Sitting at Taco Bueno today, I heard the man behind me tell his little girl that he always ordered water and then put soda pop in the cup. That way he didn’t have to pay for the soda. I thought that surely I was hearing him wrong but my wife heard the same thing. I wanted to say something to the man privately but couldn’t muster up the courage. I REALLY wanted to say something to the little girl but I never would have. I could have said something to management but I doubt that they would have done anything. :mad:
Hey asshole, with you as her father, your daughter doesn’t stand a chance in hell.
And in 10 years, when the cops call this asshole to tell him his daughter is in cuffs for boosting some cigarettes, he will be absolutely shocked by his kids behavior…
Poor girl is right.
(and finally, if you are too cheap to pay the extra $1.29 for a soda, maybe you should just eat at home, and not show your children by example that theft is sometimes ok)
Take heart: sometimes parents can teach just as effectively by serving as case studies on what NOT to do. S’why I never wanted to smoke, for example.
Sure, the dad’s a gigantic douche, but when dear daughter hits 16, she’s going to be embarrassed of him anyway…at least he’s giving her something to be embarrassed about. There are worse ways to spend the rebellious years than pissing off Pops by shelling out for your Mountain Dew.
I think you’re right, there just isn’t enough respect these days for faceless multinational corporations. I’m sure Palladium Equity (who own the chain) will be fascinated to learn of your moral and ethical approach to business.
Sure it is:
[ol]
[li]Don’t learn that stealing is okay.[/li][li]Don’t get caught stealing.[/li][li]Don’t get murdered in prison.[/li][li]Profit![/li][/ol]
Actually no, that would be savings. The stealing part would be profit.
Stealing soda is like pirating music. It’s petty theft that lots of people do and people hardly ever actually go to prison for it. In fact I bet people go to court for napstering Metallica more than they do for stealing soda at McDonald’s or Subway. Generally the way chain stores handle this is by charging for the cups.
I think you guys have a disproportionate belief in the ethics you are espousing. People get away with petty crime ALL THE TIME.
I suppose it gets to a point - and $1 billion in cash assets and $2.5 billion invested overall is over that point - where I’m just not going to judge people on how they deal with that level of absurd, irrational wealth.
I understand this point. I nominally disagree with it, but I understand it. While a corporation can argue that they have XXX millions in lost revenue due to this behavior, the reality is that in lost product it’s 1/10th or less. The markup on soft-drinks is ridiculously high. So really you’re stealing like ten cents or less from the company when you steal a 32 ounce soda. Not saying it’s ok, but I understand the justification. I make similar justifications when justifying why I should be able to use photoshop since I have driven Adobe tens of thousands in business due to my learning their software on pirated copies and I have purchased it when I had more money.
Yeah, the dad is a real jerk–stealing is stealing, whether it’s a 10 cent jawbreaker or a $30,000 car. One thing he’s forgetting, though, is that four-year-old kids are carbon-based tape recorders. One day, he’ll be pulling the usual crap at the local Burger Barn and she’ll blat, “But I know you’re REALLY gonna get SODA, right, Daddy?” at the top of her lungs. And 'twill serve him right!
As a slight hijack, I hate when places charge you full soda price for water, saying, “You’re really paying for the CUP.” (I don’t mean bottled water, just plain water from the tap.) My brother finally got tired of hearing that lame excuse and said, “So if I bring my own cup from home, the soda’s free, right? Since I don’t have to buy a CUP.” “Oh, no, sir, you have to pay for the soda!” “NO, you told me that what I’m paying for is the CUP, even if I only want water in it. If all I’m paying for is the CUP, then the liquid inside my $1.29 cup is free!” They got a bit miffed, but no more so than we did having to pay a ridiculous price for 18 oz. of tap water.
They’re not saying that she’ll get arrested for stealing soda. They’re saying that she’s learning that stealing is an acceptable thing and that as she gets older she’ll move onto more serious thefts.
I knew a guy once who, when he was at the mall, stopped at the Cinnabon to get some water. The guy charged him $0.20 for the cup. So he kept the cup. Every time he went to the mall, he went to the Cinnabon, bought a soda, and demanded they take $0.20 off since he already had a cup.
Or family members. Or some small employer that can’t afford the money. Or a student council.
I mean, you don’t really beleive that the world’s full of noble Robin Hood-style thieves, do you? The person who thinks nothing of stealing small items from a store likely won’t think much of stealing your things, either.
