Finders, Keepers: The Lost and Found Dilemma - By: Allan Michael Taylor

Most of us may have heard someone say "finders, keepers" at one point or another. Or we may have spoken those same words ourselves. While it does seem logical to claim what you found as yours, it is important to check out a few things before you do. Not all lost items are free to be taken by anyone. Majority of these lost items are being sought out by their rightful owners somewhere, waiting to be reunited with them. At this day and age, it is no longer impossible to retrieve your mislaid belongings. Modern technology now has ways to locate lost property, seemingly advanced from the old school bag tags. From various online lost and found websites, to serialized systems of labels and tags, one can be hopeful that his missing item is somehow protected, by way of a more organized identification.

There are also some laws that promulgate the protection of lost and found properties. For instance, under the California Penal Code, anyone who finds a lost property and has a means of knowing its true owner but appropriates the property to his personal use, or to the use of another without first undergoing the reasonable steps to find the owner and return the same, is guilty of theft. Remember the case of the lost iPhone 4G prototype that was lost in a bar in San Jose, California and was later on found by a man who then leaked it to a gadget-blogging website? This lost and found iPhone made headlines around the globe and stimulated a lot of interest especially among Apple consumers. Moreover, the incident has drawn a lot of attention with regard to its legal issues and an investigation was thus initiated to determine if substantial evidence exists to file charges. With all the commotion it has made, the finder of the said iPhone prototype is said to be remorseful of his act. And yes, perhaps he really should be.

Surely, you must have lost an item or two in the past and might have wished that its finder will not keep it for himself. While there are ways to find your priced possessions, it is your ultimate duty to protect your belongings. One must practice vigilance at all times, even if it sometimes seems that a little carelessness is harmless. We must remember that we lose our stuff when we least expect it. So make it a habit to glance at the seat a second time when you step out of a cab to check if you left something, or perhaps something as usual as zipping your bag completely before leaving. It may sound a bit exaggerated or obsessively compulsive, but what is there to lose? Aside from the keys that may slip from your pocket or your mobile phone making its way out of your bag, there are a lot of things that you may avoid losing when you are watchful of them. We must not forget that there are still people who would rejoice in finding what you lost and keep them. There are, and there will always be, people torn between the ideas of selfishly keeping - or heroically returning their find.

About the Author

Peter Smith is person who hates lost and found bins. Asset tags are the number 1 way to prevent this. The best tool on the net to help is http://www.lostuff.com.

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