Did I Steal A TV?

You guys are a community I trust to be smart with life, so I thought I'd ask this. The other day I was driving around town and found a CRT on the side of the road. It was in working condition and had been sitting there all week, so I took it. On the beastcast the other week, Vinny said his old CRT was the best TV he'd ever had, amd it was the same model, so I couldn't resist. Did I steal some guys TV, or is it being on the side of the road a universal signal of "please take this shit"? I don't know if I'm a scumbag or not.

No. I'm almost certain some dickhead put it by the side of the road because he/she didn't want to do go through the trouble of recycling it. If they were planning on using it or selling it, why place it by the side of the road? I think getting some use out of something that someone irresponsibly discarded is the opposite of scummy.

I think any time someone leaves a weather sensitive device outside for a week or more, they really have no room to complain when someone makes the assumption you did. Hope it still works! I've been wanting to get a CRT for Rock Band purposes for the longest time, but haven't pulled the trigger.

I think when it is on the side of the road, especially if it is there for a while, that's basically considered "Free shit" territory. With CRTs in particular, you have to imagine the logistics of getting rid of it. The last CRT my family had was well over 50 pounds (it might actually be a similar model to the one Vinny talked about). Even recycling that damn thing was a pain in the ass. It probably isn't a coincidence a lot of the free stuff on the side of the road stories people have involve big bulky things like TVs and couches.

Is this a real question or some attempt at a Beastcast meme? It was on the side of the road for a week.

You stole Vinny's TV? Im alerting Bradwell Elliot Shoemaker at once to deal with you, heathen.

@mike: real question. I have almost no experience with this type of thing and needed some sort of point of reference regarding the morality of taking it

This is something really between you and your parole officer...

Remember, a CRT is not just for Christmas.

Seriously though, I'd get it checked out to make sure it's electrically sound. Don't put a screwdriver anywhere near the back of that thing yourself at any point unless you know what you're doing/asking for, or have too many screwdrivers.

The side of the road is the universal symbol for "unwanted goods"

No, they were throwing it out.

Thanks for all the answers guys, good to know my assumption was correct. I'm already putting it to good use, just hooked up an NES and PS2. I forgot how good it felt to play THPS4 without input lag, or have Mario 3 look like it should. Thanks again, all :)

If something's outside a house, I think the polite thing is to ring the bell and ask just to make sure it's okay to take. But basically anything sitting by the side of the road for multiple days is very clearly something that was being thrown out, so feel free to take without any moral qualms.

This is weird, because I had a CRT outside my house for a week and now it's mysteriously gone. Thought the side of the road was the safest place for it, too; you think it would be obvious i still wanted it. Oh well. :(

If I see something sitting on the curb or side of the road for 1 hour, let alone a week, I consider it to be fair game.

Check it for bugs before you bring it inside! Had a friend get a serious roach infestation doing the exact same thing.

Well shit so you're the one who took my TV!

@danishingact: Just using in the garage (don't wanna risk it falling on someone in an earthquake, live in SoCal) but I will make sure to do that nonetheless. Getting a bug problem is the last thing I want

Where I live (just outside Vancouver Canada) it's an unwritten rule (partially i'll get to the written part later) that if someone leaves basically anything besides a trash can (or a living thing or car obviously) on the side of the road / curb outside there house it's free to whoever wants it and can stuff it in they're car lol. This includes things like Couches, fridges, BBQ's and other stuff like Televisions.

As for the "written" part of this little rule, we have (at least where I live) a special garbage day once every couple months where huge delivery trucks drive down the road and collect these large items and take them to the appropriate recycling facilities free of charge, no questions asked.

So yeah, at worst you took an old tv that was left out for recycling. Don't feel bad about it and give that old CRT a new home!

Yes, you totally stole a TV and now you're a criminal of the highest order.

You stole it. He definitely wasn't throwing it out.

The Phantom thieves will send you a calling card and make you confess your crimes most foul.

Yup you're a thief, gonna have to get the mods to report this to the proper authorities...

I think he/she forgot that they left it outside for a week, so you're a bad person.

I think it's fucked up you are admitting to stealing Vinny's TV, especially after he said it was his favorite.

I hope this doesn't sound shitty but, what reasonable explanation could you come up with for someone putting something they want on the side of the road for over a week? I'm not saying you're wrong for not knowing that's a sign for either garbage or "free" but, I'm just curious why you would come anywhere near the idea that you're stealing it. It's not a car or something you would find naturally on the side of a road, it's a household appliance. It's not like someone would ever just be carrying around their CRT, sit it down, and forget that they left it there.

I can't believe a premium member would steal Vinny's TV.

That TV really tied the sidewalk together, it wasn't for you to steal.

I mean, it would be somewhat silly to do this now, but in the future, it's alright to knock on the persons door (as long as it's not a stupid hour you are there at) and ask.
If they don't want it, score, you are doing them a favour.
If they do want it but it's a really dumb place to keep it, at least you didn't 'steal' it from them.
Doesn't hurt to knock. Usually.

You should shoot the TV with a handgun imo

Maybe this is different in different regions, but around these parts something on the side of the road is a definitive sign for "this is garbage." I could probably walk around the block and find an old TV, a ratty chair, and a wobbly table to set it on. I'm near a college too, so at the beginning of the summer there are countless abandoned items like these.

@zimzamfromspace: ya I tried THPS3 on a modern tv and it was less than ideal. My current roommate has a big ass crt in the basement but my last roommate was the one with the PS2. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions.

hey i heard theres someone who knows what happened to my side of the road tv here

@sethmode: people in my neighborhood are weird, and will often post on the nextdoor forum site about the slightest things they see as wrong, including one guy who said his dishwasher, which he left by his truck in the gutter, was stolen. Basically my line of thinking was "maybe it's just someone who couldn't move it yet" but the length of time it was there for told me otherwise. I thought it wouldn't hurt to check, though.

@sloppydetective: if you have a few extra bucks, check your local thrift shop. PS2s tend to go for pretty cheap at goodwills and salvation army shops, and are pretty common. Hopefully you can get off the input lag infested roller coaster soon!

@zimzamfromspace: Fair enough haha. The entire reason I didn't want to sound shitty was because some part of my lizard brain was telling me "there is definitely a situation in which someone complained about taking something that they left on the side of road".

@zimzamfromspace: I should do that. I snagged my families old Wii to play some GC and multi platform games I missed out on, but GC games are much more expensive than their PS2 counterparts.

if its on the side of the road there's a 99.9% chance the person either

1. Was waiting for the scheduled trash collector's to come get it. In my area this can take up to a week after you call them, or...
2. They were douchebags who just left something on the side of the road because they didn't want to properly dispose of it.

If the TV really was there that long then someone didn't leave it there with the intention of coming back for it.

You did not steal it.

Yes

Source: I am an officer of the law. You are under arrest.

I live in Surrey and can vouch for this. I've picked up a rather large screen CRT off the side of the road a few years back, a couple recliners that seemed to have been put out that day or the day before, and a table. Sometimes it was because the stuff was nice, sometimes its because a bunch of my furniture was stolen out of a double-locked storage container in my driveway (long story). Lots of homes with multiple families/entire extended families living in the same house so there's often lots of good furniture that gets put out. I know some people put stuff out hoping that someone comes to take it.

I would say the only evil done here is you encouraging the idiot who dumps his unwanted things out on the sidewalk for it to magically disappear and no longer be his problem.

I'm not sure it is irresponsible. If you live in a neighborhood like mine and you know it will last maybe 45 minutes before being picked up by some scavenger isn't that a better use for it than recycling it?

Afterall it's reduce, Reuse, recycle.

@dudeglove: No ants upon inspection, but to be safe I did do what I could with ant spray. As for the pic, here's a Toshiba I actually found this morning that I think was a good find. The Sony one I found that prompted this thread is great for old VHS tapes but I couldn't get it into my house, so this one was the next best thing to be worth stealing.

Now I got one in the office for games, one in the garage for VHS/background noise while I work on my car.

@zimzamfromspace: Gotta show off that sweet depth pic. That's where CRTs really shine.