Surprise, I'm Not a Thief

While grocery shopping today, I stopped by the bakery for my coffee.

You know when you buy them at a non-Starbucks-style-in-store-spot, they mark the cup and you pay at the register.

Today I was distracted at the checkout. Duh, that's nothing new.

Anyway I get to the car and realize I have the coffee in my hand (duh again) and i'm not sure if the cashier rang it up.

I run through the receipt and don't see it on there, so I head back with 2 dollar bills in my hand.

Back in the same lane, the cashier is surprised when I say, "I forgot to mention my coffee, you didn't ring it up."

"Wow, thanks for coming back in!!" she says.

No brownie points needed or anything, just being an honest person. It IS the best policy.

I just haven't stopped thinking about how surprised she was. Is it really that unusual for people to be honest these days?

Now, would I have gone back to the store if I realized this when I got home? I'd like to think I would have. Would you? Ponder. Discuss.

35 supporters in group:

  1. Piece o' Coconut Cake said...

    Home? No but next time in the store I would have told them.

  2. Heidi said...

    I would have after getting to the car, but home? Probably not. I would think about the frozen groceries needing to be put away, the fact that I have to pee (I always need to go after the store.) The phone messages waiting. But, maybe tell them next time I go. I don't know. But you are an honest person. Good for you.

  3. Amy W said...

    There was a post on another blog- maybe McMommy - just last week about this kind of "accident." I wonder if half the shoplifting problem in the US is just sleep-deprived, unobservant moms working in unspoken cahoots with poorly trained and apathetic checkers! A conspiracy of truly unknown proportions!!

    I have been haphazard in my "return policy" with these kind of items....I bring it back if I'm not already home and/or if my child seems up for a trip back in.

  4. Jay @halftime lessons said...

    Hey...nice work.
    (good karma awaits)

  5. Jay @halftime lessons said...

    Hey...nice work. They will paint pictures and sing songs about you, Honest $2 Coffee Lady.

  6. Ranch Girl said...

    When we shop, M sometimes has a single sandwich roll from the bakery in the grocery store. We have on occasion forgotten to pay for it, and arrived home before we realized. No, we don't go back, but next time we're in the store (probably the next day - we go fairly often!) we mention it. The reaction to our honesty isn't usually surprise. The times I mess with the checkers' heads is when I have just a few items and ask for no bag - I'm a huge supporter of using cloth bags - won't bring anything home in a plastic or paper bag unless absolutely necessary. Now, that surprises our checkers!

  7. April said...

    Guess you can call me a thief... I wouldn't have gone back. I would've felt guilty, but not guilty enough to go back.

  8. WeaselMomma said...

    true character is what you do when no one else is looking. Great example!

  9. Jamey said...

    I am not suprised that you went back, If i went home already i think i would just pay for it the next time i went there.

  10. Jenni said...

    If I had gotten home I probably would not go all the way back...but if I caught the mistake before I left I totally would!

  11. Cat@3KidsandUs said...

    Honesty is probably rare these days. And to be perfectly honest, if I had done the same thing with my two kids in tote, I probably wouldn't have gone back in, I would have just sent the hubby. LOL

  12. A Crafty Mom said...

    I think in today's busy, hectic, and sometimes selfish world, people would just be too lazy to go back in. They would figure it's just coffee, it all evens out in the end, why bother going back in? The cashier probably sees a couple incidents like this each day - realizes after the person left she forgot to add the coffee to the bill or something. And the person doesn't come back.

    But you are no coffee-stealin' mama!! You are a good person, that's the bottom line.

    p.s. notice that would never happen at Starbucks, lol, you have to pay BEFORE you get your cup of coffee :-)

  13. Jenny said...

    Hey sweets!

    Thanks for your comment...since starting college I've been MIA. I may just close up shop here...I don't know.

    Anyway, I do the exact same thing you did with the coffee. At Hershey Park I wasn't charged for a $40 sweatshirt and I walked right back in and payed. At a town event the girl gave me $10 too much back for change, and when I walked away and realized it, I walked right back and gave it to her. Yes...they were all surprised, and the woman at Hershey said, "people just aren't that honest anymore." It made me sad.

    Good for you! Oh, and I'm really not sure about the whole got home and realized it then. It may depend on how far the grocery store was? Maybe I would write a note to myself and pay the next I went in. I believe in karma, so I would pay it somehow!

    Hope you're doing well!

  14. amelia bedelia said...

    You did the right thing....I would have done it too!

  15. Jo-Jo said...

    I probably would have never realized I hadn't paid for it!

  16. Haasiegirl said...

    Yes, I do go back! I have been known to drive back an hour to a place to pay for it. I believe if you KNOW about it, you should make it right.

    GOOD FOR YOU!

    trisha
    ps you must check momdot today. I blogged to you.

  17. Stephanie said...

    Hum....Probably wouldn't of gone back after I got home. Too lazy...should have though!

    I left you an award on my blog :) I know you have tons of readers and probably not a ton of time to check them all out but it's there if you get a chance :)

  18. Ann Harrison said...

    I know that I would walk back in and pay. If I was home and realized, I'd just make a deal to pay them the next time I went there.
    (Although, I would be thinking about the fact that I was drinking stolen coffee, and that would drive me crazy. So, YES, I would even drive back. :-> )

  19. Brittany said...

    I would like to say yes. Buuuuttt....since my grocery shopping is done with two screaming toddler sand lots of sweat, chances are I would consider it a gift from God himself and smile all the way home.

  20. Tonya Staab said...

    Pat on the back for you. Well done.

  21. Tami said...

    I have to admit that Thursday I was in Hobby Lobby and had put two pieces of black poster board on the bottom of the buggy and forgot about them. I didn't pay for them and didn't realize it until after I was already at the car. I am going to tell them the next time I go in there but I was in a little bit of a hurry and did not go back in.

  22. Chris said...

    Good for you. I have to be totally honest and say I probably would not have done the same thing. But I would just make sure it didn't happen again in the future.

  23. Anonymous said...

    Home? Yeah, I would have went back! Too afraid of the Karma thing! Melissa

  24. jenn said...

    In February, while we were cashing our income tax check, the lady gave us over $80 too much money. I went back and returned it. She, too, was floored that I had come back. I think there are a lot more honest people in the world than we think there are.

  25. jill jill bo bill said...

    I would have, too. But, I am nevr paying attention, so I probably would have never noticed..... I am so proud of you, Jenn.

  26. Kristen Andrews said...

    you are honest, I probably wouldn't have noticed. To be honest if I was home I wouldn't have gone back but the next time I was at the store I would tell them.

  27. Mariah said...

    I would have gone back, I believe in Karma just a bit too much!

  28. Jessica said...

    I have done the same thing..well sort of. I walked out with an extra bag once, you know those round spinner things they have the bags on. Well apparently the person before me didn't check to make sure they got all of their bags. I was 20 minutes away and digging in my bag for the Snickers I just had to have...to my surprise I pulled out a dog leash instead! I took it back and was greeted by a similar face of shock!

  29. XanFactor said...

    i would have not risk having them remember me not paying 2$... that's for sure...

    if i already gone home... perhaps, the next time i come by, i'll mention it... or if i could find the number of the store... mainly because i would feel guilty that someone might get scold at, worst gets fired...

  30. Unknown said...

    I would have to. I would feel so guilty if I didn't.

    Last week at McDonald's, they gave me 2 Quarter-Pounders & acted like I was crazy when I gave 1 back & said I ordered 1 not 2.

  31. Cathie said...

    Shows you have class and know the right thing to do.

  32. Ann(ie) said...

    I think that's cool and very good karma that you went back in!!! But, I think I would have either called or just mentioned it next time I was in the store instead of driving back. Regardless, nice choice girlie. We need more people like you!

  33. Liz said...

    Funny you should mention this. Today when I was grocery shopping, the lady was ringing up the kids' donuts (tomorrow morning's breakfast). The scanner thing wouldn't ring them up, so she sat them down to clean off the scanner. We were talking & as she got the scanner cleaned off, she moved onto the next item & kept talking, never coming back to the donuts. Several items later, I saw her pick up the donuts & stick them into the bag (without ever ringing them up). When I pointed it out to her, she seemed surprised, too. I could've totally gotten away w/ free donuts, but I have way too guilty a conscience to walk out of the door w/ donuts I haven't paid for. LOL We're cut from the same cloth, girlie.

  34. Elyse said...

    Glad you went back in. I have done the same thing too and nce I went back in and they said that it was "on the house" for being honest. I believe that honesty does go a long way. Good on ya!
    ~Elyse~

  35. Mrs4444 said...

    I do it all the time (cuz I'm just that spacey). I believe that what goes around comes around. You feel good when you do good. :)

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