Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Today, I felt somewhat good about myself. I went to the bank, and on top of the ATM counter, I found 100,000 JPY (close to $1000 USD) in crispy bills inside an envelope. While I could easily have taken the money, I did not even think about doing so and quickly handed the envelope in to one of the tellers.
I actually did not count or look inside the envelope before giving it to the teller, but he quickly counted the amount to be about 100,000 JPY. He did not thank me, and I quickly left. However, after my tiny brain had a chance to think about it, I wondered what would happen if no one would come to pick up the cash. If this were to happen, I certainly did not want the bank to have the money, so I quickly returned to the branch (the Shibuya branch of the Mitsui Sumitomo bank) and gave them my business card. "If no one comes to claim the money, let me know", I told the teller.
Much later in the day, I actually got a phone call from someone that had been to pick up the money. It seemed like a younger guy, and he was very happy (who would not be?). He insisted that he sends me something as a token of gratitude, though I refused. I was very happy that someone had come to pick up the money, and that was good enough for me.
However, to get down to philosophy or whatever you'd want to call it: Would I have acted the same way if the envelope had contained 1 million dollars? I certainly hope so, but when considering how little the 100,000 JPY would have meant to me, what I did today certainly does not qualify me as a great human being. Perhaps if a homeless and hungry person had found the money, if he had handed it in, then perhaps he would qualify as a fabulous human creature. Anyway, I felt good about myself for a little while, but now that feeling is gone. As the Economist points out this week, even charity is selfish. Perhaps I handed in the money today as the emotional gain of feeling great about myself would surpass the value of the cash potentially earned (with the potentially added feeling of guilt). It is hard to say. If someone wants to take this a bit further, please feel free to put an envelope containing a million bucks in my path.
I actually did not count or look inside the envelope before giving it to the teller, but he quickly counted the amount to be about 100,000 JPY. He did not thank me, and I quickly left. However, after my tiny brain had a chance to think about it, I wondered what would happen if no one would come to pick up the cash. If this were to happen, I certainly did not want the bank to have the money, so I quickly returned to the branch (the Shibuya branch of the Mitsui Sumitomo bank) and gave them my business card. "If no one comes to claim the money, let me know", I told the teller.
Much later in the day, I actually got a phone call from someone that had been to pick up the money. It seemed like a younger guy, and he was very happy (who would not be?). He insisted that he sends me something as a token of gratitude, though I refused. I was very happy that someone had come to pick up the money, and that was good enough for me.
However, to get down to philosophy or whatever you'd want to call it: Would I have acted the same way if the envelope had contained 1 million dollars? I certainly hope so, but when considering how little the 100,000 JPY would have meant to me, what I did today certainly does not qualify me as a great human being. Perhaps if a homeless and hungry person had found the money, if he had handed it in, then perhaps he would qualify as a fabulous human creature. Anyway, I felt good about myself for a little while, but now that feeling is gone. As the Economist points out this week, even charity is selfish. Perhaps I handed in the money today as the emotional gain of feeling great about myself would surpass the value of the cash potentially earned (with the potentially added feeling of guilt). It is hard to say. If someone wants to take this a bit further, please feel free to put an envelope containing a million bucks in my path.
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