Post: #1

A bizarre little story out of Boston, Massachusetts:

Quote:A Boston taxi driver turned in nearly two hundred thousand dollars' worth of cash he found in a backpack in his car, police said.

After dropping a passenger off at his destination of Massachusetts Avenue and Tremont Street near Northeastern University's campus Friday afternoon, the driver noticed the bag, filled with about $187,000 in cash, sitting in the backseat, according to the Boston Police Department.

The driver immediately brought the bag to police headquarters, which received a call from the passenger as they were taking inventory of its contents, police said.

"This hackney driver exhibited exemplary behavior and his honest deed should be recognized," said Boston Police Department Commissioner William Evans. "His actions represent the high standards that our department has for our drivers."

Police did not comment on why the passenger was carrying such a large amount of cash.

Turns out the forgetful passenger was a homeless dude who then -- get this -- promptly gives the cabbie a $100 reward:

Quote:Over the holiday weekend, a Boston taxi driver gave a homeless man a ride to a hotel. But shortly after Raymond “Buzzy” MacCausland dropped the middle-aged customer off at his destination, he noticed that the man left something behind: a backpack.

MacCausland went back to the hotel where he knew the man was staying in the hope of tracking him down. But when he unzipped the bag at the front desk in search of the man’s ID, he made a shocking discovery: $187,786.75 in cash.

“I said, ‘Is it drug money? Is it stolen money? Is it Whitey Bulger money?’” the cab driver told the Boston Globe. “I made a U-turn and went right to the police station.”

Police examined the bag and its contents — worn clothes and papers, prescription bottles and of course, the cash. They were able to track the owner down at the same hotel, where they discovered that the man, 47, had recently become the heir to a small fortune.

“He didn’t look like he had 75 cents,” MacCausland told the Globe. But documents confirmed that the money was his.

The homeless heir, who had requested that his identity be concealed because of the embarrassment he felt regarding the whole incident, rewarded MacCausland with a $100 bill for his trouble — a sum which, the Globe noted, hardly made a dent in his stacks of cash.

The cab driver admitted to the Globe that he had considered keeping the money.

“That money would have changed my life,” he told the paper. But in the end, he decided to do the right thing.

“I knew he’d find me,” the owner of the backpack, who described MacCausland as a kind “old soul,” said. “I didn’t panic at all.”

Larry Meister, president of Independent Taxi, told the Globe that passengers often leave belongings such as keys, cell phones or wallets in cabs. And while drivers are required by regulation to return these items, Meister acknowledged that it was probably “difficult” for the cabbie to hand back such a sizable sum. He commended MacCausland, who he said “made the right decision.”

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans also plans to offer a commendation to MacCausland for his honesty, the Globe reported.

“This hackney driver exhibited exemplary behavior and his honest deed should be recognized,” Evans said in a statement. “His actions represent the high standards that our department has for our drivers.”

MacCausland told the Globe that he picks up homeless people all the time. He was once invited to the wake of a man he frequently drove. He said he doesn’t sweat the occasional fare jumper.

A lot of people have left their belongings in MacCausland’s cab during his 50 years of driving in and around the Boston area — a man once left a briefcase with $10,000, the Globe reported.

He gave it all back.

Nothing like going from nothing to fat stacks back to nothing back to fat stacks again. Then -- in light of all this -- giving the honest man who did the right thing little more than a cursory token for his good deed.

Frankly, it is an insult to give somebody so little as a tip, it is like giving a pizza driver a $2 tip on a $100 order -- it might be better to stiff somebody than to give a vanishingly insignificant recognition of their efforts.

Apparently, Royal Caribbean Cruises heard of this story and gave the cabbie and his girlfriend an all-expenses-paid cruise. Not bad. The homeless dude is a still a prick, though.

Post: #2

Media should have named and shamed that piece of shit.

Post: #3

I'm more surprised that the police didn't confiscate it and make the guy jump through 365 hoops to get it back.

edit; I don't care either way that the guy rewarded 100 or 1000 to the cabbie, it's his money, he can do whatever he wants with it.

Post: #4

Yeah, he could have at least tipped 12%

Post: #5

There is a certain subset of the population that just insists on being stupid.

A homeless guy leaves his 187k in the cab. That's just stupid.

Aloha!

Post: #6

Now we know why the homeless guy has $187k. He doesn't tip for shit.

Post: #7

I don't see why people think it was cheap of the homeless guy to "only" give $100. $100 is a lot of money for a taxi driver.

Post: #8

Bet the cabbie felt really stupid afterwards.

Post: #9

this kind of attitude/stupidity probably goes a long way towards explaining why he was homeless in the first place

Post: #10

I dunno, you run across a lost bag with that much money in it and chances are very good that it's dirty money. Yeah, $187k is a shit ton of cash for just about anyone, but I wouldn't risk my life or my family's safety if it was some sort of drug/crime money and a motivated criminal was looking for retribution for taking advantage of his carelessness.

I'm betting the cabbie weighed his options REAL carefully and finally decided that <$200k wasn't enough money to risk it. I'm guessing that if it were closer to a million, he would've probably taken off. In this case, he probably tried to make a big deal out of it to get some sort of publicity and perhaps a $10k reward or something, but the homeless guy is an ingrate.

Post: #11

$100 barely compensates the cabbie for time lost in other fares safeguarding the inheritance.

Give him a grand at least.

Post: #12

I've seen enough movies to know that you don't just keep a large sum of cash you found that might come from crime. Might not end well.

Post: #13

I think the saddest part is... that he'll probably end up being homeless again.

Post: #14

Just be grateful he got something out of it.

Post: #15

It was right to return the money despite the homeless guy being a complete and utter CUNT.

Post: #16

The smartest option for the cab driver would be to hide the money - if no criminal comes looking for a year -use it. If a criminal comes - give it back. I the meantime he could look for ways to disappear incognito with the money.

The homeless guy is greedy and careless, I would bet 100$ he would spend or lose again that money in a year.

Post: #17

I would have tipped nothing at all...

Post: #18

^ Whatever troll.

I don't get how exactly a homeless man forgets a couple hundred grand. If you're homeless, and you come into a couple hundred grand -- what friggin psycho would put it in the trunk and forget about it. It'd be on your lap and you wouldn't just forget it. Or in a bank.

I call bullshit on the whole story. It's manufactured.

Post: #19

A fool and his money are easily parted, not sure why you would call bs on the story. The guy is homeless for a reason (and will be again soon). Instead he'll probably just spend it in a way that ends up killing him or at least causing more damage to his life.

Post: #20

How does a homeless man acquire an inheritance? He would have to be on the grid and contactable in order to receive this inheritance. An address, a contact number, someway of being reached. At the very least he has family that knows of his whereabouts which is even more suspicious if they allow him to live in destitution... unless it's by choice which I believe a good number of homeless are.

If I was the cab driver I would have taken the money. No shame.

Post: #21

(07-13-2016 02:24 AM)Mr. Ripley Wrote:  Just be grateful he got something out of it.

That's a very one-sided opinion. Seems like your starting point expectation is that everyone else via their own good will, should go around putting out fires you started. A doc can fix you up in 5 mins and save your life with a script for antibiotics for an otherwise fatal infection. If they get anything out of it, that's a plus? It only took 5 mins after all. The cabbie saved this guy $200k from his good will and a couple hours of his time, from a situation he entirely brought upon himself.

On a slight tangent, this the whole mentality that's galvanized the middle class with Trump and Brexit. GDPs have grown heaps in the last few decades, but middle class hasn't seen much of that. So while the elites and bottom peasants in India/China have seen huge gains in quality of life, the middle has seen marginal or none. But hey, they should just be happy they're 2% better off than 25 years ago, and forget that everyone else is 100% better off.

Life isn't fair, but if you treat people unfairly for long enough, they eventually wont stand for it. Though actions like this may speak volumes as to why he's homeless in the first place. Straight up cuntish behavior that makes you unsociable and unemployable.

My grandfather found an envelope with $600 once in his building. Found the owner, and got a $50 gift card for dinner as a thank you.

Post: #22

(07-13-2016 09:32 AM)Spindis Wrote:  A fool and his money are easily parted, not sure why you would call bs on the story. The guy is homeless for a reason (and will be again soon). Instead he'll probably just spend it in a way that ends up killing him or at least causing more damage to his life.

My guess is every shabby looking man in Boston carrying a backpack is going to get mugged after this story came out.

Post: #23

I don't see what's wrong here? The 'homeless' guy didn't have to pay him anything- no one is entitled to money just because they do a good deed. Isn't that the whole point of a good deed, that you do it out of kindness?

Post: #24

(07-13-2016 03:08 PM)britchard Wrote:  I don't see what's wrong here? The 'homeless' guy didn't have to pay him anything- no one is entitled to money just because they do a good deed. Isn't that the whole point of a good deed, that you do it out of kindness?

Yeah, but gratitude also matters. This was a miracle. A miracle is worth more than $100. I can't imagine ever forgetting about $187K in cash, but if I did lose it, I'd give the Good Samaritan a hell of a lot more than $100 bucks. A hell of a lot more.

Post: #25

(07-13-2016 04:36 PM)Quintus Curtius Wrote:  

(07-13-2016 03:08 PM)britchard Wrote:  I don't see what's wrong here? The 'homeless' guy didn't have to pay him anything- no one is entitled to money just because they do a good deed. Isn't that the whole point of a good deed, that you do it out of kindness?

Yeah, but gratitude also matters. This was a miracle. A miracle is worth more than $100. I can't imagine ever forgetting about $187K in cash, but if I did lose it, I'd give the Good Samaritan a hell of a lot more than $100 bucks. A hell of a lot more.

So, an honest person is a miracle now? You are probably right in practical terms.

Britchard is still right morally. There is something a bit slimy about getting a tip for being honest.

I think a homeless guy has a completely different mentality than you do, QC. He doesn't have the luxury of working out a code of ethics, he is just reacting to life day by day, trying to see what he can get from whoever he comes into contact with. Gratitude is a pretty sophisticated thing to expect him to feel.

I would imagine he felt over powering relief that his fuck-up hadn't cost him everything, and the fact that he even thought to kick some of the money down to the good Samaritan was pretty good for him in his state of mind at the time.

There is a good chance that for years until he got the money, he spent all his days trying to cobble a few bucks together all day every day, and finding five bucks on the ground was considered a major ground score, and finding a twenty was like being a high roller.

If that was how it was for him for years on end, he probably was still at least partially in that mindset, the new financial reality not having really sunken in yet, and, as this is all speculation obviously, there is a good chance that giving away a hundred, more than he had ever found himself in all those years, felt like he was being grateful and generous.

And maybe, for him, he was.