It’s a common but unadvertised practice for take-out restaurants to offer free water with your meal. You can simply ask for it by name when you’re purchasing your meal, and you’ll get a small – usually styrofoam – cup of water. If the restaurant has an open fountain, you can help yourself to water.
It always dawned on me that the free water cup would be an easy way to get, say, free soda. After all, the only thing stopping you from getting Coke instead of water is your conscience. But Pingers, it really bothers me when I see people abusing the free water cup.
A couple of weeks ago while dining out, I noticed a woman who clearly had iced tea in her see-through water cup. And it really bothered me. This wasn’t a mom-and-pop restaurant, but it was still wrong. I wondered why that woman went ahead and did that, instead of just ordering an iced tea. Why lie? Something for nothing?
Don’t worry – I stared down her iced tea every chance I got.
Posted in Consumer Commentary
Milo April 6, 2007, 1:13 am
A little background, this is at Jack-in-the-Box. I eat there 2 to 3 times every week. I’ve been told that they have problems with kids doing this. They even went for a period of time where they wouldn’t give out water cups. Also, it has affected me in the past, because I usually put ice in the water cup, and mix my sugar with tea in the other. After mixing, I poor the tea in the ice and drink. But, because of these guys, they made it difficult to do that. Management recognized me, and just gave me two soda cups. That was their solution in the past.
Well, 3 college kids came in. Two got water cups, and filled them full with coke, and while standing at the machine, drank and refilled. They offered some to a third friend, while I was standing behind them, and he replied, “no thanks, I don’t steal”. Hearing those words, set me off.
I walked up to the group, and told them I too did not appreciate them stealing.
They said it wasn’t really stealing.
I said it was.
They said, it doesn’t cost hardly anything.
I said it didn’t matter, you didn’t pay for it, it’s stealing.
We talked a little more, then I grabbed my drink and walked up to the front counter to speak to management.
Front counter was busy, so I sat down, waited a few minutes until things were less busy, and I walked up and told management.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t have a happy ending. Today, the manager was a lady who speaks mostly spanish, and didn’t quite understand me. I realized this when I went up to get my food, and I’m guessing she heard water cup, and just put an additional one on my tray.
Oh well. I was so upset, it ruined my lunch (though I ate it all still).