I hope you don't consider this puerile or pointless, Paul... a short story. When I was a young teenager I found a rather battered half empty tube of exotic suntan cream on a beach. I opened it up and prepared to lather...I was always used to Boots own stuff. My mother asked what I was doing and I replied whoever owned it must have long gone. I have never forgotten her reply, "is it yours?", the answer, of course, is no.
My mother's question has always been my standard.
Well technically the answer should have been 'well it is now'. Did you just leave it on the beach with the rest of the litter?
I like these moral maze type discussions. I know my stance and can live with my judgements but I also like hearing other peoples' takes on this.
I find plants are treated too much as a disposable commodity these days, something we own rather than something we are custodians of. I love that some of the plants I have here have great stories to go with them rather than just 'I got it from the garden centre'. I also like it when people feel they have to rescue plants even if it is just on the off chance that they are at risk. Maybe it's the guilty pleasure of the Indiana Jones style 'it belongs in a museum' theft.
One of my favourite plants is a Centaurea montana (mountain cornflower) that I found only just surviving after being dumped on the side of the road when new house owners cleared out the hanging baskets and pots that were left behind by the previous owners. A couple of leaves and one small blue flower were showing but after a bit of TLC it is thriving. Maybe I'll call it 'finders keepers'.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
@wild edges "Well technically the answer should have been 'well it is now'. Did you just leave it on the beach with the rest of the litter? " No, it was taken to the front desk of the hotel we were staying in.
@wild edges "Well technically the answer should have been 'well it is now'. Did you just leave it on the beach with the rest of the litter? " No, it was taken to the front desk of the hotel we were staying in.
Ah I see. Private beach. I'd assumed it was the usual public type. Your morality certainly makes sense if there was a chance of finding the owner like that.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
The thing is they're not mutually exclusive options are they? Doing the second one would necessitate the first ... unless permission is sought and granted.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Oh dear. I never thought I was doing anything wrong when I scavenge bits of discarded plant out of my neighbours' garden waste bags when they're left on the pavement to be emptied. I suppose in strict legal terms, they remain the property of the householders until the workmen pick up the bags, at which point they become the property of the recycling company. I suppose I should apply the test "Well, you knew it wasn't yours."
Well, at least if they're in rubbish bags you know that the neighbours don't want them ... I'd still ask tho' ... it's just neighbourly and I feel it's the right thing to do.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@wild edges "Well technically the answer should have been 'well it is now'. Did you just leave it on the beach with the rest of the litter? " No, it was taken to the front desk of the hotel we were staying in.
Ah I see. Private beach. I'd assumed it was the usual public type. Your morality certainly makes sense if there was a chance of finding the owner like that.
Posts
That's his problem ... not mine ... my conscience is clear.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I like these moral maze type discussions. I know my stance and can live with my judgements but I also like hearing other peoples' takes on this.
I find plants are treated too much as a disposable commodity these days, something we own rather than something we are custodians of. I love that some of the plants I have here have great stories to go with them rather than just 'I got it from the garden centre'. I also like it when people feel they have to rescue plants even if it is just on the off chance that they are at risk. Maybe it's the guilty pleasure of the Indiana Jones style 'it belongs in a museum' theft.
One of my favourite plants is a Centaurea montana (mountain cornflower) that I found only just surviving after being dumped on the side of the road when new house owners cleared out the hanging baskets and pots that were left behind by the previous owners. A couple of leaves and one small blue flower were showing but after a bit of TLC it is thriving. Maybe I'll call it 'finders keepers'.
No, it was taken to the front desk of the hotel we were staying in.
The options were:-
- Robbing the dead.
- Preserving some unusual plants.
Well now you have your answers.Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Ha ha, true....didn't think of that.