“Finders, keepers.” Perhaps you’ve found yourself, in the throes of prepubescence, uttering this phrase to a classmate or friend as you pocket a nickel or dime, or pack of fruit candy, or nub of pencil eraser.
In Shanghai’s Changning district recently, this playground idea of “finders, keepers” was taken to the illogical extreme, as a migrant worker who fell off his moped and saw 18,000 yuan in cash go aflutter had to resort to begging to get passersby to return his money, which they snatched for themselves. Via Global Times:
The 18,000 yuan in cash slipped out of the man’s back pocket when he fell off the vehicle near the intersection of Jianhe and Beidi roads, police said. Passersby rushed over to grab the bills as they scattered in the wind.
“It only took a few seconds for people, including pedestrians and moped drivers, to grab all of the money,” a witness surnamed Yu told Shanghai Television Station.
Only two people returned 700 yuan in total, while the worker recovered 3,000 yuan himself.
Shame to all those who took off with his money. Should misfortune ever befall you, an angel in heaven will stroke his plush wings and laugh, before you’re an asshole.
Migrant loses 15,000 yuan on way to bank (Global Times, h/t Shanghaiist)
UPDATE, 5:42 pm: The man was from Anhui province. According to the news report below, he was carrying 17,000 yuan and heading to the bank when the wind blew the money out of his back-left pocket.
He knelt on the ground and begged people to not take his year’s worth of savings, but many drove by and kept snatching.
UPDATE, 2/8, 1:18 pm: People have donated more than 22,000 yuan to him.
What a thoroughly disgusting group of people to have stolen from this poor man who probably worked his fingers to the bone to make money for his family. A what a tragedy to befall him just before the New Year.
Shame on those predatory vultures.
If their filthy faces could have been captured on any of the myriad cameras that permeate every street corner, they should be immediately arrested for theft.
While the Communist Party may have succeeded in developing China’s economy over the past 35 years, they have utterly failed to instal the value system needed to go with it.
The dominant value in China these days is greed…no doubt Confucius is rolling over in his grave.
Confucius knew very well that the petty, greedy people were, are, and always will be the overwhelming majority.