Finders Keepers...Losers Weepers

Why is this question even being asked ?????

I like to think that in this situation, most of us would do the right thing.

Playing league one night, our matches were the last ones going on. We finished, and everyone but myself, a guy on my team, and a guy on the other team (everybody's cordial with each other) stopped at the bar for a drink before leaving.

Shooting the breeze, I turned around to look at the tables and saw a cue on the table against the side rail. We were the only ones left in the room, so I walked over, picked up the cue, and asked the guys I was with if they knew who the cue belonged to. They didn't, so I took a few snapshots with my phone, and gave the cue to the girl behind the bar, explaining that someone had left it there, and she put it in the office.

I sent the pics from my phone to all the pool acquaintances I had on Facebook, and explained how it was found. Nobody knew who the cue belonged to.

Next week, about halfway through league night, I find out there's a guy at the bar looking for me. I head up to the bar, and tell a buddy to lay back a little (at this point I have no idea why someone is looking for me). The bartender points the guy out, so I walk up, and the guy comes towards me thanking me and shaking my hand like crazy. He starts to try and talk, but the words aren't coming out, and he looks like he's going to cry.

Turns out the guy had left his cue where I found it, called the poolhall the next day frantic, and learned that I had turned the cue in.
He then proceeded to explain that it was a passed down gift from his father, and he normally doesn't take it out of the house. But the night he came to the hall was the first anniversary of his father's passing, and he wanted to do something significant to remember his father. So he brought the cue out to shoot a few games with. And forgot to put the cue in the case when he left.

He offered me a reward, but I declined. We eventually settled on letting him buy me a drink for turning in the cue.

The entire time, from when I found the cue until I learned who the owner was, the thought NEVER occurred to me to keep the cue or try to sell it.

Anyone who would 'steal' a cue, especially under the circumstances of 'finding' it like the OP says, is a word unfit for this forum.
 
I love how the OP said I dont want to name the guy that kept the cue to keep his "integrity". These two should be mayor and co-mayor of doucheville.
 
naji said:
A real story, i../Billy Steven's runs the pool hall, i did not realized it until after after two weeks that it was missing, luckily Billy kept it in his office. Thanks Billy we will always love you.
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Bill's last name is Stephen;)

And I dunno about love...but he is an awesome dude, I say!
 
naji said:
A real story, i was at the ATM machine back in 1982 at a Safeway store, put my card in punched a $100.00 got $500.00, i said wow! looked at my receipt it says $100.00, looked around no one saw what happened, thought about it got my grocery, then ultimately decided to give $400.00 back to the store manager, he thanked me and gone. Every time i tell the story people say you are stupid you should have kept the money!! should i have? or should i turn it in to the bank!
I one time forgot a spare cue i use once in a while, at (Champion Billiard) Billy Steven's runs the pool hall, i did not realized it until after after two weeks that it was missing, luckily Billy kept it in his office. Thanks Billy we will always love you.
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The thing is what did the manager do with the $400 ? You ever think he may have just put it in his pocket?
 
Now this is what *should've* been done!

Mickey Qualls said:
I like to think that in this situation, most of us would do the right thing.

Playing league one night, our matches were the last ones going on. We finished, and everyone but myself, a guy on my team, and a guy on the other team (everybody's cordial with each other) stopped at the bar for a drink before leaving.

Shooting the breeze, I turned around to look at the tables and saw a cue on the table against the side rail. We were the only ones left in the room, so I walked over, picked up the cue, and asked the guys I was with if they knew who the cue belonged to. They didn't, so I took a few snapshots with my phone, and gave the cue to the girl behind the bar, explaining that someone had left it there, and she put it in the office.

I sent the pics from my phone to all the pool acquaintances I had on Facebook, and explained how it was found. Nobody knew who the cue belonged to.

Next week, about halfway through league night, I find out there's a guy at the bar looking for me. I head up to the bar, and tell a buddy to lay back a little (at this point I have no idea why someone is looking for me). The bartender points the guy out, so I walk up, and the guy comes towards me thanking me and shaking my hand like crazy. He starts to try and talk, but the words aren't coming out, and he looks like he's going to cry.

Turns out the guy had left his cue where I found it, called the poolhall the next day frantic, and learned that I had turned the cue in.
He then proceeded to explain that it was a passed down gift from his father, and he normally doesn't take it out of the house. But the night he came to the hall was the first anniversary of his father's passing, and he wanted to do something significant to remember his father. So he brought the cue out to shoot a few games with. And forgot to put the cue in the case when he left.

He offered me a reward, but I declined. We eventually settled on letting him buy me a drink for turning in the cue.

The entire time, from when I found the cue until I learned who the owner was, the thought NEVER occurred to me to keep the cue or try to sell it.

Anyone who would 'steal' a cue, especially under the circumstances of 'finding' it like the OP says, is a word unfit for this forum.
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Mickey:

I believe all things should end on a good note. Your post should've been the one to close this ugly thread with, as it's a beautiful example of how honest, straight, and true human beings can (and should) be. Alas, the [deserved] verbal whippings of the OP will continue, but I wanted to thank you for posting this wonderful account of what you did, and what *should've* been done in the OP's case.

Your post had that "feel good" vibe to it. Thanks for your time in composing and sharing it!

-Sean <-- repping Mickey
 
Sounds like to me that you hang around a bunch of thieves, which means you are probably one also.
 
dom_poppa said:
Do you think this is true?

A local player have recently found a cue that someone left during a tournament and he is planning to keep it or sell it. He would have to sell it to someone out of town or a pawn shop.

I don't think he should do something as stupid by selling it....it's expensive. I told him to keep it and play with it.

I won't mention the cue, so I can uphold my integrity because the founder, said he want it to be a private matter and he just adores how the cue shoots.

I love it as well but I just don't like the idea of buying this cue because it weighs 19.8 ounces. If it was 19 ounces I would buy it in a heartbeat.

What should he do?
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What if they owner just had to go to the bathroom. Putting your cue down and going to the bathroom does not constitute leaving it, forgetting it, or losing it! What your friend is doing by not turning it in to the front desk is stealing it!

The fact that your condoning it and telling him not to sell it but to use it, makes you just as much of a thief as he is! Where is your sense of duty? How can you come on here asking such a ridiculous question, when the answer is so obvious? I hope he does try to sell it, and accidentally tries to sell it to it's original owner. Then he'll get what's coming to him!
 
dom_poppa said:
Do you think this is true?

A local player have recently found a cue that someone left during a tournament and he is planning to keep it or sell it. He would have to sell it to someone out of town or a pawn shop.

I don't think he should do something as stupid by selling it....it's expensive. I told him to keep it and play with it.

I won't mention the cue, so I can uphold my integrity because the founder, said he want it to be a private matter and he just adores how the cue shoots.

I love it as well but I just don't like the idea of buying this cue because it weighs 19.8 ounces. If it was 19 ounces I would buy it in a heartbeat.

What should he do?
Click to expand...

Return the cue to the place where the tournament was held or to the local police. No question at all on that. If you have a shred of decency that's what you would have advised your friend. I'm sure there's a waiting period of time for claiming an unclaimed lost item. He could have had legal first crack at it anyway.

So the REASON you see NOT to sell it or pawn it is that it's expensive? Wouldn't the first clue to this being a less than honorable thing to do, be the thought that you have to sell it out of the area, if you are going to sell it and how do you know that you aren't selling it in the area where the original player is from? Advising him to play with it is just as bad as it's clearly not his. And you have the nerve to think you're upholding your integrity in some way? All your doing is trying to save face with the dishonest guy who took the cue in the first place. I don't think you even know the definition of integrity, honesty or honor. Your basically up for accessory to this theft which could be a felony depending on the state you're in or the value of the cue.

The fact that you would buy it really doesn't make anything better unless you were buying it with the intention to return to it's original owner. So the weight of the cue was the problem and NOT that it's stolen goods. WTF is wrong with you.

Also...it's FINDER not founder...

Lastly..The question shouldn't have been what does your friend do it should have been what should you do because clearly you need a moral compass on issues like this and you're getting a lesson in decency and integrity right now.
 
Take the cue back where you or him got it. It should never have been touched other then taking it to the counter to turn it in. IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN TAKEN OUT OF THE HALL.
 
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dom_poppa said:
Do you think this is true?

A local player have recently found a cue that someone left during a tournament and he is planning to keep it or sell it. He would have to sell it to someone out of town or a pawn shop.

I don't think he should do something as stupid by selling it....it's expensive. I told him to keep it and play with it.

I won't mention the cue, so I can uphold my integrity because the founder, said he want it to be a private matter and he just adores how the cue shoots.

I love it as well but I just don't like the idea of buying this cue because it weighs 19.8 ounces. If it was 19 ounces I would buy it in a heartbeat.

What should he do?
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I know I shouldn't feed the inmates, but .....
Just an observation.
Those statements are mutually exclusive, your integrity is long gone.
 
dom_poppa said:
Do you think this is true?

A local player have recently found a cue that someone left during a tournament and he is planning to keep it or sell it. He would have to sell it to someone out of town or a pawn shop.

I don't think he should do something as stupid by selling it....it's expensive. I told him to keep it and play with it.

I won't mention the cue, so I can uphold my integrity because the founder, said he want it to be a private matter and he just adores how the cue shoots.

I love it as well but I just don't like the idea of buying this cue because it weighs 19.8 ounces. If it was 19 ounces I would buy it in a heartbeat.

What should he do?
Click to expand...

First of all. You and your freind are idiots. If I found out that happened to me, I would beat the F..K out of both of you.

How about you just go crawl back under the rock you came from??
 
sfleinen said:
Mickey:

I believe all things should end on a good note. Your post should've been the one to close this ugly thread with, as it's a beautiful example of how honest, straight, and true human beings can (and should) be. Alas, the [deserved] verbal whippings of the OP will continue, but I wanted to thank you for posting this wonderful account of what you did, and what *should've* been done in the OP's case.

Your post had that "feel good" vibe to it. Thanks for your time in composing and sharing it!

-Sean <-- repping Mickey
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Thanks for the rep, Sean

It helped a great deal that I knew the poolhall owner AND the girl working the bar. If the circumstances surrounding finding the cue were different, I might have placed an ad in the local paper or on Craigslist. But we figured the owner of the cue was going to go to the poolhall first. And he did. The room owner told the cue owner how it went down the night before when I found it. The bartender had left him a note wrapped around the cue.

It was funny, we hung around for a little while that night after I found the cue, talking about 'doing the right thing' after I had turned it in. And the guys I was at the bar with never suggested that I should have 'kept it' or 'taken it to a pawn shop'. From the start it was about hoping the owner got it back.

I've dealt with enough crap in my life to know that there are people who wouldn't hesitate to grab the cue and run out the door.

But it continues to amaze me when threads like this show up, with the OP asking for justification on something that they know is wrong from the first letter in thier post.
 
dom_poppa said:
Do you think this is true?

A local player have recently found a cue that someone left during a tournament and he is planning to keep it or sell it. He would have to sell it to someone out of town or a pawn shop.

I don't think he should do something as stupid by selling it....it's expensive. I told him to keep it and play with it.

I won't mention the cue, so I can uphold my integrity because the founder, said he want it to be a private matter and he just adores how the cue shoots.

I love it as well but I just don't like the idea of buying this cue because it weighs 19.8 ounces. If it was 19 ounces I would buy it in a heartbeat.

What should he do?
Click to expand...

It's obvious that you know this is wrong from the start.

I think "HE" should man up and take the cue back to where "HE" found it. Instead of "HIM" selling it to someone out of town, or "HIM" taking it to a pawn shop.

Maybe "YOU" should show "HIM" this thread :rolleyes:.
 
Does anyone ever find those lost cars with the keys inside or running outside convenience stores? I was thinking I should maybe sell some of those, maybe in Mexico just in case to keep my integrity intact...
 
Here is a scenario I like.:

your friend keeps the cue and is playing with it one night when the owner of the cue walks in , sees it, and confronts him. He then proceeds to beat your friend to within an inch of his life and he is no longer able to play pool because of brain injuries

Oh, and the owner is now looking for you because someone tells him that you were in on it. :rotflmao1:
 
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