I often opt for the self checkout counter at the local grocery store when I’m purchasing less than five items. There are very few people who actually use these machines and avoiding the line gets me out of the store in less than thirty seconds. They could use some work, but all in all they are well implemented. Tonight they were even better than usual.

I was only getting two items. A small can of diced chilies and some Reese’s candy thing that Krissy spotted next to the checkout counter. Krissy chided me for paying with a credit card even though the total was less than three dollars. As I reached down to get the receipt I noticed a dollar bill sitting in the change dispensing are of the machine. There was no one anywhere near the machine when we approached it. There was a man that came up behind us to check out after us. I took the money and casually walked away as though it were my change and as though nothing were amiss.

Krissy was not pleased with what I had done. I feel that there is nothing wrong in taking loose cash that is not accompanied by any identifying information. I wouldn’t touch a wallet, but if I learned anything from my days working as an usher at the movie theater it’s this: all cash is fair game. If I had turned the cash in, I would just be lining the pockets of whomever was lucky enough to be working there tonight. No one can ever claim cash as theirs, because they can’t identify it in any meaningful way. This didn’t have any distinguishing characteristics. It was almost brand new.

Krissy still wasn’t satisfied, so I promised her that I would donate my one dollar to some worthy cause.

I suggested the Human Fund.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006 at 11:47 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.