Ensuring Receipt
I’m not the sort of guy to loudly and angrily undertake stands against companies. If a business or organization offends my principles somehow, I tend just to stop giving them my money. I don’t write letters of protest; I just go ahead with my silent boycott. So it has gone with companies as large as Wal-Mart (whose ruthless disregard for the interests of small business offends me deeply) and as small as the corner store by my old apartment (which I felt, since it was never open when I wanted a late night snack, did not deserve my money during daylight hours).
Add to the list the convenience shop in the student center at UIC. In between classes today, I got the idea that buying a bag of Doritos was the right thing to do. (Note: I was wrong on two counts, as I am both on a budget and on a diet.) Upon purchase, though, the cashier took my five dollars, gave me four in change, crumpled my receipt and threw it in the trash can behind the counter.
What? That receipt doesn’t belong to the trash can. It’s MINE. I paid good money for it, and will need it when I go to record my expenses (I shudder to call Doritos an “expense”) at the end of the night. It’s not your right to throw it away like some common piece of trash.
Oh well, UIC junk-food depository. We had a good run, right?
But what’s even worse? To top off the fact that I’m now being forced into boycotting my main on-campus Doritos source (which will seriously impair my ability to cheat on my diet/budget), I’m going to be known as the jerk who asks, before every transaction, “Can I keep the receipt? I’m on a tight budget.”
…when buying overpriced snacks.
I discovered your homepage by coincidence.
Very interesting posts and well written.
I will put your site on my blogroll.
Thank you! I just took a quick glance (will attempt a more thorough look when it’s not bedtime
) and was impressed by all the information at your site. I’ll check back in soon!
Hmmm, I think there must be more to the story, or else you were looking for an excuse not to buy Doritos anymore. If you didn’t ask for a receipt and get a “NO!” answer, it would seem you’re dealing with a cashier who has experienced the fact that 99 out of 100 people don’t want the receipt, throw it on the floor, or sneer at them and say “I don’t want THAT”. I have experienced this myself in a past life, as you might guess. So what’s the deal here, Justin:))? Are you really going to condemn this place and put them in the same category as Walmart because you didn’t get one lousy receipt — or did you leave the cruel and juicy parts out of that story?
Ha, nope. I’m just really that fickle. I didn’t even ask her for the receipt, just walked away, mildly offended, deciding I was probably better off not shopping there anyway (since all they sell is overpriced food, all along the lines of Doritos in terms of nutritional value). Good call, though…I’d imagine people a bit more outgoing or a bit less grudging than myself would’ve either spoken up or, you know, not cared.