[EV NXT]

Originally Posted by aargee

like a homeless person stealing food from a store, their action may be seen as more forgivable

On the contrary, this homeless man was very sadly beaten to death for stealing food.

https://www.indiatimes.com/amp/news/...es-340222.html

[NiInJa]

Many people have a different way of thinking:

"I am paying huge amount of taxes, so lifting up something from public space for good won't hurt, eh ?"

P.S. I brought a few kilos of sand from my neighbourhood 'gamla' vendor for hundred rupees two weeks back :(

[THE-U-]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

As a society we cant be alright with thievery.

Gutsy, go back and read the first line of my post. What I said was that we are ok with thievery at so many levels including at a personal level by cutting in line whenever possible. The change has to happen at an individual level for the most part.

All over the country, it is very easy to see that tax money is being spent to promote individual popularity. This is a far more serious thievery than someone stealing some G20 potted plants (I have no idea why G20 meetings need special decoration - I would consider that wasteful). This fellow got caught. He is being punished. Let's not blame everyone in the whole nation as thieves because of his actions. Let's look at ourselves and look beyond all of this faux outrage. This is small potatoes. That was my first point.

If these plants will die because they are winter(!) plants (I thought winter was over in January in Delhi), then this is even a crime of less significance. Individual corruption is what is so painful in many of the so called "global south" - this is where change has to occur - but it doesn't mean there aren't good people in these countries. That was my second point.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by EV NXT

On the contrary, this homeless man was very sadly beaten to death for stealing food

It appears to be a classic "us vs them" situation, disguised as a case where a homeless man is being beaten for stealing food. But, if you read between the lines, that's perhaps what's really happening.

[gyanbaba]

I had a similar 'stealing' experience!

One day, while was returning from my kid's school, my wife noticed a huge curry leaves plant in front of a bungalow.
She stopped the car; went out and plucked a few bunches, and stepped back into the car.

Within moments, the guards came out shouting and cursing her for the act.
Then they looked at the car.

Only God knows what they had thought of ... a lady driving a Porsche and stealing curry leaves worth Rs. 2/-

[Samegoodkid]

If one is worried about the plants and flowers wilting away, then let him/her water them regularly at the same place where they are kept.
Just can’t understand the perspective where we are giving him benefit of doubt for taking those pots.
What is not yours is not yours. Period!

[SoumenD]

Plucking flowers early in the morning from neighbors used to be an accepted practice back in 80s/90s in our small towns. Nobody even flinched watching their neighbors plucking flowers. Am sure even today its practiced there.

But this act of stealing vase is a new low.

Originally Posted by gyanbaba

Within moments, the guards came out shouting and cursing her for the act.
Then they looked at the car.

Only God knows what they had thought of ... a lady driving a Porsche and stealing curry leaves worth Rs. 2/-

Oh man, this cracked me up.

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by Zooster

I guess the mentality will never change look outside the International Airport in Mumbai cars that I have only seen in magazines lined up by the owners or drivers on the highway cos they don't want to pay for parking in the airport but they will sit in the car for an hour with the AC on.

you nailed it, I always found this comical of how all the beamers and mercs were left with ACC ON for a good part of an hour to save a mere 250 bucks on parking.

[BoJack]

You better hide your silverware if you are expecting this guy at your house, its like how they make fun of people who drive jags on top gear.

He may have helped himself to a couple of flower pots but that's okay, because he divers a jaaag (read kia carnival)

[pravint]

The court case will be interesting , how government can prove those plants belong to them and how it is government property.
I think there no clear marking/indication stating that on pots and plants.
All court action happening further will be a nice show

[hserus]

Originally Posted by pravint

The court case will be interesting , how government can prove those plants belong to them and how it is government property.
I think there no clear marking/indication stating that on pots and plants.
All court action happening further will be a nice show

If you are a lawyer I fully encourage you to go and act as this fellow’s defence. He will surely thank you for it once he is released.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by THE-U-

What this man did was wrong.

However, I will offer another perspective. In two or three days all these plants will die with no one to care for them. He probably didn't want to spend the time to find out where such flower pots can be bought from and so he helped himself to a few. No harm, no foul.

I am sure the folks who were paid to place to flower pots there also overcharged the government, perhaps twice their fair price along with any under the table payments. Although this fellow gets driven in a Carnival, he decided that he needed to have a slice of the graft pie. That's all.

Could the government come up with a policy of either auctioning away these plants after the event or donate them to whoever wants them for free? Now, that would be an improvement.

I don't think we need to insult a whole nation of people for the lapse in judgement of one person. That is never right and it also happens all over the world. If we all individually decide to do what is right, including not cutting in line and not leaning on other people's backpacks when standing in line at the airport and at other places, that will be a good start. Sheesh, people - give some personal space. The flight is not going to leave without you.

People cut in line left and right at our airports that I dread the thought of traveling in economy class, which unfortunately I have to many times. It has gotten slightly better these days though and I do try to call out offenders. Haven't been physically attacked yet, but it might happen one of these days (I hope not).

If you see a car that is neglected with a whole bunch of scratches and clearly not being serviced on time etc, will you also break in and steal that car? Outrage over small things like this shows that our nation is growing and starting to become conscious of bad behaviour. Now even the rich and politically connected will think twice about committing petty theft in broad daylight because it could end up viral on social media. The entitlement here is insane. Little by little, people will learn that their entitled behaviours have consequences and maybe one day in the future, all these little things like cutting in line etc will be eliminated.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by pravint

I think there no clear marking/indication stating that on pots and plants. All court action happening further will be a nice show

I know very little about laws, but I dont think the law works that way. I am sure there is a ton of stuff that is not marked as "Govt. property" or "Public property". On those lines I do not have any marking on my bicycle to say its "private property". Lack of any marking is not equivalent to "Free".

[digitalnirvana]

Originally Posted by THE-U-

However, I will offer another perspective. In two or three days all these plants will die with no one to care for them. He probably didn't want to spend the time to find out where such flower pots can be bought from and so he helped himself to a few. No harm, no foul.

There was once a proud chicken farmer. He would rear free range poultry birds for meat and also for eggs. His farm was a shining example of entrepreneurship and small scale sustainable farming.

The big problem he had was of foxes getting into the chicken coops because the fences had stopped fencing as they thought that all these chickens will be eaten in two or three days anyway.

He kept a few guard dogs but they agreed into some sort of profit sharing with the foxes for the loot, and eventually it became too costly to prevent stealing his produce.

He sold off the farm and now works in IT at a reputed MNC. He spends 14 hours in traffic and 3 hours at his desk.
No farm, no fowl.

[GutsyGibbon]

A generic observation: When we post something and follow that up with a "but", it sort of negates the original statement.

Stealing is bad, but what about the billionaires. What about us cutting in line. What about Amitabh Bachan paying taxes as a farmer, etc. These are classic cases of Whataboutery.

Sure - there is a place and time to talk about everything else that is wrong in our country. When something that is blatantly wrong is caught on video, do we really want to talk about other bad billionaires? It totally clouds the sentiment about what we are seeing in the video. It piles on our "chalta hai" attitude towards things.