'If he says it's his, it's his': Boss insists on giving away 'lost & found' items to whomever claims them, until a thieving regular takes something that's hers

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    Gesture - Posted by u/LocalLiBEARian "If he says it's his, it's his." You sure you wanna go with that? M OC
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    Font - A tale from about ten years ago so obviously conversations are to the best of memory. Anyhoo... like most public places, our library had a lost and found box. Located under the desk, people could ask "did you find..." But you know how that works. Until, as time marches on, we get a new boss. Karen seems overused so I'll refer to her as QB... Queen Beeyotch.
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    Font - QB did not like our lost & found setup. Instead, things had to go on a shelf behind the desk so everyone could see everything, and maybe remember that they had lost a particular item. This policy lasted maybe a week before we noticed a big problem. As public places tend to do, we attracted our fair share of idiots and a-holes. Including Jim.
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    Font - He came in one morning and upon seeing this new shelf of treasures, immediately claims everything on the shelf is his. That glittery pink onesie? His. That well- used pacifier? His. That one odd glove that had been sitting in the box for months? His.
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    Font - We all knew damn well that it wasn't his, and said so. And every time, QB would override us... "If he says it's his, it's his. Give it to him. Besides, he's clearing out this stuff so who cares?" UNTIL... THE (ALMOST) FINAL STRAW
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    Font - One of our regulars was a mom and her kid. Toddler age; could walk but had a stroller just in case. Usually well behaved, and always had Mr. Giraffe with him. And one day, Mr. Giraffe somehow got left behind. We immediately called the mom; they hadn't even made it home yet and kiddo is having a meltdown. She says she's turning the car around and should arrive in about 20 minutes. No worries; we'll take good care of him
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    Font - Showed kiddo a picture of Mr. G checking out a book... disaster averted. Or so we thought. QB decrees that Mr. G be placed on the shelf with everything else. Just in time for a-hole Jim to spot it and declare its his. The entire building staff is yelling that it is not his, mom is on her way to get it, etc... but QB will not be moved. She hands it over anyway because "he says it's his..."
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    Font - Sure enough, mom comes, and... no Mr. G. But we know where he is. Someone gets QB out of her office, and as a group, head straight for Jim. Demand he return the giraffe and of course he has no clue what we're talking about.
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    Font - Strange thing about kids sometimes... they see closer to the ground. And sure enough, Mr. G is poking out of Jim's backpack. Kiddo grabs it with a shout of joy, and all QB can do is stammer "but... but... he said it was his..." Now you would think we're done. But we haven't gotten to the MC yet! (Sorry y'all)
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    Font - SO GET TO THE MC ALREADY! Shortly after the giraffe incident, QB and Jim are still playing their games. QB heads to a conference and leaves behind a very distinctive, very expensive looking, water cooler / tumbler. (Bigger than a one cup "morning commute" mug but not a big jug either) Which (you can see this coming) Jim immediately claims as his. I swear he was almost hopping with glee at his latest find.
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    Font - A week later, QB returns, only to find that Jim has her cooler. She tries to confront him: "But all I have to do is say it's mine and they have to give it to me! That's the rule!" We finally got our box beneath the desk that afternoon, and Jim had to describe anything he was going to try making a claim on.
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    Font - TLDR (and Lord knows we need one): Boss insists on giving lost & found items to someone who isn't the actual owner... until he ends up with something of hers.
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    Font - COUPLE OF QUICK EDITS Some of y'all got a little confused about my use of "water cooler" so I tried to clarify QB was told by all of us that mom was on the way to get Mr G., and we were hiding him under the desk. QB put it on the shelf and then handed it to Jim since none of us would do it for her. Jim tried to claim that Mr G was a chew toy for his dog. Not that any of us believed him of course.
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    Font - After the box went back under the desk, it took a while to break Jim's habit. Every day... "anybody turn anything in?" Answer was either "no" or "sure... what did you lose? What does it look like?" Took a while but he finally quit asking.
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    Product - LetsGetsThisPartyOn +2. 12 hr. ago What "human" could watch a little kid not get their "stuffie" back? ↑ Vote Reply Share Coolbeanschilly +2. 12 hr. ago A dehydrated witch.
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    Rectangle - w1987g +2 12 hr. ago What does Jim get from claiming that random stuff? Most of it only has worth to the rightful owner
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    Font - francis2559 12 hr. ago · edited 12 hr. ago Likely not rational. I was cleaning my garage once, and my rather eccentric elderly neighbor across the street walked over to talk to me. After chatting for a bit they asked if they could have an old partially used gallon of white paint. Randomly. As they were staring at that very thing I had just moved.
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    Font - Ok_Yogurtcloset8915 5 hr. ago yeah, him saying "that's the rule" makes me think he might have something going on that makes it difficult for him to understand why this would be wrong.
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    Font - Overquoted 27 min. ago I once cleaned out my bedroom. Threw away old clothes that I didn't fit into or were too worn for me to want to keep (usually both), old school supplies, etc. Most things were trash. Found my neighbors going through my trash
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    Rectangle - myfaceaplaceforwomen 11 hr. ago I legit would've said "no. Go away." Then again, I don't interact with my neighbors so I wouldn't have entertained the conversation in the first place
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    Font - myfaceaplaceforwomen. 11 hr. ago Nothing logical. Sometimes I just have this part of me that goes, 'I could use that for something' and don't get rid of it Vote Reply Share prettykitty-meowmeow 10 hr. ago You are the person they are talking about
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    Font - 2ii2ky 10 hr. ago I think there's a difference between holding onto something you got for yourself, and awkwardly passive- aggressively trying to cajole your way to nabbing your neighbor's junk
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    Organism - CryptidCricket +1 - 12 hr. ago The only thing I can think of is he's either a hoarder, or pawning anything and everything he can get his hands on for dr g money.
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    Font - 2ii2ky 10 hr. ago Seems like hoarder behavior to me. A big part of hoarding, particularly OCD-based hoarding, is that they have a irrepressible compulsion to acquire items if they have the means to. This is especially true for free items. Lost & founds, dumpster diving, things left on a neighbor's curb... Even if it's something you'll never need or use, it's free!
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    Font - Heavy MetalHero 8 hr. ago I get the "free" compulsion, on a pure psychological level. If you purely view the situation through the lens of opportunity cost, and absolutely nothing else, you go up one Anything every time you get a free Anything, and you never know when you might need Something, and Anything could be many Somethings.
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    Font - DOOM-SL4Y3R. 12 hr. ago Wouldn't surprise me if he at least tried to pawn the stuff off for money. Reply Share Vote Thr33Littl3 Monk3ys 12 hr. ago A used pacifier? Who would want that, let alone pay for it?!
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    Rectangle - WafflesAreEpic - 9 hr. ago People enjoy beating "the system" at any level they can and feel they deserve it because someone let them.
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    Smile - Thelaea . 8 hr. ago Jim sounds like he has a few screws loose, so thats probably the explanation.
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    Font - TheFlyingToasterr +2. 6 hr. ago As a bit of a hoarder myself, in my case there is a lot of "this might be useful one day years from now, might as well hold on to it" fueling my habits. I imagine it's probably a bit of that and a bit of feeling like he won something.
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    Human body - SavvyDevil12. 10 hr. ago Methinks Jim is just a kleptomaniac.
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    Font - nevergotgold 3 hr. ago You're talking about a guy that camps outside of a public library lost and found claiming pacifiers and stuffed giraffes. Obviously this guy has a few screws loose

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