Stick with your deepest values and you will be happy
Around a week ago I visited Amsterdam with my girlfriend. Okay, it was not Amsterdam but a smaller city nearby. We stayed in a hotel and when we entered the room we found 100€. What would you do?
You actually have different options and you will most likely act according to your own values.
It might be very easy to simply take the 100€ and spend it. This is most likely the thing most people would do. Taking the 100€ and enjoying a great time.
But think about it for a second. Where could these 100€ come from? It’s very likely that these 100€ are from the previous guest. Why should someone leave 100€ in the room?
100€ as a tip for the room maid? This might be possible. But 100€ is a lot of money for a simple tip. Especially when one night in this excellent 4**** hotel is cheaper than the tip.
Some people hide their money in the hotel to feel safe. Especially if you are visiting Amsterdam by night you might think about leaving some of your money in the hotel room. This might have been another reason.
Or the guest simply forgot the money in the room.
However you put it, you didn’t earn the money and ethically this money is not yours.
From the fist time, we saw the money it was clear to us that we will return the money. But we weren’t sure to whom. To the room maid? But what if this week’s room maid is another than the room maid of last week?
In the end, we stuck with our deepest values and we returned the money to the reception. In the end, they called the previous guest and they arranged to return the money.
It was a great feeling and I was happy to have stuck with our own values.
How would you’ve handled the situation? What do you think is ethically the right thing to do? Leave a comment below!
