Lost and found

[overstim.livejournal.com]

Lost and found posts are pretty common here, and they always irk me.

"I found xxx in a cab, let me know if its yours". Well, if I lost something, and I'm pretty sure it was in a cab, I'd call the cab company, not check LiveJournal. The sense of responsibility and community here is impressive and rare and heartwarming, but also often counterproductive.

So I got to thinking– should we designate some public space as an all-purpose lost and found? Say, if you find anything within a .5 mile radius of Davis Square, you'll drop it off at Diesel, or the Somerville Theatre or something. That way if I lose something, I'd only have to check one place, not every person I know, several school bulletin boards, several LJ communities and several Craigslist pages. Think some local business would be interested in this?

Comments

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

How would you communicate that to the residents and visitors to Davis Square who do not use this community?

Note that I agree, most of the lost/found posts are shooting in the dark, but I don't find this to be especially more helpful.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

if someone is not on the Davis LJ, then youre not helping either way. But if someone IS on the Davis LJ, they will know to check the lost and found location. and if its a set location, word WILL eventually spread to people off of the community, as well. its better than nothing.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I actually think it's worse than the status quo, but it's hardly worth discussing.

Heh, if the board king says so....

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

...

[whaler.livejournal.com]

I think people post here as a last ditch shot in the dark, and don't think they are actually expecting it to help them find it.

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

I don't think Diesel or the Somerville Theater are going to want to pay their staff to maintain a lost and found for the Davis Square community, but you could always ask them. Actually, I always thought if you found something valuable, your local police station was the best place to take it. This used to be true, anyway, don't know if it still is.

But all that said, I don't find such posts counterproductive at all. An irrelevant email in my inbox once (or even a few times) a day is hardly a spanner in my works, anyway. If lost/found posts became the majority of what was appearing, then maybe that's the time to think about starting a separate community, just to deal with lost and found in Davis Square, but I don't think we're there just yet.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

its not like it would take an extra employee to keep a box under a counter.

and im not talking about the posts being disruptive to the community, im talking about people who find things in davis square, and rather than leaving them where they found them, or reporting them to the police, TAKING care of them themselves and posting here that they found them.

yeah, this ^

[svilletheatre.livejournal.com]

We've already got enough lost and found from our own customers without mixing in random stuff from the street! :)

We're going to open an umbrella, hat and single-glove store soon.

It's not about paying someone to maintain it, it's just a huge clutter, and it's also a responsibility. Valued items like iPods should be dropped at the police station, IMHO, as someone might actually check there.

~Ian/Somerville Theatre

[redheadedmuse.livejournal.com]

Isn't the police station sort of the traditional spot for that kind of thing? If I lost something in a foreign city, it's one of the places I'd check.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

yes, but my point is, based on the posts around here, people arent doing that. Theyre holding on to the objects they find and posting them here.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Then, if we're going to propose a change to standard operating procedure, maybe we should encourage people to do what is more in line with the general public's operating procedure and drop things off at the police station?

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

wouldnt it make more sense to simply encourage more people to actually do that? i'm willing to bet the police station does a whole lot more lost and found activity than this lj community.

one moderator's opinion

[ron_newman]

I see no problem with occasional lost and found posts in this community. They occasionally do work, as seen most recently here.

Re: one moderator's opinion

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

In fact, I'd say that a surprisingly huge number of such posts work. Like when my wife lost her new digital camera -- that was pretty much completely awesome.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

Okay, okay, you all win. bad idea.

But do me a favor? If you find my lost iPod, or keys, or whatever, I'm going to be re-tracing my steps. So don't take them home with you- leave them the hell where they are, or take them to the police station? kthanks!

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

The reason people don't leave lost iPods where they are is so people won't steal them.

Agree that they should be taken to the police station. One could then post a note here saying that the iPod was found, and that it's at the police station to be picked up.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

+1

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

And with things like hats or gloves, leaving them where they fell means they get trampled in the mud/snow/salt. When you retrace your steps, try looking at things at waist level too; sometimes people just move a glove two feet away and three feet up, where it will remain visible and stay cleaner.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

Okay, new policy! if I find a lost iPod, Ill take it to the police station, and leave in its place a Polaroid of me, rubbing it on my junk :)

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

I still think it was an idea worth discussing, though.

And it's still a completely valid point that maybe it is sometimes a good idea to leave something where you find it, for those who might retrace their steps. On the third hand, if it's an iPod, it's more likely to get stolen if you just leave it there.

The sad fact is, it just plain sucks when something gets lost, and there's no perfect solution. That's why it's good to have threads like this, so everyone can see everyone else's ideas/solutions/smackdowns.

[magg1es.livejournal.com]

I like the idea because the closest police station is in Union Square. It would be convenient to have somewhere local to have a lost and found. I think that it would increase the likelihood that people will turn something in instead of keeping it.


... I also hate police stations and will not set foot in one.

Teele Square

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

As of a year ago, there's a substation in Teele Square:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&q=1154+Broadway+St,+Somerville,+MA+02144&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=1154+Broadway,+Somerville,+Middlesex,+Massachusetts+02144&ll=42.400453,-71.125445&spn=0.008572,0.026457&z=16

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

oops, nix my last comment ;)

[magg1es.livejournal.com]

I don't agree that people should not pick things up if they are lost and post about them. What I do agree with is the fact that it may not be as effective as dropping it off at a police station. How about a hybrid? Pick it up, post about it, then drop it off at a police station.

The idea of a community lost and found is a good idea. People who are generally out and about in Davis will find some way of hearing about it. The problem may be tacking things up in competing stores. I do not believe the cafe down the street will enjoy have Diesel's name posted on their walls. But! Being as Diesel almost shuts down every other year, they might appreciate the additional business from fliers around the square.

I say, write something up... Perhaps we could hold a community meeting discussing a way to effectively execute this.

[ratushebarl.livejournal.com]

Er, we already have a community lost-and-found. It's at the police station. We pay taxes to support it. If you find a lost object of any value, you should use it. It works. No meetings or hassling of local businesses necessary.

[magg1es.livejournal.com]

If I ever kept something without making an effort to return it to its' owner, sure.

But until I am a jerk, or like going to police stations, I like the idea of a community lost and found.

[seltzer92.livejournal.com]

ive always returned found objects immediately in front of the business where i find it or the police station.
i agree that lost/found posts here are annoying to read.

I often keep found objects.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Unless they are personal IDs or credit cards. I lose stuff too at times. I lost a nice camera last year. It's the way the universe redistributes a few things here and there. Note, if somebody posts an ad saying they lost that particular item, then I'd give it back. But I'm not going to go out of my way to find the owner, otherwise.