Did Honesty Die?
Last night I had dinner with a couple of friends. I ordered a cup of soup to go with my dinner. (This part is important.) When the check came, we all took a look to figure out who owed what.
Our server forgot to charge me for my soup.
I waited for the server to come back so the soup could be added to the bill. My friends (whom I met while working in the hospitality industry) were surprised – they would have just kept quiet and enjoyed the fact that they received a freebie.
When the server came back, I told her that she’d forgotten to add the soup. She waived it off and said it was on her, so I gave her a big thank-you tip.
Having worked in the hospitality industry for some time, food is one of the things that’s always written off. And that point was brought up while I was waiting for the check to be corrected.
But you know what? The guilt would have eaten at me.
It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the soup. And the service wasn’t awful.
In short, I’d have no plausible reason to take advantage of my good fortune.
Which seriously makes me wonder: did honesty die? ‘Cause if it did, then I’m going to be annoyed.
