[booleandilemma]

At the end of the day I wasn't even thanked.

Sounds like the librarian is yet another person trying to cover his own ass. Instead of showing gratitude, he probably wants to pretend the whole incident never happened.

[tptacek]

How much gratitude do you generally expect for simple, ethical actions that take almost no effort on your part?

[yeahwhatever10]

Generally you would expect a simple amount of gratitude that takes almost no effort on their part. Like "Thank You".

[nitrogen]

It seems the amount of gratitude should also be proportional (albeit with a small coefficient) to the loss that was prevented.

[nitrogen]

It's interesting that the voting on this comment has fluctuated up and down. If anyone happens across this old thread and would like to provide a counterargument, I'd be interested in reading it.

[nitrogen]

Interesting that this was also downvoted, as well as other very reasonable comments in the thread. Some very odd patterns. My original comment went up to 3 and down to 0, second is at 0, and some other comments are gray enough to be somewhere between -2 and 0. Let's see if the experiment continues.

[anon1m0us]

You reject the amount of effort it takes to walk away from $8,000 -- perhaps a semester of tuition for a college student?

[tptacek]

Yes, I reject the amount of effort that takes, just like I neglect the amount of effort it takes not to pocket the money you find in a wallet on the ground.

[anon1m0us]

False analogy.

[skinnymuch]

I believe it’s a false analogy too. But why exactly is it false? Is it because taking money from a wallet is obviously immoral and you’re robbing an individual?

[sombremesa]

If I go to sell an item on eBay (or a pawn shop) and accidentally enter $8 in the price rather than $800, I doubt there is any recourse for me on legal or moral grounds when that item gets bought. Caveat venditor.

Dropping a wallet on the ground is a completely different story where neither party is taking part in a bona fide transaction.