Integrity-Less Nation

For my daughter’s birthday we went to a buffet kind of restaurant that had a set price. Adults were double the price of kids, and we were told that my 10 year old son qualified as an adult.

When we got our bill, we noticed they had charged us for 2 adults and 2 kids. We said to the waitress, “We think you charged us the child price for our son.” She responded, emphatically, “I charged you for the child price for him.” “Yes,” we answered, “But he’s 10, he’s supposed to have the adult price.” She was even more emphatic, “I charged him for the children’s price.” It could not even occur to her that someone would try to pay more, and so without that as a possibility in her mind, we had the chance for a full blown Abbot and Costello routine on our hands.

But not having the time, we tried to explain that yes, she had charged us the smaller price, but we should have, and wanted to, pay the bigger price. Finally, after much elaboration, it dawned on her that she was dealing with two honest people who were asking if they could please pay more so they could do the right thing.

Isn’t it sad that integrity is so foreign to people today that it’s not even considered an option?

Maybe we should do something about that.