How come no one has suggested checking to make sure it was the right car?
Honest answer: I would look inside immediately. Then, either slap my forehead in recognition or get blown to smithereens.
mmm
So…is this a hypothetical? Are you writing a book or something? Did you actually find a bag like this in your car?
I need closure on this anecdote!*
*obligatory Simpsons quote
Yeah, I’m probably going to call the cops unless I gave someone a ride recently (in which case it’s probably theirs) or something else along those lines. I lock my car if I’m not in the middle of loading/unloading it, so someone didn’t just accidentally open my trunk thinking it was theirs (and if they did, the cops will return the bag to them). Since I lock my car, I also unlock it when I get in and would know it was mine because the lights would flash when I hit the unlock button, so I’ve already checked that. I forget things sometimes, but I don’t forget things like what bags I own, so if I don’t recognize it then I’m sure it’s not mine.
I poke at it with a stick. Then open it. If I live and it contains anything useful, I keep it. I throw the rest in the quarry.
^ A pointed stick?
pointed, blunt, whatever is at hand.
Touch nothing, back away slowly, call the wife to see if she knows anything and then call the cops.
My wife usually drives the car. I have the scooter. I’m going to assume it’s hers.
If I had a car that only I drove, I’d open the bag. My life is too boring for anyone to try to harm me.
Some years back, I made a thread about how Japanese cops lost some drugs which they had put in someone’s suitcase for a training exercise and the dogs didn’t get it.
It happened the same day I had returned to Japan, but they had chose another person’s bag.
I’m still not sure if what I’d do if I got home and found drugs in my bag. I reporting it wouldn’t make you a suspect, but damn.
I prefer the term ‘cautious’. I would not assume that the unbidden appearance of a large unidentified object in my car specifically means someone is out to get me, however, it is sufficiently unusual, and therefore sufficiently risky that I would not wish to handle the matter myself.
After reading everyone else’s thoughts, I still go with this.
And I can’t believe how many of you would call the cops! I’m a white guy, but still, the police are not my friends. I often carry a one-hitter, and I’m certain a roach or two could be found searching my vehicle.
I’m not sure I would describe the police as my friends (although they are not my enemies, and have been quite friendly, helpful and professional toward me in all of my contacts with them).
It’s more of: Unknown thing appears in a place I don’t expect it (in particular, somewhere I thought was secure) - I sense assorted risks. I feel like the police are most suitably positioned to handle those risks, whatever they may be.
True story, I somehow ended up with a suit case in my trunk full of cocaine. I didn’t find it. The owner of the cocaine showed up at my house with a crew of gun wielding gangsters. It turns out my room mate who turned out to be a high class hooker had ripped off her connection and stashed the dope in my trunk. She was supposed to be using my car the next morning for a job interview so she had the keys with her.
This was just one of my little adventures that took place in my first 6 months of single life after 20 years of marriage. They came in the house and tore the place apart looking for it. She had already jumped the back fence and took off. For some reason I decided to look in my car and there it was. The gangsters believed me and just took their dope and took off. I threw her out immediately.I see where you’re coming from. Personally, I include interacting with the police on the risk side of the equation (although I’ll concede I’ve had interactions with friendly, helpful cops also) and the possibility of a duffel of drugs on the benefit side of the equation. The thought of a IED would never cross my mind.
I’m not sure a bomb would be my first guess either - but I would consider the object suspicious, and I would rather it be investigated without my prints on it.
I ldont know why your fingerprints on it would be relevant. They would be on the trunk of the car, right? Look inside, and if it is something of which the police would be persons of interest, then call the police and tell them you opened it.
But, then, maybe I am showing my age when I suggest that you can trust the police with the truth.
Prints are just part of the big picture.
The bag could be full of:
[ul]
[li]Dirty laundry[/li][li]Dog poo and knives[/li][li]Money[/li][li]Drugs[/li][li]Twinkies and canned hotdogs[/li][li]Animal parts[/li][li]Human parts[/li][li]Sterile bubble wrap[/li][li]Anything else[/li][/ul]
This thread is actually about how we, as individuals, assess and respond to risks. I get that there are people who just can’t wait to open it up in case it’s full of something interesting or lovely, and call the police if it’s not. I am not one of those people. I am a cautious person.
An unexpected bag of unknown provenance and content appears in a location I thought was secure. Given that information alone, my overall assessment of risk outcomes and severities would, I think, lead me to the decision that involving the police sooner, rather than later, is the safest and best course of action.
One interesting thing I have noticed with threads like this:
The people who answer 'throw caution to the wind and get in there - it could be MONEY!" often express surprise that anyone else would do different.
The people who answer “Whoa there, let’s just think about the risks…” express disagreement (obviously, by very virtue of their position) with the other group, but do not so much express surprise.
As to why I wouldn’t just open it,
As to why I’d cautiously drive home and check out the contents,
