There IS such thing as a free lunch...
... in fact, I was paid 20 cents to be a patron at this fine establishment today. Here's how it worked. I used the drive-through of a large corporate fast food restaurant, and my order came to a total of $4.80. I decided to pay with a $10 and 5 pennies, asking the nice lady who helped me to give me a quarter back. What I expected was $5.25. What I got in change was my very own $10 back in addition to a quarter.
I did what any self respecting American citizen would have done. I pocketed the money and kept going through the drive through to get my meal at the next window down. I was thinking that perhaps the woman had realized her mistake and maybe told the next window down to get the money back that I owed the establishment. No dice. I got my food and drink and left.
Do I feel guilty? A little bit. Will the woman get in trouble for coming up with a short till at the end of the day? Perhaps. Is it my fault that she's not good at remedial math? No. Am I that hard up for cash that I'd take advantage of an establishment such as this? Evidently, yes. I suppose it might have been different at a small "ma and pa" type of cafe... or maybe if I hadn't been in as much of a rush or had as much on my mind. At any rate, I suppose that I should feel a small shred of guilt, and I do. Perhaps my karma will come back to me one day and I'll get food poisoning from the same establishment (at which, if I want to stay in shape, I really shouldn't be eating at anyway).
The point is, I was paid 20 cents to eat there today. Maybe I'll recommend them to a friend or write about it in my journal as a form of trade... a bit of promotion for them if you will. Perhaps that's fair.
Or maybe I'm just using this experience as a lame excuse to do my semi-annual posting in this stupid LJ.
I did what any self respecting American citizen would have done. I pocketed the money and kept going through the drive through to get my meal at the next window down. I was thinking that perhaps the woman had realized her mistake and maybe told the next window down to get the money back that I owed the establishment. No dice. I got my food and drink and left.
Do I feel guilty? A little bit. Will the woman get in trouble for coming up with a short till at the end of the day? Perhaps. Is it my fault that she's not good at remedial math? No. Am I that hard up for cash that I'd take advantage of an establishment such as this? Evidently, yes. I suppose it might have been different at a small "ma and pa" type of cafe... or maybe if I hadn't been in as much of a rush or had as much on my mind. At any rate, I suppose that I should feel a small shred of guilt, and I do. Perhaps my karma will come back to me one day and I'll get food poisoning from the same establishment (at which, if I want to stay in shape, I really shouldn't be eating at anyway).
The point is, I was paid 20 cents to eat there today. Maybe I'll recommend them to a friend or write about it in my journal as a form of trade... a bit of promotion for them if you will. Perhaps that's fair.
Or maybe I'm just using this experience as a lame excuse to do my semi-annual posting in this stupid LJ.