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Thread: On soda fountains and water cups

  1. #1
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    Default On soda fountains and water cups

    Weirdly enough the melodramatically named thread at the SDMB Teaching a 4 year old to steal lit off a debate in chat over whether or not it's stealing to get a cup for water at a restaurant and fill it with soda.

    Here in the US most fast food places, along with very casual places like pizza shops, have their soda fountains sitting out, self-serve style. The customer pays for a soda, gets a cup, and typically is allowed to refill it with soda as many times as they want during their visit. Restaurants typically, however, don't change for cups for water (which are usually smaller), or maybe charge a nominal fee of a dime or so, and the customer fills them from a water spigot in the same soda fountain.

    Some of the amoral characters who tend to occupy chat were arguing that it's not theft to get a water cup and then fill it with soda. I don't really understand this at all.

    Now, in my opinion, this is obviously theft -- the restaurant may well know that they're potentially losing some soda sales to this theft, and figure that into their accounting, and decide it's worth it. It's assumed most customers can be trusted on the honor system. But even if there's not an armed guard verifying people's soda purchases, if you've contracted for a free water along with your meal, or paid a dime for it, and you take soda instead, you're taking something more than the restaurant has agreed to provide. The losses to a restaurant on a few cups of soda are pretty small, but a small theft still constitutes a theft.

    Right?

  2. #2
    Libertarian Autocrat Vox Imperatoris's avatar
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    It's definitely theft.
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  3. #3
    Prehistoric Bitchslapper Sarahfeena's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Exy View post
    <snip>

    Right?
    Right.

  4. #4
    Elephant Feirefiz's avatar
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    Right.

    Quote Originally posted by Exy View post
    the restaurant may well know that they're potentially losing some soda sales to this theft, and figure that into their accounting, and decide it's worth it.
    Just like my supermarket that decided to take only lackluster precautions against shoplifting.

  5. #5
    Oliphaunt
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    It's incredibly petty theft* , but it's still theft.

    The more annoying thing to me is the whole "teaching one's kids that stealing is OK as long as you can get away with it" thing. Because we need more entitled brats in the world.

    *Yeah, the mark-up on soda is absurd, buy you seriously can't shell out a dollar for a soda cup?

  6. #6
    Elephant Feirefiz's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Orual View post
    It's incredibly petty theft* , but it's still theft.

    The more annoying thing to me is the whole "teaching one's kids that stealing is OK as long as you can get away with it" thing. Because we need more entitled brats in the world.
    Yes, I don't care one bit whether someone gets a free soda, but the sense of entitlement is strange.

    *Yeah, the mark-up on soda is absurd, buy you seriously can't shell out a dollar for a soda cup?
    And the first part of that is a complaint that I have never understood. In a restaurant it is just understood that you aren't paying only for the physical product. If you want minimum-markup soda, you go to a supermarket.

  7. #7
    Jesus F'ing Christ Glazer's avatar
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    It's theft, and anyone who argues differently is lying to themselves to assuage their guilt. And to teach your children such petty theft and the sense of entitlement that goes with it only sets them up for a life of disappointment. Because life will never give them all the things that they think they deserve. Better to teach your children that you get what you earn.
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