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I was cleaning out the office of a guy who had been fired here at my firm. (some parts of my job suck)
Under his desk were two boxes full of brand new high-end digital cameras, still in unopened boxes.
My heart skipped a beat and then I realized after a moment that the cameras had been potential evidence in a case that had settled several months ago and were related to the mess of files scattered around his office. The client had paid for him to buy these cameras.
His office had been unlocked and the boxes were not secured. There were at least a thousand people who theoretically had access to his office and to those cameras. And he had just been fired for screwing up several aspects of his job.
It would have been VERY easy for me to just take one camera and then play dumb in the unlikely event of anyone ever noticing that one camera was missing. The case was over. The cameras were no longer critical to the business of the firm. The client, a large corporation, technically owned them, but they probably didn't even know of them.
There was very very little risk of me being caught if I took one.
I didn't take one. But I was tempted. I turned them over to someone to send off the the client.
For me it was mainly that I knew I would feel guilty each time I'd pull out the ill gotten camera, and wouldn't enjoy it. Plus how could I explain the sudden appearance of a nice new camera to my wife and kids?
All this is to say that I understand the temptation when you think you wouldn't get caught.
Plus, maybe I would get caught.
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