I was out with my brother and his young DCs and his partner today as they were in my area. We went to the local park after having lunch and as we were heading for the swings my brother whom I have always thought to be an honest decent person, suddenly bent down and said 'that'll do' or something to that effect and picked up a mobile phone (a nice modern one so probably expensive) that was lying in the grass (nobody around who it could've belonged to that we could see).
My brother then proceeded to the swings with the phone by now in his pocket and proceeded to push one of his DCs on swing. I sat with his partner and watched him as between pushes he seemed to be going through phone. No alarm bells as yet as I thought he was looking for a number to call to reunite phone with owner. His partner commented in a bemused voice that he was looking at the phone - 'look at him, reading that phone' sort of comment.
So after a while we started to walk off the park to go to my house nearby and as we were walking along I asked him about the phone and he sort of shushed me and was pointing behind him. Not having a clue what was going on I left it till we got to my house a few minutes later.
Then he said: 'You know when you asked me about the phone, well the reason I shushed you was those two girls behind us, I think it belonged to one of them - I saw one of them looking around on the grass and the other one was phoning someone and the phone started to ring so I took the battery out as quick as I could.
I still didn't get that my brother was actually intending to keep this phone even though the owner had walked past him apparently until he made a comment about having to see whether it was locked or not and if so get it unlocked as his niece needed a new phone.
His partner seemed absolutely fine with going along with all this and didn't call him on it or query it at all.
To my eternal shame by this stage I couldn't bring myself to say that I thought this was wrong and dishonest not to mention very mean and unkind and as they were leaving then anyway I just said my goodbyes and that was that. I was like a rabbit in the headlights really I was just so shocked.
When they left I just thought 'Who are these people, I just don't even know my own brother '
I have been thinking what to do ever since from calling my brother and asking him to explain what he was going to do with the phone as I don't understand what he was on about and surely he doesn't intend to keep it. Or phoning the police explaining my dilemma and basically grassing him in but ask to remain anonymous for obvious reasons.
I am both angry and dismayed and it somehow seems worse that he openly did this in front of me, on my patch, (where absolutely everyone knows DH and I ) which is quite frankly insulting, the implication being I wouldn't see anything wrong with it.
WWYD ??
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Ethical dilemmas
My brothers dishonesty really shocked me today [sad]
50 replies
Betternc4this · 16/07/2013 21:14
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