There is a village of a few thousand people near where I live which could put together the world's best five-a-side football team. And maybe the second and third best come to think of it. Football players are attracted to the place because of the obscenely splendid Victorian mansions originally built by the cotton barons. Not just footballers obviously, inhabitants of the village could also put together a legendary rock band, and should the actors that live in the village decide to act in the local pantomine, you'd have to postpone Coronation Street.
These are the big-names in the village living in the big houses, but the people who live in the smaller scale town houses and flats near the main street are pretty darned wealthy too.
It's a great place to go Charity Shop rummaging - the more-money-than-sense lot tend to buy good gear, wear it once and give it away. This means that it's possible to buy Hugo Boss for the price of George at Asda.
Which is why I was in their local Cancer Research shop looking at a pair of £60 FCUK jeans and thinking that £9.99 was a very good price - especially considering that there seemed to be a £10 note in one of the pockets.
One further investigation there was a wad of notes which I immediately brought to the attention of the the shop ladies who stuck the wad into a collection tin without counting it and made a big deal out of how honest I was. I suggested that most people would have done the same but they came out with a list of stories about how the people of this most blessed village would steal the CDs out of their cases and want to haggle over the prices when making a purchase.
I was stunned - there wasn't a single moment where I considered pocketing the money while I was in the changing room, or buying the jeans quietly. It would have been like walking into the shop and helping myself to the collecting tin. But you just know that a percentage of people would have done just that, even though they were stealing from people who needed the money and even though they really didn't "need" the money themselves.
So what is this percentage ? More than 50% ? Am I part of a quaint minority, or was I right when I said that most people would have done the right thing ?
1 comment:
No-brainer really. I would have given the money in.
That said, were it a couple of million and flights to Peru, I might have had to think twice. Once to verify that it was a couple of million and once to try to remember where my passport is. Just kidding, or am I?
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