"Don't mistake temptation for opportunity", which do I have here? Ethics question

[Tommybuckets]

"Don't mistake temptation for opportunity", which do I have here? Ethics question

That was my fortune cookie fortune. I got a good box this week and its a type I have the hardest time getting. I went looking for half dollars and had an amazing search. Amazing in that I went through $365 in dimes, $68 in nickels and $36 i loose and rolled halves and found,... drum roll,... absolutely nothing of interest. When I search my main focus is not to skunk out so even a silver dime can make the day.
I went to 12 banks that have been productive and skipped all the banks that are generally a bust. I walk in to one and ask the beautiful teller that I have known for years if she has halves. She says "Of course, I should have known it was you. They've been waiting for you." She took me off guard but I figured she was being playful so I said " well that's kind of you. What do I owe you?"
She takes out a box and I see its the type I just got that was good and the chronology and location suggest it would also be good in that it would have come from the same courier on the same route and packed in close proximity to my box. I start to get my cash out and she says "Do you want both of them?"
Then I faltered. I felt a pang of guilt that some poor hunter wouldn't get his/ her half dollar fix if I took them. i said " I have a confession, it wasn't me. Someone else had ordered them but I do want them."
She happily said she would order me some but I excused myself empty handed. I already have my pickup banks waiting for me and throwing some extra halves in the mix that I would have to dump would complicate things. I also had that guilty feeling. It flashed through my mind I could have opened the box or boxes, looked for enders and then brought it (them) back in and explained the situation. Again, some poor hunter would be sad. In essence I could have looked at them without having to actually go through the whole process unless I saw fit. I saw it as a temptation but ultimately it could be viewed as a missed opportunity. Half hunting is a frivolous hobby and is obviously not a life and death situation so taking the halves wouldn't cause anyone to die of starvation. Being a competitive hobby it would have deprived my competition which is a large motivation to making the rounds to begin with. I feel like if I stop going someone else will pick up the slack and take my hauls. I am horrified when I read posts of people going through multiple boxes a week. I am already fighting to keep it from becoming an obsession and that is way too far. I already feel like I am in too deep at two boxes a week lol.
How would you have handled it? I am an ethical and considerate person which is why that cache is still in my friends wall and why I didn't grab those halves. But I am a pirate at heart, that's why I hunt treasure. Its not so I can help some charity or for some kind hearted reason. Its to enrich my pockets and have a sense of adventure and walk the edge of near lawlessness without going so far as to be shot, hung or made to walk the plank. Arrggh Buckets out.

 

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[b3y0nd3r]

This is a fantastic post! A true moral test. Did you do the right thing? If you had it to do over again, would your response be different?

I have to say, that Karma, is a strange thing. However, just as there are wrong or right situations, there are wrong or right people. For instance, you may have someone who, as long as they do what would normally be considered bad, they get rewarded.

So I can't say if what you did was right or wrong.

What would I do? The same thing.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Thank you for sharing the thoughtful post!

 

[Scott (Mich)]

I think you did the right thing. There will always be more halves, and this teller that you have known for a while just got to see how honest you are. Imagine if you had taken them, then the person that ordered them came in looking for his or her ordered halves. Your teller would have remembered giving them to you and you not being up front with her. But you did (what I consider) the right thing, and who knows, maybe the next time this teller finds an odd coin, she'll hang onto it for you. A good reputation is worth more than the chance of getting an occasional good coin.

 

[releventchair]

It's not just how you treat your competition. (Which matters to you personally , as it should regardless of good or bad) but how you treat tellers. More so , tellers you have a reputation with.
Why blow out a teller ,or a bank you (any one) have a good relationship with ?

The "hobby" of hunting coins has multiple players. Not crapping on people who have not crapped on you (any one help ensures cordial welcomes. Vs. a bank or teller with a negative view of hunters in their workplace.


I would be fine with what you did.
I'd rather have another hunter say they scored a couple silvers ,(or just quietly go about their business) that have them trying to pay me back for pinching a box they had ordered and was expecting to pick up.

Be good to that teller!
Happy hunting.

 

[Coincrazed]

Wow. I think you did the right thing but damn that required a lot of nerve to say no. Very thoughtful of you.

"Cast your bread upon the water, for you shall find it after many days." - Ecclesiastes 11:1

 

[Johnnybravo300]

I would have left the halves and taken the beautiful teller.

 

[Styfflin]

I’m really the only one who would have just bought them? Maybe you slighted karma by not taking those gift boxes.

 

[Megalodon]

Enjoyed reading your post! And yes, I would have done the same thing. Besides, those boxes were skunks anyway...

 

[Quin]

I think you made the right decision. Thanks for bringing this ethical dilemma to mind, it's interesting to think about!

 

[PetesPockets55]

I think you did the right thing. There will always be more halves, and this teller that you have known for a while just got to see how honest you are. Imagine if you had taken them, then the person that ordered them came in looking for his or her ordered halves. Your teller would have remembered giving them to you and you not being up front with her. But you did (what I consider) the right thing, and who knows, maybe the next time this teller finds an odd coin, she'll hang onto it for you. A good reputation is worth more than the chance of getting an occasional good coin.

Very well said because that teller will remember the OP for their honesty.
It won't hurt to subtly remind her of it though by asking if the other searcher received their boxes.

We don't have much control over what others say or do but we do have to live with ourselves and our actions.

I say .............. BRAVO sir well done!