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Reading Guide
Felicia was Ellie’s first friend at her new school. The two soon became best friends. Felicia’s dad bought her a brand-new iPhone X. Because she had sport practices and could not carry her phone,Felicia entrusted Ellie to look after it. With the intention of helping her friend, Ellie agreed, but she ended up losing it. Who was the“devil in disguise”? Should one be held responsible for losing someone else’s property?
On the first day at Ellie’s new school, the academic dean appointed Felicia to show her around. Therefore, Felicia was the first classmate that Ellie met at her new school.
As an “old-timer,” Felicia was very familiar with the school environment. She could name the hobbies and characteristics of almost every teacher and every student. For instance, Dale liked to travel; Hale was really interested in science; Daisy had a golden retriever; Mr. Carol was allergic to pollen. There were so many more stories to tell!
Felicia lived on the same street as Ellie, so they often walked home together while sharing fun stories. They soon discovered that they shared lots in common, and Felicia and Ellie became best friends.
However, the happy friendship took a sad turn. Felicia made the varsity track team, which meant that she had to stay at school every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon for practices. Therefore,Felicia could no longer walk home with Ellie every day, which made Ellie somewhat melancholy.
On a Tuesday afternoon, right after the school bell rang,Ellie grabbed her backpack and rushed out of the main building.From afar, she saw that Felicia was waving at her to come over to the field where Felicia was warming up before practice. When Ellie came over, Felicia revealed what she was hiding behind her back.
“Look, my dad bought me the newest iPhone X as a present for making the varsity track team!” Felicia could not wait to share her happiness with her friend.
Ellie was already very familiar with the new iPhone X.Her brother had a same one, so she would often sneak onto his phone to play games. Even so, Ellie was still very curious and excited to see her best friend’s new “treasure.” Then, the coach whistled.
“Ellie, I have to go back to practice, but carrying a phone would be very inconvenient, and I am afraid of losing it if I put it aside. Could you look after my phone? You can bring it home,and I will pick it up after dinner.”
Ellie agreed, and Felicia handed Ellie the phone before running off to join the team. Ellie opened the zipper of her backpack and tossed the phone inside.
On her way home, Ellie usually passed by a small stream.The sun was shining above, and the river was so crystal clear.If Felicia was also there, they would definitely hang out there until the late afternoon. Ellie sat alone on the familiar boulder.Although the stream was shimmering and the fish were jumping,she still felt bored. After playing alone for a while, she got up and went home.
Just when Ellie finished her homework, her brother, who was in high school, came back. Looking at her brother, Ellie suddenly remembered Felicia’s cell phone.
“Brother, Felicia’s father bought her a phone just like yours.I will show you!” Ellie opened the backpack and reached for the phone.
However, she did not feel the phone, even after searching for a long time. In a hurry, Ellie poured out everything from her backpack. Textbooks, books, and pens were everywhere,but no cell phone. As she rummaged through her bag, Ellie was surprised to find that there was a hole under her backpack. All of a sudden, Ellie remembered that she had discovered her puppy chewing on her backpack the other day. It took her a while to shoo the “little devil” away from her backpack.
“It must be this little guy who did this. I have to teach him a lesson!” Ellie thought angrily.
But what should she do now? Felicia’s new phone was lost,and more importantly, it was a gift her father bought for her.
Ellie’s brother grabbed his phone out of his pocket to dial Felicia’s phone number. Even after dialing for a couple of times,the reply was still “the phone has been turned off.”
“Maybe the phone ran out of battery, or ...” Ellie suddenly got anxious.
Seeing Ellie’s anxious face, Ellie’s brother immediately came to comfort her, “Don’t worry, we will go back and look for it, right now!”
As Ellie and her brother retraced her steps from earlier that afternoon, they looked around carefully. Whenever she saw a suspicious bush, she would poke into it with a branch, just in case. When they reached the bank of the river, the two siblings circled the big stone that Ellie had sat on in the afternoon, but they didn’t see a single trace of the phone. Ellie began to panic.
“Let’s think about it again. Did you really put the phone in your bag? Did you go anywhere else on your way home?” When they did not find the phone, her brother got a little worried.
“I am sure that I just left it in the bag, and I did not go anywhere else except here,” Ellie sounded tearful.
“Then let’s go back to school to check,” her brother suggested.
“There is no way I left it at school! When I got to the bank of the river, I even took it out to double check,” Ellie replied. “But we should still go back. Maybe there’s a chance ...”
Ellie and her brother continued to look along the path until they reached the school track field. At this time, the sky had gradually darkened, and there were not many people on the field.The track team, including Felicia, were long gone. Although Ellie knew that the phone was definitely not on the track field,she and her brother still searched along the runway, hoping for a miracle. However, in the end, no trace of the iPhone was found.
On the way home, Ellie could not stop staring at the people who had the same type of phone as Felicia’s, resulting in her brother having to apologize to others for her rude behavior. Her brother said that Ellie was getting paranoid, and Ellie agreed that she was getting very concerned.
Gradually, Ellie began to feel desperate. she realized that she had lost her best friend’s phone!
“If I knew better, I would not have helped Felicia look after it!” Ellie said, tearfully.
“You can’t say that! You are a kind person, and Felicia is also your good friend. You won’t say no to helping her,” said her brother, trying to comfort her.
“However, didn’t you realize that there was a hole in your bag?” her brother asked.
“I know that my bag was bitten by my puppy. Today, one of my classmates told me that my bag had a hole in it, but I didn’t expect it to be such a big one! So big that even a phone could fall out,” Ellie replied.
“You have to be more careful! Carelessness has always been a problem you struggle with,” her brother said, sarcastically.
“But I have changed a lot. You can’t ignore the progress I made! When Felicia was eager to join her friends at practice, I didn’t think that much. I put the phone in my bag, and neither of us noticed the hole in the bag,” Ellie argued.
“In short, if you don’t fix a problem when it is small, you will suffer when it enlarges. In the future, you will have to pay more attention to these little things.” After listening to Ellie’s reasonable explanation, her brother calmed down and eased his tone.
“Hey, about how much is this phone?” Ellie asked.
“Almost 600 dollars,” her brother replied.
“What! That’s so expensive! I have less than 100 dollars in my bank account, and I can barely afford one-sixth of the phone!” The thought of having to pay 600 dollars scared Ellie.
When they got home, their mother was preparing for dinner.Their father hadn’t returned yet. Ellie and her brother quickly told their mother about the incident.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. I will first talk to Felicia’s mother so that they don’t worry. We will fully discuss about the situation when your father gets home,” her mother said warmly after listening to Ellie.
When Dad got home from work in the evening, Ellie couldn’t wait to discuss with him.
Ellie: Dad, do you think I am responsible for this incident?Will Felicia be mad at me? Do I need to pay her back for the phone? How much should I compensate?
Dad: Wow, that was a lot of questions in a row! Looks like we have to discuss this issue, or else you will not even be able to have dinner peacefully without thinking about it.
Ellie: You’re right. I am worried. I want to fix this!
Dad: Try to calm down! When you are nervous or in a hurry, your decision making skills will be negatively affected.
Ellie: I know that. During our volleyball tournament, if we are in a rush to win a point, we often mess up our forms when we are passing or hitting.
Dad: So, are you feeling calmer now?
Ellie: Yes.
Dad: OK. I have a few questions for you. Why did Felicia ask you to look after her phone?
Ellie: She had track practice that she had to attend.
Dad: Therefore, she sought your help?
Ellie: Yes.
Dad: What would happen if you didn’t look after her phone for her?
Ellie: Then it would be very inconvenient for her! Imagine if you had to run three miles with your phone in your hand! Plus,she also had to do other stretches and dynamics training.
Dad: A phone is very expensive. Why did Felicia choose to have you look after it?
Ellie: We are great friends, so she trusted that I would take good care of it and not lose it. However, that did not go as planned!
Dad: Calm down, it’s okay. Given that you knew that the phone was very expensive and there were risks that would come with looking after the phone, why did you still choose to help her out?
Ellie: She is one of my best friends, and I want to help her!
Dad: Sounds like you are being a nice person.
Ellie: Correct. All I wanted to do was help.
Dad: Felicia asked you to look after the phone, and when you agreed to do so, the two of you have made an invisible custody contract.
Ellie: But I never signed a contract or agreed to anything directly!
Dad: Forming a contractual relationship does not always require a written signature. Your actions have proved that there is a custody contract between you two.
Ellie: Understood. Then, am I the “custodian”?
Dad: Of course you are!
Ellie: I have another question about being a “custodian.”
Dad: What question?
Ellie: When we went to Orlando for summer vacation, I remember that, when returning, we had an evening flight. So,we checked out of our room in the morning and left our baggage at the hotel and went for a walk. When it was time to go to the airport, we came back to pick up our luggage.
Dad: You remember that pretty clearly.
Ellie: Universal Studios was my favorite. I remember everything about that trip!
Dad: If I remember correctly, you lost your luggage tag.The hotel employee had to look around for a long time to find our luggage, which almost made us miss the plane!
Ellie: We also had to tip him a doubled amount!
Dad: And we punished you by asking you to carry the luggage for the day.
Ellie: That was an embarrassing day!
Dad: It seems that you have a “record” of losing things.
Ellie: My question is: was there also a custody contract between us and the hotel?
Dad: Yes, of course.
Ellie: If a hotel loses our luggage, should it compensate us?
Dad: Yes. If a hotel loses our baggage, it means that it has not fulfilled its custody obligations and fails to perform the custody contract. Therefore, the hotel should compensate us for the loss.
Ellie: So, is it the hotel’s responsibility for any lost or damaged luggage, regardless of reasons or the circumstances?
Dad: That is a very good question!
Ellie: I guess what I’m asking is: are there any circumstances in which the hotel is not responsible?
Dad: Do you know a term called force majeure ?
Ellie: I remember you using that term before. It means things like earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters or events that people can’t control.
Dad: Right. If a customer’s baggage is damaged by events that are beyond the control of the hotel, such as natural disasters,then the hotel can be exempted from liability.
Ellie: Ugh. I think I am in big trouble.
Dad: Why?
Ellie: The dog biting a hole in my bag is definitely not a force majeure . I know that for sure.
Dad: Don’t be so pessimistic! Even though both are looking after someone’s property, what is the difference between you and a hotel?
Ellie: I helped Felicia to look after the phone just to help her, not to make money.
Dad: So, your custody is called “free custody.”
Ellie: However, at the time, the hotel did not charge a custodial fee either, did it?
Dad: Even though it did not directly charge a custodial fee,the hotel was helping guests to look after their luggage because the guests were staying there. This was part of the hotel service, so you can think that the hotel fees we paid already included the baggage storage fee. This is a form of business custody.
Ellie: I understand now. Under free custody, does it mean that the custodian does not need to bear any legal responsibility?
Dad: What do you think?
Ellie: I feel that even if it is free custody, the custodian is still obliged to keep the property safe.
Dad: But you didn’t charge any custodial fee, did you?
Ellie: But since I promised Felicia, I have to do my best to protect her cell phone, otherwise she will never ask me for help again!
Dad: That’s correct! A big thumbs up to you! So, let’s take this one step further: do you have to take as much responsibility as what a hotel would?
Ellie: It’s not fair to me. After all, I did not charge her. I’m just doing good things to help others. Therefore, my actions should be encouraged, or else I won’t feel motivated to do good things again in the future!
Dad: Then, what should be done instead?
Ellie: Let me think about it.
Dad: OK, no hurry! I will give you five minutes.
Ellie: I am ready.
Dad: Go right ahead.
Ellie: I was helping Felicia to look after her phone for free because I am a kind person. The responsibility I bear should not be as high as the requirements for a hotel. Therefore, I will only be liable for compensation if there was gross negligence. Is that fair?
Dad: Yes, this is fair to both sides.
Ellie: So, in this case, did my behavior constitute gross negligence?
Dad: This is the key to the problem.
Ellie: This is probably the most important part that I have to pay attention to!
Dad: Think about it — where could you possibly have lost her phone?
Ellie: I double checked on the phone when I put it into my backpack. It was still there and could not have been lost at school.
Dad: What happened later?
Ellie: Later, when I arrived at the river bank, I couldn’t help but take out her phone and play with it.
Dad: The phone could not have fallen into the river,right?
Ellie: No, I remember that after I finished playing with it, I put the phone back in my bag.
Dad: Is there any other possibility?
Ellie: Oh! I remember now! My puppy bit a hole in the outer layer of my bag. I didn’t pay attention to that, so I might have accidentally put the phone in the outer layer of the bag.
Dad: This is an important clue!
Ellie: If I hadn’t taken the phone out by the river or if I had paid more attention when I put it back and had not put it in the outmost pocket, I wouldn’t have lost it at all!
Dad: That might be true.
Ellie: If I had paid more attention and noticed the hole in my bag, I might have held the phone in my hand or simply refused to help Felicia keep the phone, and then the “tragedy”would not have happened.
Dad: It seems that you could have done better.
Ellie: I am done! It seems that I have to think twice about doing good things.
Dad: Yes, you have to consider whether you can do it well when you agree to do good things, and you must be responsible when you make promises to others.
Ellie: What can I do to fix it? This phone is very expensive.
Dad: Don’t worry. Although “you can do better,” I don’t think we can say you committed “gross negligence.” I will communicate with Felicia’s parents right away.
Ellie: I understand. Because there wasn’t gross negligence on my part, I don’t need to take all the responsibility. However,I am willing to compensate for part of the loss with my own money, so I can learn my lesson more profoundly. It’s like a“tuition fee” for the lesson!
Dad: That’s for later. First things first, your punishment is that for two months, you are not allowed to drink any sodas. We have to fix your bad habit of losing everything!
Ellie: Ugh! That sounds fair.
Growth Revelation
In the process of business custody, the custodian shall be liable for compensation for the loss of property of others due to his or her improper storage. Free custody is an act of helping others. Therefore, usually only in the case of gross negligence do the unpaid custodian carry full or partial liability for the loss of the property.
Think and Consider
1. How was Felicia’s mobile phone lost?
2. What do you think is the difference between helping a friend to keep property and hotel luggage storage for free?
3. What would you do if a friend asked you to help look after his or her valuable property?