plan costing as much as the item, then ending up leaving empty handed anyway literally. Of course I'm absolutely kicking myself for leaving it there, I'm not denying that I just mean that however clumsy I was, if someone's pocketed it, then it's their fault for bring scummy and dishonest. Doesn't mean I'm not annoyed with myself.

But I've had a moan and people have put it into perspective. It's a lesson learnt all round and tomorrow's (well today's) a new day.

GimliMinge - your direct comment to me makes absolutely no sense.

At this point it is premature and potentially inaccurate to use the term "theft", given that all the OP knows is that the wallet had not, at the time she checked, been registered as received by the lost property system.

Completely agree German but it always feels better to blame someone else. And if somebody did take it you'd be angry with them too, although should be more so with yourself, I agree

Hmm, I'm not sure I have 'form' for forgetting things. I left my bag once over 6 years ago. Ds dropped a teddy in a shop. I'd say that's not bad going for 32 years, I've never lost money before not even a couple of quid.

Perhaps there is no thief, but perhaps at this point I'd be naive to think it was just knocked into a bin or is on it's way to be handed in.

It's possible that a child's purse has slipped away somewhere. Thin and fairly small can easily be knocked off and kicked under a low shelf.

I lost a baby's shoe in a supermarket one time. I even could tell you within 2-3 aisles where it was, but it never appeared, despite asking the store to keep a look out (and they would have, they phoned a friend who had similar to say they'd found it). I can't imagine anyone pinched one rather manky looking shoe, so it must have just been knocked somewhere not to return.

Department of Redundancy Department

Not unreasonable at all to be gutted. It's horrible to lose something like that when you know someone's taken advantage of your absent mindedness to steal from you. I also agree that the primary responsibility lies with the person who's made a conscious decision to steal something that doesn't belong to them.

Although there's too much theft going on for it to be reasonable to find it shocking.

I had a phone call from a friend's phone once - a man had found it lying on the ground while walking his dog and was working his way down recently called numbers to try and track the phone's owner down. So she got her lost phone back.

It's possible but I think it's very, very unlikely it's been knocked away unnoticed. The part of the shop is like a mini office, it wasn't cluttered, it's one of those folded Velcro wallets, the same size as a mans wallet, it had bright stickers all over it and ds name and school sewn into it.

Funky I bet you are the kind of person who picks stuff up that other people have left behind and pockets it. Because you've got a ready-made justification for it. Stealing is a shitty thing to do. It's wrong. It's not less wrong because the owner was careless. Whoever mentioned that Joyce Carol Oates argument further up this thread, good on you.

Really? I am a thief because i have a ready made excuse?

I have said that the Fault lies wit the OP herself because she left it behind, that nobody knows if it was actually stolen, that someone could have put it safely somewhere, that nobody stole anything off a child, and if they did steal anything it was off a desk, not off a child. I haven't said that stealing is good or wholesome in anyway, just that there is no actual evidence of theft in the first place.

And from that, i am a thief and pocket something because i point out the realities of life?

I have never stolen anything in my life, and would never dream of doing so.

Its a long way from pointing out the realities of 'life' to being a thief.

well she is welcome too, that would simply be a moronic thing to say (it was so loony it nearly made me smile)

I think what Hope types - says more about Hope than about anyone else. Bearing in mind you are smiling at something Hope originally thought.

OP, it's worth checking again today. Sometimes things take a while to get to lost property - if a staff member has picked it up they may not have actually had a chance to give it in until the end of the day.

I once lost a purse with quite a lot of cash in it (I was getting married so needed actual cash for things like church expenses). I'd left it on a table in a coffee shop, so felt it was a case of mea culpa. Several weeks later I had a phone call, "Is that jeee? I've got your details from your donor card. I found your purse in my bag on x date, and I tried to give it in to your bank, who told me they'd give you a call. As I haven't heard from them or you, I'm trying this number to get hold of you." I'd long since given up hope of getting back the purse which actually had sentimental value as it was a very early present from DH.

I suppose it's always possible that the purse will wend its way back to your son's school.

I work in retail and people can be so shitty. I've known of a child being pickpocketed outside my store, and my daughter dropped her teddy once only to have it stolen by another parent who tried to hide it when DH asked for it back!
There are some horrible, horrible people out there so it really doesn't surprise me I'm afraid.

German the OP said she has baby brain. I forgot I was in the middle of bfing DD1 once and didn't know where she was! Have a little compassion.

Mea culpa was supposed to be in italics, not bold, btw.

Sigh. If you are sure that someone has abandoned something, I.e. left it deliberately for someone else to take and keep, then it is reasonable for someone else to pick it up. When I put my old TV out with the remote control taped to it and a note saying "Help yourself" it was reasonable for someone to take it away (which they did about 10 minutes later, although they still knocked to check first).

But it is fairly obvious that a child's wallet left on the counter of a shop with money in it has been left by mistake, not abandoned, and anyone who pockets it is stealing it (it's called theft by finding).

Obviously it would have been better if OP hadn't left it there but we all lose things from time to time and leaving it there wasn't an offence whereas stealing it was.

My god son recently got a prison sentence for theft by finding. The little thieving shit had found a bag containing jewellery and medals and sold the jewellery then attempted to sell the medals.

He's had a very useful lesson in honesty given that if he had have walked into a police station and handed them in he would have been given a couple of thousand quid reward money

Baby brain - when DD1 was a few weeks old I left my handbag (with £100 cash in it) on the pavement. Put it down whilst fastening DD into her car seat etc, got in the car and drove off.
Drove about 5 mins away, parked and DP went into a shop whilst I waited in the car with DD - went to get my bag, realised I'd left it somewhere so drove back...it wasn't there , asked in where we'd been before and then went to police lost property (all in same area) - nothing - but as I was walking out of the station they called me back -some lovely honest mechanics had picked it up on their way past - I went to collect it and they wouldn't take anything...meant to take them a case of beer etc later...but forgot . Anyway I then remembered DP (no mobiles then) and went back to find him on the verge of calling the police ...we'd been missing for the best part of 30 mins - he'd asked in all the shops etc - thought we'd been car jacked or something .

I've come to the conclusion I'm afraid that a lot of human nature stinks. Several years ago my dad sadly collapsed and died whilst out playing bowls with old work colleagues. He was the sort of man that never went anywhere without money in his wallet (he even left some hidden under the mat in his car in case of emergency) and would definitely have had some with him that day as they were going for a pub lunch afterwards, yet when we went to collect his possessions from the hospital his wallet was empty of all cash and there was no record of any being taken for safe-keeping.

At the time it didn't register with us that someone must have gone through in his wallet whilst he was being taken from the bowling green to the hospital and helped themselves to whatever money he had on him, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is what happened. If someone can stoop so low to steal from the dead then they can certainly pocket a child's wallet.

Unfortunately victim blaming is all too common. When I was a child my mum's car was broken into (low crime area, has happened once in my 30+ years). It was in a closed but not locked garage by our home and the only thing stolen was my walkman, which was in the glovebox.

I was about 8/9, but that is irrelevant. The only thing I heard for days and days after was that I shouldn't have left it there in the first place. People, family members, neighbours, mocked me and laughed at me for being upset. It was my fault etc etc. people who are otherwise fairly common sense and not utter cunts.

OP this wasn't your fault. I would also expect it to be handed in tbf. I don't expect things to get stolen. Of course I do take steps to protect my belongings, but have left all kinds of stuff in places and only rarely been the victim of theft. In fact if it makes you feel any better I was once mugged in broad daylight just yards from armed guards in front of embassies.

It wasn't my fault any more than your mugging was your fault for walking alone at night. Society might make us think it was, but it wasn't.

Haven't read the whole thread so sorry if thread has moved on, have had it open meaning to reply since last night amd just realised I didn't refresh it.

Funky, stop being a twat. People make mistakes all of the time, the OP made a mistake and was maybe a little bit careless. However to say it's her fault that someone may have taken it upon themselves to steal the wallet it's ridiculous. Any half decent person who found a wallet containing money would hand it in, either to the staff at store itself or at the police station.

Your not being "real" your just making someone feel even more shitty than they already do, get over yourself. No one is perfect.

The attitude displayed by Funky and others is depressing. If the wallet has been stolen it is 100% the fault of the person who took it.

The "it's real life" argument is dangerous. So much of what makes life safe and orderly and pleasant depends on people doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing. If we lose sight of that heaven help us.

Pheadra these posters are probably the kind of people who have a "finders keepers" attitude, and would think nothing of keeping someone else's lost property if they happened to come across it because obviously it's the owners fault for losing it, and not their own for being an entitled selfish twat.