The “something for nothing urge” is something that comes up often in the Squirreling Gone Wild series. Frugality run amok! This edition shares two instances which combined kids AND grown-ups letting their excitement over something for nothing get the best of them. A new generation of extractors has to learn somewhere, right?
The first situation, unfortunately, involved me being the catalyst for craziness. It was just in the last year or two, when we went out as a family for Sunday brunch. As we were on the way out, I looked toward the door, and spotted a gumball machines. I hadn’t gotten gum from a machine in probably 25 years, so normally I wouldn’t think anything of it.
This time, gum just sounded good, as a taste break. So, what did I do? I walked through the first door which opened to that entryway area, and stood by the gum machine. I then paused and thought to myself: Do I want to act like a child and put my quarter in the gumball machine?
I quickly looked around, and assessed the situation: nobody was watching. So, I put my quarter in, turned the dial, and out came a gumball. I quickly grabbed it while acting nonchalant. I guess it was embarrassing to be a 6’0″ tall grown man who’s a father that’s buying a gumball for himself. I did it anyway, and that gum was as good as I remembered it from the days of youth.
Then I noticed something else: the quarter was still there! I got the gumball for free. I thought that was strange, but it was quickly exhilarating, and I turned the dial a second time just to see what would happen. Out came another gumball, and my quarter was still there. Another free gumball. YES! I was curious if this was just luck or a case of a broken machine, so I tried again: free gumball #3 emerged.
At that point, a wave of guilt and a bigger wave of maturity came over me, and I stopped. I just hit me that I need to stop, so I did. However, I made the mistake of talking about it aloud with my family.
Apparently, a kid from a different family heard me talk about it, and he excitedly ran over and turned the dial. Never mind that it was my quarter that was still in there, though I didn’t care since he was just a child that was too excited to notice or care whose money it was. The kid was just so excited, and he turned the dial to get the quarter and free gum. It was good theatre, and he was happy to get the gum. Eagerly, he told his parents what happened.
The mom said, “let’s try it again!”. So, the kid does it again, while I watch. He gets more gum. Then he kept turning the dial and collecting gum. Both his parents are then laughing as he’s so excited to get free gum. He turned the dial 5 or 6 times before his parents told him to stop and give the “Nice Man” his quarter back. He grudgingly did that, and then they (and we) walked out. They were laughing about the whole thing, while I was amused by their actions.
The part that was especially funny to me is that they felt bad about him using my quarter. I couldn’t have cared less about that quarter, in reality. To me, what should have been important to them is that they were encouraging the kid to take advantage of the broken machine, and rip off the owners repeatedly. Sure, it was just gum, but they didn’t get that wave of guilt or maturity about getting something for nothing at someone else’s expense. Maybe they thought they were smart and frugal? Who knows.
Do you think that kid noticed his parents’ approach to this? He got extra laughs and attention for his antics. An extractor was born.
The second situation was at a bank, where they kept cookies in the lobby area. These appeared to be super cheap chocolate chip cookies of the stale, generic variety. They were lined up on a plate on counter. A frugal “treat” for customers.
In this situation, I eyed the cookies as I walked in. I have to admit, sometimes when I see free food, there’s some kind of magnetic attraction there. This time, I must have quickly assessed the cookies and decided that I wasn’t interested, as I walked to the rather long teller line. I then heard some commotion, and saw some kids walking in with their mom. They made a beeline for the cookies, and asked their mom if they could have some. The mom said something like “Yes, but settle down!”.
That’s the only discipline that was shown. The kids each must have taken 3 or 4 cookies, and then they sat down while their mom got in line. She said nothing. Now, 3 or 4 small cookies isn’t a big amount, and I’m sure the bank didn’t care one iota. Maybe I shouldn’t either. But to me, it’s the idea that they didn’t just take one, and that they finished off what was left on the plate. They left nothing for other customers.
Two more extractors were created.
My takeaway from these two episodes is that the something for nothing tendency can exist in all of us, and this includes kids. I can’t blame the kids, but I do think the parents should teach their kids socially acceptable behavior, and not to take advantage of others like that.
Oh well. At least these things were amusing to see 🙂
When I was a young kid, I remember visiting San Francisco with my parents, and trying to grab pennies from a water fountain in a hotel lobby. I went so far as to step in the water to collect coins. That something for nothing urge was there big time. FREE MONEY! It was a blast, for that minute I was doing it.
The fun ended when my mom yanked me out of the water. She told me that civilized people don’t do that, and people might have made wishes before throwing the coins in the fountain. I was made to drop the coins back in the fountain. Now that I’m a parent, I would do the same thing. Thankfully, my daughter seems like a more mature kid than I was at that age:)
Here are my questions:
- Do you think that these seemingly small examples are good situations for parents to teach lessons to kids, instead of facilitating their shenanigans?
- Can you think of any such examples from your own childhood, or from your experiences as a parent?
- Am I just getting old? You don’t have to answer that one, I know that I am 🙂
Haha, nice stories, Squirrelers. I know the embarrassment about buying something from the bubble gum machine. That’s a pretty funny story about the stuck quarter, though.
As for the parents, shame on them. I don’t personally see the bubble gum one as being that bad (i think I would have drawn the line at one free bubble gum though not 5-6), but eating all of the cookies? Comeon. What a way to teach your kids to be greedy gluttons!
Invest It Wisely – Yes, it’s interesting being an adult buying something from the bubblegum machine. I rationalize it by thinking that it’s good to have a kiddish enthusiasm for some things sometimes.
I agree about those cookies. The mother in that situation had no interest in controlling her kids. My child does NOT behave like that in any way, and it’s not due to any pressure she gets from her parents – it’s just that she has a sense of decency and right and wrong. What I found interesting is that the mother at the bank, even as an adult, didn’t seem to get that.
In college, I came across a broken machine on campus that would dispense free Reeses Pieces if you twisted your quarter the right way (I had a lot of free time during my shifts in that area)…I took advantage the whole year and didn’t feel too bad until I met the candy vendor. It was his business, not a chain. I told him about his broken machine and handed him $10. He seemed really happy to know and even asked me to show him how to do it (I guess he was trying to figure out if it was worth fixing or not since there was a trick to it).
Crystal, that’s a neat story. You were a normal college kid when doing that, but you had a conscience and paid him back. It’s interesting how when we see the person behind the business, and make the connections in our brain that a real person is being impacted, we then feel bad about taking advantage.
Hey, congratulations for getting into that fountain. I think that is something every child (and maybe some adults) would love to do! Also those shiny coins are just so tempting for kids.
I remember a gumball machine when I was a kid that you count just twist and twist and little gumballs came flying out. My brother and I took full advantage of that machine. My parents were grocery shopping, so they had no idea. The next week, my brother and I took a paper bag shopping with us in case that gumball machine was still broken. Of course it was, so we ended up with a bag full of free gumballs. (Our parents caught us after that, so that was the end of our gumball scam.) As an adult, I feel bad about it. But, as a 6 year old kid, I just thought ‘free gumballs’!
I thought of you today at the doctor’s office. The lobby had a coffee maker and a little basket with peanut butter cracker packages. One guy was getting coffee, and grabbed a pack. Next thing you know, he is grabbing a handfull of packages and shoving them in his pocket! He was squirreling for sure!
Everyday Tips – I wonder if the guy you saw at the doctor’s office was related to the guy I worked with who grabbed the fistful of mints, from the SGW#7 (Starlight, Starbright) post! It’s that something for nothing temptation that flares up with many of us when items are presented for us to take legitimately, I guess
Liked the stories, especially about the free gum!
I have to say that kids are not the only ones to blame. At work the m&m distributor was broken so you were able to turn your quarter back and forth before it went in. Those m&m’s disappeared pretty fast!
Yours truly was also part of that cause! I don’t know what it is, is it the thrill of “bypassing” the “system ” or the “free” part?!
“Extractors” – love the term.
I guess this relates to the kindergarten rule “leave enough for the others”. I would have had my hand slapped, had I tried that as a kid. Fast forward to my own kids, and short of slapping hands, they would have earned a scolding for sure. Then again, they wouldn’t have grabbed handfuls of cookies. Gumballs on the other hand, that’s another story.
My oldest is in the habit of checking vending machine slots and under and around the machines themselves. He always seems to come up with spare change. A born scrounger.
Your post made me smile when I imagined you by the gumball machine. Then, I was outraged by the parents of the kid letting him to load up on the free stuff at the expense of the owner. Then I thought about people’s nature in general. Most of us are inclined to get as much of free stuff as possible and not experience any feeling of guilt over it. For example, in our office we put out candies during Halloween. There are certain people who would eat almost all of them and leave nothing to the rest of us. Why? Because it’s free and they can do it when no one is watching them. It is funny because it is just a candy. But what if it is not just a candy…?
I am an extractor. I love love love freebies, but I hate hogs. When I go to farmer markets, I bee line for free taste of berries, cookies, and whatever they have out. I only take one or two pieces though.
I check local freebies blog for free events almost every weekend.
http://aroundthesunblog.com/
I went for the free theater. This introduced us to some small theaters around town that we haven’t been to and we probably will patronize them later.
http://www.freenightoftheater.net/
I sign up for free event tickets sponsors by work (NBA, opera, hockey.) I just can’t get enough freebies. My wife still picks pennies up from the sidewalk, I don’t do that anymore.
I’ll skip the gumballs and stale cookies though. I’ll teach my kid to love freebies, but share with others. I would also teach him the difference between freebies and stealing.
I had fun imagining you looking embarrassed near a gumball machine 😉
I have seen people taking the whole thing without leaving anything for others. I generally don’t think about it much other than making fun of them if I am with my husband. One of my coworkers is sort of weird. Whenever we all go out and buy like 3 huge pizzas for 7-8 people, after people had first round he will start asking whether they want more or he can take it home. Even if I would like to take another piece the way he asks I always end up saying – no I am done. I don’t know why…
Suba – yes, I was self-conscious to a degree about putting a coin in a gumball machine, like a kid:) I guess we all need to be like kids sometimes, at least that’s my rationalization!
That co-worker of yours seems out of touch with societal norms on dining with coworkers. It’s interesting how folks can rationalize such things!