Scrap wood at Home Depot--Free or not?

I’ve gone to both places many times now and the first few times I asked a worker in the lumber Dept if I could have a couple of those 2x4s they use under the stacks of lumber when they stock the store. You know the ones that are about 46" long and have the center grooved out about 1"x about 1/4" deep. They told me no problem. When I get to the register, I tell them I got the OK and that they were scrap. Bingo bango no charge. I’ve used the pretreated ones to build the sides of my steps for my trailer, and others as legs for a work bench I made. Boy I hope this doesn’t change now that the cat is out of the bag.