Trivial Untruth: Gift with Purchase
“The cruelest lies are often told in silence.” — Adlai Stevenson
Last weekend, Jeanine and I were hanging out at the house in Palm Springs with our friend, Debbie. After dinner at the Viceroy, we stopped into Starbucks to sample one of their new cupcakes. With Jeanine prompting this detour, I’m now convinced she is pregnant. I never thought her sweet tooth would finally catch up to mine. No confirmation on the baby yet. But I’ll keep you posted.
Walking out the door, I noticed that the Sunday edition of The New York Times had already arrived. This purchase would normally cost $5 but when I turned back to pay, the barrista only charged me a buck… probably thinking it was Saturday’s paper. Instead of correcting her, I quietly paid the dollar and walked out the door thrilled with my four-dollar savings.
I quickly quizzed my peers about what they would have done in the same situation. Jeanine, the attorney, never really answered the question. I thought that was kind of funny in itself. But Debbie immediately chimed in and said that she would have offered up the needed price adjustment.
I would have reacted differently if we were at local newsstand where the owner was independent and $4 means a lot. I would consider the business owner to be one of the “little guys” and probably would have spoken up. But this was Starbucks and my reasoning went something like this… if Starbucks can’t train their employees to notice that I’m standing there holding the bulky version of the Gray Lady vs. the daily then my savings should automatically be a “gift with purchase” due to their ignorance.
Then I started to feel bad, because Debbie wasn’t buying into my thought process. We were two blocks towards home, so my newfound guilt wasn’t enough to make me walk back and pay. I thought about it some more and decided if I were having this conversation in front of my someday-young child, well, there wouldn’t be any other way but to call this stealing. Life is then black and white even when it comes to buying a gray newspaper. Perhaps there is something to be said about traditional values.
Children wouldn’t understand the concept of “sticking it to the big guy”. Besides, overtime, my actions will just make Starbucks raise the cost of a latte by another nickel. Who knew there would be such an ethical dilemma just by trying to save a few bucks at Starbucks?
All I wanted was to wake up, be poolside with my Sunday paper and of course, drink my still overpriced home-brewed Starbucks coffee. Go Deb. The world needs more people like you.
I understand the sticking it to the big guy reaction; however, I don’t view Starbucks as one of the big guys. Starbucks offers full medical benefits to all employees regardless of full/part time status. They often hire the unhireable — former gangmembers and the like — offering new beginnnings. They are very committed to world and local community uplift….awesome company.
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/csr.asp
and no…i don’t work for them :-).
I think we have all had these moments. There have been a couple of times where I have went into a Super Wamart and they haven’t rang my soda up (on the bottom of the cart). I would leave knowing that I got the soda for free (after taking a peek at my receipt), but didn’t go back in there because heck, it’s Walmart!
Very thought provoking! Thanks!
Chalk it up to a lesson learned. We’ve all done spur of the moment things without giving them thought until later. But the thing to remember is that “The Big Guy” is really made up of a lot of little guys–the counter help in a big store, the waitress at a chain of restaurants, the kid in the mailroom at Exxon. Those are the ones who really get hurt. If you still feel badly, either give a little extra ‘tip’ for a few visits…or donate that saved money to a favorite charity.
I too would have paid the $4 additional.
Even if at some level you can rationalize it as “sticking it to the big guy”, on some level, someone might take this as “overpriviledged gays getting away with something”. I try to operate on a moral level above most of those around me by overthinking what I am doing, and exceeding expectations- a trait that is not inherent in me, but that I have learned from my life partner Susan.
Eek — well I am awful. I would have been happy to save a few bucks and gone merrily on my way. 🙂