The funny part is that this is the end of the apocryphal story. There will never be a follow-up, so we will never know if Eddie harasses her forever and ever or if they get married, like in romantic comedies.
I prefer not to label people “thieves” because of one act they did. If she habitually steals things all her adult life, then I may reconsider but for the time being I’m not going to call her a thief. I’m kind of surprised really - has no one here on this board ever stolen anything at all? If so, when you think about yourself do you consider yourself a thief? Is that what you envision on your tombstone - “Here lies XXX Doper - a thief”.
She commited an act of theft, yes.
She’s a thief but I’d have done the same in that situation.
We don’t know that. He may know it and do it because he gets pleasure out of offending women.
English is a langue with a lot of different words, but even in English there is not a seperate word for every seperate idea.
Over here we call it “stealing by finding” and the fact that you didn’t like the victim is neither here nor there – and even the “finding” part is questionable when you saw whose pocket it fell out of.
To answer the question in the first line of your OP: “Sheer curiosity”. Fortunately I’m not a cat.
It’s stealing. That being said, no way would I have approached Eddie for anything. For anything. We as women have all experienced the man who just doesn’t understand how to take no for an answer, and doesn’t understand that he’s being a PITA. Worse, when you do get it through your heads that no is the answer, they get angry and violent and call you names - “Slut, whore, bitch”.
Eddie is not going to be shamed into being good. I would never trust him to do so. Upon re-reading the OP he is just an asshole and while it is stealing, what she did, I’d be inclined to look the other way if I saw it. Assholes get what assholes deserve. If he was a nice guy, maybe she might be more inclined to return the money and maybe even go on a date with him.
That’s true of all languages.
I think you’re being way too generous if you think guys like Eddie don’t realize they’re being a pain in the ass. They’re expressed hostility, not disguised affection.
It was theft and if Eddie had, say, forgotten his tablet or briefcase and she took that instead I doubt as many people would be trying to defend it. I dunno how many events of theft it takes to make one a thief ("…but do they call me Shamus the Fence Builder? Nay…") but taking the money was theft.
I would say she committed theft by keeping something that was not hers. I would not call her a thief. I also wouldn’t blame her one bit for what she did.
…and that Eddie is a Sith Lord, and is a combo-pack of the Damien Anti-Christ and Lucifer Himself (with REALLY BAD fries), and that he also taught Eva Braun how to give Hitler Aryan-style Blowjobs.
(…The Goose-Gulp? Hey, I dunno… I guess it could be a thing. Its a Skald, Skald, Skald, Skald World…!!!)
As a Matter Of Fact, Eddie is SO Evil…
[spoiler] …So Evil its Spoiler-Boxed?
Results are Cloudy… click again…
Eddie is SO EVIL that He Planned This and has decided to Destroy Her With Guilt!!!*
*only Truly Evil Scum Bag Villains say they’ll “De-STROY fill in the blank” They roll natural 20s in both Umbrage and Stupidity (no saving throw).
[/spoiler]
…I’m sure there is a rationalization for her lowering herself down to the level of being a Common Thief in all this Smoke and BS somewhere…
I can’t blame her. He cost her financially and emotionally in the past. I think the money made her whole and her and Eddie are pretty much square. Giving the money back would be the courteous thing to do, but his past behavior means he forfeits any expectation of courtesy.
Yes, she’s a thief. No, I don’t care because
- She didn’t steal from me.
b. Bad stuff happening to the Eddies of this world makes me smile and feel funny “down there.”
[ul]
[li]The consumer goods on which she spent the money were a better use of the funds than brony hookers and low-grade shabu on which Eddie would have spent it.[/li][/ul]
I don’t think it’s either with those guys. They go through life flailing at all the buttons of all the girls, hoping they will get lucky and unlock the “guess I’ll fuck you” mode. Really. They don’t feel affection, but they are actually thinking they may one day get laid. They don’t think of the girl as feeling threatened/annoyed because they don’t think of the girl at all.
And yes, to a guy like that, doing him a favor is showing interest, is a tantalizing hint that he’s close to breaking the code, wearing you down.
I think you’re too generous when you assume they are working off of hostility. That assumes they see a woman as a person capable of registering hostility.
I always wondered if that was the case. I suspect there are some human beings who are so small-hearted and incapable of empathy that other people aren’t actually people, but just things in the environment to mess with. Certainly, I’d consider our hypothetical Eddie to be one of these defective human beings. Iris would be fully justified to do anything, including nothing, to avoid interaction with him.
Back to the central question of the OP, I’d hold that yes, Iris is a thief in the most literal an un-nuanced definition of the word: one who steals. Taking “lost” goods is stealing. Legally, in many jurisdictions, and morally.
It’s not legally, ethically, or karmically justified by how abusive and douchebag Eddie is, or how much Iris needs the money. Or even that the former is the proximate cause of the later. Because in a civilized society, we don’t avenge ourselves. Period.
Yes, we do. We have a whole lot of civil law devoted to it. Maybe what you meant was that we don’t avenge ourselves other than through the legal system.
I disagree. Are there men like the ones you say? Of course. But there are also men who are just being pains in the asses and exerting what little power they have. Power is better than sex - power never ends.
I remember when I was much younger and shyer being pursued endlessly by this man who was good-looking enough and smooth enough to get any number of chicks. White chicks in particular adored him - he was Arabic, that sort of dark haired smokey eyed exotic guy a lot of my acquaintances liked. But it was me he latched onto, no matter how much I told him no, and I am convinced he did it because he was a jerk and enjoyed seeing me cringe. When I toughened up and told him off, it was no longer interesting to him.
Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity, yes, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t malice too.
Yes indeed. She is a thief. But sometimes being a thief can be right.
It’s not an absolute thing.
For example, suppose you overheard someone telling someone else they were going to commit some horrible, terrible terrorist act later that evening and they had the plans all written on some piece of paper. But then, the paper fell out of their pocket and they didn’t notice and someone then picked it up - just like Iris picked up the money.
Are they a thief? Well, OK. Sure they are. But since they took the paper directly to the police (actually the FBI) and it was used to thwart the attack and put the evil doers in prison, wasn’t being a thief - in a case like that - an OK thing to be?
I think it was. And I think Iris was also OK in taking that money. Justified and heroic.
Go, Iris, Go!
Sometimes the only thing to say is: F the torpedoes! Full speed ahead.
At the risk of nitpicking, there’s a difference between “Did Iris commit theft?” and “Was Iris’ actions justified?”
Many people are confusing the two.
Not necessarily.
I don’t believe Iris’s actions were justified. But to people who disagree, calling her a thief carries a degree if opprobrium that they’re not willing to make. I can understand that.