We cook out on the three summer national holidays. Today, my wife grilled some ribs. (I don't want to give the impression she does all the cooking; I pitched in with some of the satellite dishes, but she did the ribs.) She thought it would be nice to finish them with some barbecue sauce, but minutes before we were ready to serve, she discovered that we are out of sauce.
She is an enthusiastic cook, and figured that she could whip up some barbecue sauce from scratch in the amount of time it would take me to run to the grocery store and back; but I reasoned that if I bought some sauce at the store she could focus on finishing the prep on some other menu items; plus we needed a few other items from the grocery store - like milk and coffee - that are staples that keep the household running, and were already stressed out that we may not be able to get over to the store to get them for a couple of days (our lives are basically insane juggling acts from one day to the next - a topic for another post sometime).
So I hurried over to the grocery store. I should mention that that decision was itself a bit of a minor moral dilemma for me, because I don't like that retail establishments make their near-minimum-wage workers miss the holidays for the consumer convenience of those of us who happen to earn better wages (and probably could plan ahead better than we do). But I admit I was grateful on this occasion that the grocery store was open.
So I bought about six items, paid, and went back to the car. And as I was tossing the grocery bags in the trunk, I noticed that there was an item, a package of so-called "K cups" coffee, sitting in that section of the shopping cart where toddlers ride. Somehow I had missed loading the coffee onto the conveyor belt, and it never got scanned - to get to the crux of the matter, I hadn't paid for it.
So here is the dilemma: I was in a hurry; I hadn't intentionally stolen this item; and it would have been the work of an instant to toss it into one of the grocery bags in the trunk and get back to the event.
What would you have done? I took it back inside and paid for it, grousing to myself the whole way because it made me even later (as though it wasn't my fault for not paying for it in the first place).
Jim, You don't say if there was company waiting, or if it was "only" family. If it was family, I would have done what you did and griped about it to myself, as you did, and been embarrassed the next day about my griping, as you are.
ReplyDeleteBut if there were others waiting, I would have "stolen" the coffee for yesterday and gone back and paid for it today. You do mention that getting back to the store this week was an expected problem, so maybe that choice wasn't open to you. In which case, you surely did the right thing. Go in peace, and get off your back.
Right, no company this time, "only" family. And lest you suppose that I made them suffer by delaying their dinner because of my pangs of conscience, I can report that when I finally did return home, they were already eating and were almost done. My issue on this occasion was definitely a "first world problem".
DeleteI'd have done what you did if I discovered it before I got out of the parking lot. If I got home with it before I knew, it would depend. If it was an expensive item, say a package of t-bones, I'd go back to the store the next day and pay at customer service. If it was something like a bottle of bbq sauce, I'd probably just forget about it. By the way, Sweet Baby Rays, good choice. I was really lazy and bought a rotisserie chicken.
ReplyDeleteUgh, those K cup coffee packets are such a rip-off. I think I paid over $7 for 10 servings of coffee. So it wasn't just a few cents. Once again: a "first world problem".
DeleteI would go back and settle debt with the food store. I've had mail orders make mistakes in my favor and didn't bother to correct. Too much trouble correcting their mistake and not worth it for them either.
ReplyDeleteI would have gone back and stolen some ribs to go with. Geez. Of course you go back and pay for it, immediately. Otherwise the clerk has to eat what doesn't balance out. I don't get why the alarm didn't go off when you left without paying.
ReplyDeleteI don't think a large grocery store is that controlled. I don't know whether a cashier balances out but inasmuch as the the item wasn't scanned it shouldn't affect his balance. I guess the next time the store did inventory for that item it would have been one short (if I hadn't gone back in and paid for it). I agree with what I take to be your larger concern, that if the store is short, it's the low paid employees who get screwed.
DeleteLate to the discussion again.
ReplyDeleteJim is right that since the item was scanned, the register should balance. But he did the right thing.
I grew up in a small mountain resort with a lake, in southern California. In winter, the ski slopes were about 20 minutes away, so a lot of people stayed near the lake even in winter because of the other amenities. The community is about 2 hours from downtown LA and also 2 hours from San Diego, so it's a very popular vacation/weekend destination. The center of activity, especially for tourists, was "the Village". We local kids all started working in the tourist businesses at around age 13 (as a resort town, the locals were able to get work permits two years earlier than most kids in California - who had to wait to 15). My summer job involved admitting people to a private beach on the lake. I sat in a small stand without electricity and had to compute the admission total in my head, take the money, and make change. Also, employees of the entire "village" of shops, restaurants and activities could come in for free. There was a turnstile that counted every admission, plus hand-stamp machines - one for adults, one for kids, one for employees of the village. The stamp let them go in and out all day. At the end of the day, the cash box, the turnstile and the three hand stamp machines were all supposed to balance out. Usually they did. But one busy day I apparently gave change for a $20 instead of a $10. My cash drawer didn't balance. I was mortified. Years later I found out from someone else who had done that job as a teenager that being wrong on only one day was as rare as snow in July - that's why I had the job every summer I wanted it! My boss had been very kind about it, later I found out why. Most of the people who had run that admissions gate were off every day, and by more than $10. I earned $1.00/hour.
As a result of that job, I ALWAYS go back to stores - if I was given too much change, or if something wasn't charged for, even if it was inconvenient. I should do it because it's the right thing to do, but I have always remembered my days as a cashier, and don't want those I encounter to get in trouble for a small error. I still relate to the cashiers. In my winter weekend job (another tourist attraction) I either accepted tickets at rides - no money - , or worked in parts of the attraction, such as gift shops, that had electricity - and cash registers! You could still be off if giving the wrong change, but it was a lot easier to get it right with cash registers. Now they scan and it's all pretty much automatic. Although I suppose if people pay with cash, still possible to give the wrong change.
BTW, Jim, did you know that you can buy reusable k-cups? You can order from Amazon, and I've seen them at Bed, Bath and Beyond stores. I first saw them at my son's house. They order their favorite Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee from Amazon also. My daughter in law is originally from Jamaica. I'm not a coffee snob, don't have a Keurig, but I will say that Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee is really good!). Slightly more work since you have to spoon the coffee into the reusable K-cup, but it saves money AND the environment. I have also read that someone has come up with compostable K-cups.
In 2014, nine billion K-Cups were sold. Nine billion. In fact, these nine billion K-cups, when placed end-to-end, could wrap around the globe an estimated 10.5-12 times. These nine billion, non-biodegradable K-cups ended up in landfills where they shall sit for centuries to come. And the scary thing is, these numbers are only going to increase
Anne, your summer job story is very interesting. My first job was a crummy food-service job (busing tables and washing dishes) at a restaurant that employed all teens. We dish washers were at the bottom of the social totem pole in that place. But near the top was this legendary young woman who must have been all of 17 years old and worked the front of the house as hostess and cashier. The restaurant managers couldn't stop raving about her; she *nearly* balanced (within pennies) almost every day and balanced completely one time. And that was the gold standard. And she had a cash register. So Anne, you must have been really good at it.
DeleteMy roommate in college worked as a bank teller, and one time he was off by something like $900 at the end of the day. That sort of thing happened from time to time, I'm given to understand, but that was the only time for him. It seems he only had one customer during that shift that had a transaction of that magnitude. He and the bank managers searched everywhere for it - searched the entire building. They suspected he had stolen it (which he hadn't).
That is good information about K cups. I'm not a coffee drinker, at all - it bothers my stomach. So we have had a series of Keurig machines at home but I've never used one - not sure I could make a cup of coffee with one. My wife and one of my daughters are the biggest users. They're pretty persnickety about what coffee they drink, that's why I spent seven bucks on a small package for them (Starbucks brand) - I've bought cheaper coffee for them in the past and have heard about it for days afterward :-). They would definitely support something "greener" than the current practice. I'll mention it to them - many thanks.
Excellent idea about K-cups. I don't use them, but a lot of workplaces have them. I guess plastic straws are also a bane for the environment. What happened to those old fashioned paper straws?
DeleteJim, I had the "dream" job during the summer. Weekdays were quiet, and I spent a lot of time just sitting in my beach chair and reading. Some of my friends waited tables or were chambermaids. Not as much fun. But they did make more $ than I did as compensation (tips). My work clothes were a bathing suit, hat, sunglasses, bermuda shorts and t-shirts or sweatshirts. We (the people who worked for the man with the various tourist concessions in the Village, including lifeguards at the beach) worked 6 days/week, with no breaks (not legal, but we had a work around - a "secret" second time-card, hidden from any authorities who came snooping. The extra hours added up and the extra check when back in school was most welcome. One of the lifeguard helpers (younger than the lifeguards and not qualified as lifeguard) would come around and take lunch orders and bring us our food. Most of the time I brought my lunch, but indulged in a bought lunch now and then. I developed tremendous bladdar control, something that served me well years later in the 5 cross-country drives I took with various sons who went to college in Calif - while we live in Maryland. ;)
ReplyDeleteI went to the earliest mass on Sunday, dressed in my work clothes, but wearing a trench coat on top, buttoned up. People used to look at me at mass as though I was not quite normal. I went to work from church.
On weekends we were busy, and so there were at least two people in the admissions gate. One did the money, one stamped hands and checked hands of people returning to the beach after leaving. On the busiest weekends - July 4th etc - there would be a third - just to check the hand stamps of people going in and out. The lunch boy usually did that. Weekdays were quiet. When I got my work permit at 13, I worked at the beach gate on weekends only, doing the hand stamps and checks, while being trained to handle the money. I worked for the same man in a couple of other attractions that he owned in the Village on the other days - mini golf, a bath-house for changing etc. They had electricity and cash registers! I took over full-time at the beach admission gate when I was 14 though. It was pretty easy - adults were 75 cents and kids were a quarter. You learned the combinations pretty fast - 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dollars! Children younger than 3 were free. Occasionally there were some very tall 2 1/2 year olds, but the owner said to let it pass unless it was REALLY obvious!
The Village is still there, but the beach is not. I don't know where the tourists go now to access the lake for swimming unless they are staying in one of the waterfront resort hotels. Most people stayed in rented cabins, and most of those were not lakefront. The lakefront rental homes were pretty pricey. Since the lake is privately owned, our beach was the only place most people could go if they wanted sun, sand and water to go with their picnics. I was sad when it was converted to a normal park, with grass etc. Nice, but not as nice as the beach was. It had nice swimming, a picnic area under the trees, a snack bar for those who "needed" extra food and was the center of a village with nice family amenities. The good old days. Sigh.
We enjoy going to the Farmers Market on Saturdays. The Asparagus Lady can add in her head and count your change the old-fashioned way. Two teenagers have a booth where they sell crocheted cat toys and homemade dogbiscuits. They give 25 percent of their proceeds to the animal shelter. They aren't too good with the math, but how can you pass that up? We probably have at least 10 of their catnip jingle bells in various states of shreddery around here.
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