# What is the Most Dishonest Place in the U.S? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 27, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678 "2013-07-27T16:39:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/1 "2013-07-27T16:39:32Z")
“When Coca-Cola’s (KO) Honest Tea tested whether Americans would voluntarily pay up for the drink at unmanned kiosks, one place fell far below the national average for honesty. That turns out to be the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., where only 80% of people honored the test’s system of putting a dollar in a box to pay for a bottle of the iced tea.” > **[Breaking News Stories from US and Around the World | MSN News](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news)** > > Get the latest news and follow the coverage of breaking news events, local news, weird news, national and global politics, and more from the world's top trusted media outlets. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/2 "2013-07-27T16:42:12Z")
I’m shocked it was that high. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/3 "2013-07-27T16:43:00Z")
“In fact, the town was so dishonest that the CEO’s bike was stolen during the test.” Yes! DC is the worst. Full of douchebags. I’m one of them. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/4 "2013-07-27T16:45:35Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > Yes! DC is the worst. Full of douchebags. I’m one of them. Yeah. The Honor System = free stuff! ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/5 "2013-07-27T16:57:20Z")
I don’t get it. If people are so dishonest, why are supermarket self-checkouts becoming more and more common, in many countries? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/6 "2013-07-27T16:58:30Z")
As a bona fide City Girl, I’m always amazed, amused and a bit humbled when I come out to the countryside and there are fruit and veg stands, firewood, paving stones and more, sitting on the side of the road with a little cash box and a sign saying how much to leave. Wha—? Why—? How–? My favorite is the flower stand. $3 and you can pick from a cart that’s got holes in the countertop high surface. Each hole holds a plastic cup of water with a beautiful bouquet of flowers picked from someone’s garden that morning. I’m especially impressed that such an odd number - not a single, not a five, but three dollars - is apparently often enough paid to make it worth it to someone to keep picking flowers and \*not \*pay someone to babysit the stand all day. (Sometimes I don’t have $3, so I leave a $5. Maybe that’s their secret.) I’d be interested to see a breakdown of their study by urban vs. rural areas. I’d be highly surprised if you could get away with running a business like that in the city. But it would be a pleasant surprise, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/7 "2013-07-27T17:07:43Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I don’t get it. If people are so dishonest, why are supermarket self-checkouts becoming more and more common, in many countries? Because you still can’t steal from self-checkouts without an alarm being sounded. I don’t get what you don’t get. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/8 "2013-07-27T17:08:36Z")
80% of DC residents paid voluntarily? Wow. That city isn’t as bad as I though. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/9 "2013-07-27T17:18:09Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Because you still can’t steal from self-checkouts without an alarm being sounded. I don’t get what you don’t get. And all of the stores I’ve been to with self-checkout have at least one employee watching over them to assist people, and certainly to look out for cheaters. I sure some people _do_ cheat, like entering a produce code for an item that’s much less per pound, but the _appearance_ of supervision is probably enough to keep the great majority of people honest. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/10 "2013-07-27T17:39:13Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Because you still can’t steal from self-checkouts without an alarm being sounded. I don’t get what you don’t get. You can’t? I know they check for weight (and stupidly get stuck when you try and use your own bags), but do they have an expected weight for each item? What if I scan 1 and bag 2? What if I scan a cheaper item? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/11 "2013-07-27T18:01:37Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > You can’t? I know they check for weight (and stupidly get stuck when you try and use your own bags), but do they have an expected weight for each item? What if I scan 1 and bag 2? What if I scan a cheaper item? The detectors that you walk through at the doorways would trigger an alarm if you bagged an item that wasn’t scanned (and often times you will trigger it even _if_ you scan it, making keeping your receipt handy a necessity). Regardless of whatever it is that you do or don’t scan, if anything is in your bag that _hasn’t_ been scanned (and thus deactivated from triggering the alarm), you will make the alarm sound. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/12 "2013-07-27T18:11:08Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > The detectors that you walk through at the doorways would trigger an alarm if you bagged an item that wasn’t scanned (and often times you will trigger it even _if_ you scan it, making keeping your receipt handy a necessity). Regardless of whatever it is that you do or don’t scan, if anything is in your bag that _hasn’t_ been scanned (and thus deactivated from triggering the alarm), you will make the alarm sound. Don’t those detectors only work with specifically tagged items (e.g. DVDs, Sensormatic)? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/13 "2013-07-27T18:16:16Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Don’t those detectors only work with specifically tagged items (e.g. DVDs, Sensormatic)? You know what, I’m not sure now. You got me second guessing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/14 "2013-07-27T18:45:10Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > You know what, I’m not sure now. You got me second guessing myself. There is simply no way that a bag of apples has an RFID tag to trigger the alarm. Come on now. The Honest Tea thing reminds me of the old joke about winters in DC: the temperatures sometimes get so cold that lobbyists have to keep their hands in their own pockets. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/15 "2013-07-27T18:54:03Z")
I’ve never seen a supermarket tag the produce with RFID chips, no. It’s theoretically possible, and it was bandied about for a while as a way to have whole cart self check outs - push the cart through the reader and it scans everything in it at once, so you don’t have to swipe each item individually. Put a bagging station on the other side of the scanner and Bob’s your bagboy. But no, I don’t think they actually do that. I think their primary form of inventory control is guilt and paranoia, which we have in abundance. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/16 "2013-07-27T19:10:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I think their primary form of inventory control is guilt and paranoia, which we have in abundance. 😃 Why, oh why, did you say that? What did I do? _And who made you say that?!?!_ ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/17 "2013-07-27T19:22:18Z")
I am quite certain that the self checkout stands at grocery stores work on weight. Otherwise, they’d just be the little scanner device set into a regular old countertop instead if into that elaborate stainless steel dissection table. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/18 "2013-07-27T19:24:08Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Why, oh why, did you say that? What did I do? _And who made you say that?!?!_ Oh, you know. Just think about it. > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I am quite certain that the self checkout stands at grocery stores work on weight. Otherwise, they’d just be the little scanner device set into a regular old countertop instead if into that elaborate stainless steel dissection table. Except that many of them now have an option for “Skip bagging”, which renders that useless, except as a technological decoy for raising your paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/19 "2013-07-27T19:46:55Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Except that many of them now have an option for “Skip bagging”, which renders that useless, except as a technological decoy for raising your paranoia. That doesn’t mean the system itself isn’t designed to work by weight. It just gives you a way not to arrest the program because you didn’t put the thing you just scanned down on the “bag” side of the scale. IME, the monitors usually keep an eye on me a little more closely when I’m using “skip bagging.” Except at Walmart, where the staff simply don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678/20 "2013-07-27T21:20:18Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > You can’t? I know they check for weight (and stupidly get stuck when you try and use your own bags), but do they have an expected weight for each item? What if I scan 1 and bag 2? What if I scan a cheaper item? My local store says, quite clearly, ‘UNEXPECTED ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA’ if I put two items down but only scan one. Or, if I scan something and don’t put it in the bag, it says “PLEASE PLACE ITEM IN BAG.” Both of these draw the attention of the aforementioned checkout person. I rarely use them, as they are usually so picky that I need professional help. Plus, they balk at selling beer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-dishonest-place-in-the-u-s/664678.md?page=2)