*This post was written on Tuesday afternoon as tropical storm Isaias was getting ready to run its course through New England. I figured hey, I should probably get my post ready because if the power goes out I won’t have internet and it will be a pj day. 😉 And you know me, I like to be prepared.
Yada yada yada….
On Monday The Girl and I took a walk on the beach.
Remember those sandals and blue blender bottle someone left behind at the beach last week? Well on Monday there was a hat next to the sandals and blue bottle {that wasn’t there several days before!}. Odd, but maybe someone found the hat on the beach and thought the kind of person who would wear the hat would also be the one who wore the sandals? I dunno.
And then on Tuesday the HH I were walking on the beach and noticing how empty it was and how the a work crew from town was taking down all the stairs and lifeguard stations and hauling them away because of the impending storm…
And then, as we were walking back, I spotted the hat STILL THERE sitting on the seawall. The HH gave me a funny look… and then raised his voice and said DON’T TAKE IT.
And I was like WHY!? Obviously no one is coming back for it… just like their not coming back for the sandals, those boogie boards that have been sitting over there for days, those plastic beach toys, those little boy’s Keen shoes that have been set by the trash cans for 6 weeks! I’m taking it.
And then he freaked out and said it was theft.
I just rolled my eyes at him.
And then told him I was going to ask YOU what you thought about the hat.
So what do you think? Team theft… or team… hey, it’s been sitting there for 36 hours… so free hat. Curious minds want to know.
~Mavis
Sue says
Take it. It sounds like the hat was left behind and is just cluttering up the beach.
Hilary says
Finders keepers. You are saving it from ending up in the water or trash.
Linda M says
After 36 hours, I say you were helping by recycling something that would have just became trash….what a waste that would have been!
Sandra says
Normally, I’d say after 3 days, it’s free game….but I’m paranoid at getting things from strange hats (LOL). I’d spray the heck out of it to make sure it killed everything before putting it on my head (or use it for a front door display).
MaryW says
Exactly. Cooties abound these days
Toni Wood says
I certainly don’t think it is stealing but I would toss it in the trash. This day and age I just wouldn’t take it home.
Terena says
Yes, I have to agree. These days, nothing without a provenance is coming home with me
Mary3M says
Aren’t you worried about germs and other things that might be on the hat. ICKy. I agree wholeheartedly with the HH. He is a SAINT if you ask me!
Jennifer says
36 hours is fast to take it, but with the storm coming it wouldn’t have made it through. Either been destroyed or ended up IN the ocean which is not good. Better to take it this time. Normally I would wait a little longer though and then take. Not theft if someone left something and never comes back.
Mim says
I would check with the town to see if there is a Lost and Found where you could take all these things. I suspect they would hold things for a period of time and then donate them to a nonprofit. That would keep both your conscience and the beach clean!
Robin says
That’s my thought too. Many states have rules about taking found items to a police dept before claiming them, though I’m not sure if that applies to all found items or just valuable ones like wallets with money and credit cards, or jewelry. Also need to get crap off the beach so it doesn’t end up hurting land and marine animals.
Teresa says
I don’t think it’s stealing but I wouldn’t take it home. As a teacher, I’ve seen head lice plus so much else is going on now.
Meg C. says
Team Free vote from me. If you haven’t noticed it missing after 3 days, its a bummer but that’s life.
Those Keen shoes go for a decent price in ebay (if they’re in good condition).
Also, re: some of the other items…what if you & The Girl collected them & took them to your local charity second-hand store? That seems like a better option than them ending up in the city landfill.
Deborah says
Free hat! If whoever wanted it, they’d have come back to get it. So, free
Ruth says
People who’ve been through a hurricane know that the beach will be swept BARE afterward. The sand…scoured clean. Those items will be miles away, out at sea. You’ve probably saved some poor little baby whale from choking on a waterlogged hat!! Yay, Mavis!
KimberlyAnne says
It is not yours. Do not take something that is not yours. Didn’t we all learn that in kindergarten? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Marcia says
Leaving it there is littering, especially with the hurricane coming through. I’d take it, set it aside and check Nextdoor, lost and found, etc.
Marksgran says
I think you’re duty bound to take it! You’ve saved it becoming a nuisance at sea especially with a hurricane passing through.
Erica says
Finders Keepers!!! Keep the hat – totally not stealing!
Lana says
I once left a lawn chair at the park and went back for it just a few hours later to find it gone. That I considered theft. I think things should be left for a week at least so that owners can come back for it.
Holly says
I say free, but I wouldn’t actually wear it, may have cooties!
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I doubt the person remembers where she left the hat. It would disappear in the storm. It is yours. I had someone take my smart phone about ten minutes after it fell from my pocket and I was still there. THAT is stealing. You did not steal.
Lynda says
I would have taken it home. As for cooties, a few days in the hot sun will kill anything.
Mark says
Free hat. No beaches here but the parks department goes through the local parks and throws away everything left behind while collecting the trash before locking the gates at night. They only keep keys, wallets, and purses.
Katie says
I think it’s stealing if you intentionally take it. Like the person is still at the beach and you could easily return it or you think they might remember and come back. Or you know who it belongs to and you could make the effort to return it. In this case? It’s lost goods, so fair game. BUT I still wouldn’t take it. I’d toss it.
Cindi says
You’re doing a service by cleaning up the beach if it’s been left that long. And I agree with the person who said the sun would kill most cooties.
Teri says
Finders keepers. Not stealing.
Barbie says
Fair game!! It would be blown away in the tropical storm and be polluting the ocean. Leave it outside in the sun for a few days, give it a good spray of Lysol and you’ve got yourself a new hat!!
Dianne says
I wouldn’t of taken it because of hygiene issues. I certainly wouldn’t wear it. “Finder keeper, loser weeper”.
Jennifer says
It cleans for beach and after 36 hours in the sun and wind should have eliminated any germs/creepy crawlers that might have possibly been there. It is not stealing, if someone were worried about their missing articles they would have looked for them way before that time frame.
andrea d says
The fact that it was still there the next day, fair game. My theory is, if it belongs to someone local they would have realized shortly after getting home that they forgot their hat and, if they cared that much, gone back to look for it within a few hours, not days later. If a visitor, after that long they’ve written it off as lost.
On another note, what size were the Keen’s? were they still in good shape? I definitely would have taken those if they were decent; I’m tempted to ask you to ship them to me (haha!)
Carol @ Lake Tapps says
Team Take The Hat. It was left behind at the beach. Finders keepers, the storm, yada yada… Cute hat too! Spray it with some Lysol and hang it in your freshly painted closet on one of the hooks. 🙂
Barb says
Team its not yours here (never mind that its head gear and you don’t know where its been). In my area something like that would be posted on next door or something similar
Sam says
While I wouldn’t call it theft, I just don’t take things that are left behind figuring the owner may try and come back, retrace their steps etc. It just wouldn’t be worth my mental mind set to aquire something that was obvously left in error.
tia in boise says
Team: It’s yours! (But if you do have a Next Door, I’d post it before deciding you’re the new owner.) Cuz it’s a nice thing to do, not because you’re duty-bound–it was there for at least 3 days and was about to blow away! Also, you can put the hat in a plastic garbage bag for a week–cooties dead. FYI: I found my running sunglasses in the weeds in the median of the road near my house–NOT in a spot where a runner or biker would be–maybe they flew off a car roof. (and no, she confesses…I didn’t post them on Next Door…)
Linda says
Finders keepers! Hats yours!
Terri L says
Some people actually buy things for a trip to the beach and have no intention of taking them home. Under the circumstances, I think picking up the hat, shoes and bottle kept a bit of trash out of the ocean.
Beth says
I agree!
Linda Sand says
We once left a table cloth on a picnic table in a campsite to indicate we were coming back in a few hours. (We drove the motorhome to the beach for the day.) When we returned the table cloth was gone and the neighbors seemed to be watching us differently than before.
My husband accidentally once left a good hat on a train. We returned to the station the next day to check the lost and found then again a few days later but the hat never resurfaced. He had to buy a new one.
With a hurricane approaching I would have removed the things from the beach.
Jean says
Free hat. I would sell all the things on Ebay and see how much you make in a year!
Lace Faerie says
🙂 I like the ebay idea! Sounds like a challenge, are you game Mavis?
Ginger says
I totally agree it’s fair game. It amazes me how people leave so much stuff! Wouldn’t you know if you’re not wearing shoes? If there’s no lost and found, it’s yours to do what you want.
Sue says
I agree with checking on NextDoor or a community bulletin board (virtual and/or literal).
Normally I wouldn’t consider things unclaimed after just a few days, but with the storm coming that kind of changes the dynamic.
I think I vote with hubby on this one.
Linda T says
We left a nice35mm camera in a case on a bus in St. Louis on Christmas Eve several years ago. We were the only people on the bus. We knew the minute the bus drove away and called, but it was never returned.
On the other side, years ago my son lost his wallet while attending a concert. It had all his ID and $60 in it. Months later it was returned- minus the $60
I don’t feel like anybody “stole” unless the found item was found due to deceit, but….
Barbara Benware says
Hat is for the taking I believe! I would take all of the other stuff to a thrift store, just to get it off the beach. Maybe keep a box out of the way someplace to put the still usable treasures you find on your walks and when it’s full donate . Just let the HH know you are doing a very good deed to get the clutter off the beach.
Linda says
Yes for sure. Keep it.
Kati says
Years ago, I was at a strip type mall and saw a purse laying on the ground. I picked it up, looked at the drivers license in the wallet and saw the address was near my home. Decided I would drop it off as a good deed. Never again. By the time I got home, I had a post it note on my door from the police dept asking me to call Officer xxx. Turns out the owner of the purse had reported the purse lost and someone else who had seen me pick the purse up had taken my car license number down and call it into the police. Thankfully. nothing bad happened because I had already returned the purse, but the lesson learned was “Don’t take something that isn’t yours, even if you intend to return it.” Per the police, I should have called them immediately and asked if I could return it or have an officer come and get it. Just taking it and returning it was not the proper way. Now I realize there is a difference between a hat and purse, but perhaps a phone call to your local police department asking their advice regarding if “claiming items” is ok or not, especially since you have a knack for finding treasures others have lost, left behind or discarded. No judgment, just a suggestion, especially as it would be embarrassing to have your name in the local paper (which some small town papers list) for a misdemeanor you were not even aware of having committed or having an owner confront you while wearing their “lost” item. You might also ask what the local laws are for collecting items on your beach walks and how to dispose of them. I always think how I feel when I lose or misplace something, and while I love being frugal, I do not wish to do so at another’s expense.
Vy says
Not only is that a free hat, you have done a service by helping clean up what was becoming garbage.
Glenna says
After 36 hours it’s not stealing. And I also feel what you choose to do with it is up to you. I have no concerns about germs etc. simply leaving the hat in the direct sun and spraying it with disinfectant would be fine.
Deb says
Free hat …. it’s not a purse or wallet and if it doesn’t have someone’s name on it or address I’d say it’s yours.
Cass says
Yours. If the owner hasn’t come back for it in 36 hours they are not coming back….it’s a hat, not a wallet with info that can be used to harm the owner.
As to those who tell tales of things removed from a place when they came back for them? A beach is a unique environment….it isn’t a park where you can walk back to the same bench you know you left an item and retrieve it….the wind blows anything not screwed into the sand yards if not miles down the beach assisted by the waves if the item gets close enough to the water. Add to that people vacationing and intending to leave the item behind,,,it seems like the hat is yours. Free and clear. (I once got a nice cooler to use that someone left by the trash can at a beach….they literally bought it to use for the day and abandoned it once they were done. I left it at the beach when I was done with it myself)
Lori says
I say take it! It was left there long enough and with the storm coming it will be blown away trashing up the beach.
Rebecca Anne says
Wow! Freebies! Wahoo! Totally vote for keeping what you want.
Here’s an idea:
Maybe you could get the handsome husband to build a box or shelf for all this left behind stuff…and that way you could encourage others to help clean up the beach and get on Team Mavis. There may be a way to sign up for cleanup team and then you’d have permission to clean up what you see. Thanks nonetheless for helping keep stuff out of the ocean.
American Dreamer says
It’s definitely needs a good home!
Melissa says
Totally fair game!!! When my husband and I married 47 years ago he thought the most expensive thing meant it was the best. After a marriage of thrifting, garage saleing, trash picking, bartering, etc, he now sees it from my point of view – the cheapest is the best – LOL!!
Karen Phanco says
YES, finders keepers.
Linda Goudelock says
Not theft! If any of those items had names on them with telephone numbers you could call them and let them claim, otherwise it’s free for the taking. Besides leaving any debris for a storm to hurl into the water or inland can be considered dangerous
Kathy says
Take it!