Travel & Lifestyle Freelance Writer | Market Research Consultant
So the following confession might put me in the same camp as Scar from the “Lion King,” Stalin or Satan, but I’ll admit it: I like Starbucks.
I love that I can get a coffee for $1.50.
I love that I can get a refill on that cup of coffee for free.
But even I will admit that charging $1 for a banana is a nefarious transgression against all humankind.
So picture this.
You’re out on your morning run. It’s early for a Saturday, about 7:30.
You’ve got another 30 minutes to go in the jog to get in your full hour, but you’re feeling fine, so there’s no worries, not too much huffing and puffing.
But then you see it. A sign. And big bold letters: FREE STUFF.
And it’s not bad stuff either.
So do you run by, hoping that if you dash back home, which lies a considerable distance away, that the schwag will still be there when you get back with your car?
Do you run by, lamenting to yourself, but admitting you probably didn’t need any of it anyways?
Or do you snag the best couple of things, a book and a four-foot-long photo board, and run back home, awkwardly, and wondering all the while if a cop is going to pull over and chastise you for robbing the Salvation Army?
My thoughts: Damn, it’s hard to pass up free.