Sometimes, doing the right thing isn’t always the right thing, according to one viral Reddit post that has left social-media users in total shock.
Racking up more than 58,000 upvotes in two days, u/Easy-F said that they found a brand new iPhone on the ground while walking home in Brooklyn, New York City. They picked it up and tried to find the owner by checking the medical ID option, which usually contains an emergency contact. However, upon reaching out, they were not met with the gratitude they expected.
At first, the owner’s sister thought it was a “scam” and then she put the phone finder in touch with their dad.
Zbynek Pospisil/iStock / Getty Images Plus
“We arranged that I’ll take the phone home, and his dad will pick it up in the morning,” they wrote. “I’m feeling good, like I’m doing something really nice for him.”
However, then John the owner reached out. The Reddit user said: “He’s getting p**** saying it’s inconvenient that I’ve got his phone because it would have been easier if I’d just left it where it was. I had half a mind to throw the damn thing in a gutter. It annoyed me just at how stupid this is, someone’s got your possession, and you’re being rude to them.”
Despite having a negative interaction, the Reddit user added: “Being a good person, I actually [said] I’ll wait up for this guy to send an Uber.
“He is being so damn short with me, and so unappreciative. This is what I hate about New Yorkers, they’re too damn stupid to even save their own skin,” they wrote.
The post concluded with a screenshot of a text the user sent to John’s family after giving the phone to an Uber driver. It explained the situation and emphasized how John had been “rude,” even though the person had saved him money by preventing the need for a replacement.
The post title insinuates they aren’t shocked by this behavior: “So unbelievably ‘New York’, why did I think it would be any different[?]”
A survey conducted by Preply found that New York is one of the rudest cities, along with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Memphis and Tennessee. The language learning marketplace surveyed over 1,500 residents of the 30 largest metropolitan areas in the country and found the most common rude behavior in the U.S. is people being absorbed by their phones in public, especially in New York City.
Newsweek discussed the post with etiquette expert Laura Windsor. She said: “If you want to do something nice for someone, do it without expecting something in return. That is what being courteous is about.
“If the receiver responds rudely, there is no need to overreact. Take the drama out of it and find a solution as quickly as possible.”
Speaking on the behalf of online game website Slingo, Windsor said that John might have been having a bad day and overreacted.
“I’m not condoning his behavior, but don’t do something if you expect something back, even courtesy. Do it because it’s the right and courteous thing to do,” she added.
Reddit Reacts
So far, the post has more than 4,000 comments, with many detailing people’s similar experiences.
One user posted: “The woman in front of me at the garden center dropped a $50 bill, I could have let her walk away and pick it up myself but I decided to stop her. She turned around, it was my middle school math teacher who treated me like garbage. She scowled at me, picked it up and walked off with no acknowledgment.”
However, it’s not all bad, as another added: “Back in 2013, someone found my iPhone in a cab in Chicago and mailed it back to me from Canada. I mailed him $100 USD cash and thank you card for saving me the trouble. Being nice it’s own reward but rewarding nice people should also be more frequent.”
Newsweek reached out to u/Easy-F for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
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