Dishonesty?

Please try to picture this simple scenario out and this has already happened to you at one point in your commuting life, well I just assume:

You were on a jeep and after getting your change from the driver, you noticed that the change given to you was over by a certain amount.  Eventually, you just kept the whole change.  Was that a form of dishonesty to you?  At the outset, it’s definitely a form of dishonesty, isn’t it?  But as we all know it, the study of ethics has been further complicated by various circumstances especially in this changing world.  So allow me to complicate the same scenario a little.  Right after you had noticed that you were given an extra change, you began asking some passengers on the jeepney about why you were given a “fare treat” and most of them said that the price of oil has steadily decreased by a huge margin.  You were, of course, pleased by that good news.  So you just shrugged it all off and kept the whole change.  But as it turned out, there was really no oil price decrease.  Now, was that still a form of dishonesty to you despite the fact that you didn’t totally remain silent about your extra change by asking some passengers?  Dear readers, I would greatly appreciate your comments.  But for the meantime, read my point of view on the jump

Like any other ethical issues, it’s really difficult to brand a person as DISHONEST simply because it would all boil down to that person’s true intention.  And how could you know his intention if it’s scientifically impossible to read his mind?  It’s, of course, impossible to read one’s mind but one’s intention could somehow be deduced through outward actions.  The only mistake that the passenger did in this scenario was that he just asked some passengers about his spare change instead of the jeepney driver who had all the rights in the world to know.  But dishonesty?!  I think it would be too much to brand the passenger as totally dishonest considering the fact that it would still boil down to his true intention.  And if his real intention weren’t bad or let me just say that he just acted that way out of sheer ignorance, then labeling him as totally dishonest would be a grave injustice on his part.  F*cking ignorant?  A resounding yes!

Well, this whole jeepney scenario was just my analogy.  DAMN, this is my first taste of trial at work!!  It’s hyping the HELL out of me, to tell you honestly.