May

9

Coffee Reward

Filed Under Business & Finance, Consumer Concerns, Faith & Values, Food & Drinks, Swissness 


Sometimes honesty can give you a free cup of good ol’ Swiss coffee.

When my husband and I had lunch at the self-service Manora Restaurant in Lausanne last Sunday after visiting a nearby international evangelical church, neither of us knew that one chicken wing got buried in my husband’s eat-all-you-can full plate of vegetables by accident (all chicken wings, priced at CHF1.50 or USD1.45 apiece, were supposed to be placed on a separate plate or saucer for proper itemization of expenses). Blame it on my husband’s absent-mindedness brought about by extreme hunger. So instead of paying for five chicken wings, we paid only for four — without guilt. We became thieves without even knowing it.

As my husband was wolfing down his lunch, he discovered that there was a fried chicken wing deeply buried under the tasty heap of potatoes, carrots, and broccoli topped with French salad dressing.

“Hey, there’s another chicken wing here!” he exclaimed.

Almost in a chorus, we both said it had to be paid for pronto.

My husband immediately went downstairs, down to where the cashier’s counter was, to “confess” and pay up.

A few minutes later, he returned to our table, smiling from ear to ear. “Look what the manager gave me…a coffee token,” he reported, showing the white ‘1 Cafe’ plastic coin.

The manager apparently appreciated his honest gesture and rewarded him with a free cup of coffee worth CHF3.00 (USD2.85).

“Wow…an honesty coffee for you. That’s great, honey,” I said.

There’s a major lesson here somewhere. Honesty is still the best policy, no matter what other people say in this day and age of economic crisis.

Comments

8 Responses to “Coffee Reward”

  1. bw on May 10th, 2008 2:53 am

    It does pay to be honest. Considering that coffee isn’t exactly cheap in Switzerland, that was a great deal :)

  2. Liza's Eyeview on May 10th, 2008 4:53 pm

    Yes, honestly is still the best policy. And the best thing about it (aside from the free cup of coffee) is that you get a clear conscience. Nothing beats the “guilt-free” feeling :)

  3. Liza's Eyeview on May 10th, 2008 4:56 pm

    Oh I forgot to mention, I just read your 37 things. The “comment” part was closed there so I am commenting here ;) - I too am not into social networking (no facebook, twitter, etc.) but still very much into blogging :)
    There are a lot more there that we’re the same… anyway, just want to say I’m glad you’re posting more :)

  4. Jayred on May 11th, 2008 2:06 pm

    BW, indeed it was! His coffee reward looked tasty.

    Liza, we’re for having a clean conscience anytime! (Well, I blog to have a creative outlet of sorts. I don’t do it for social networking purposes really. I don’t meet with blog readers and/or co-bloggers) Happy Mother’s Day to you!

  5. Thess on May 11th, 2008 3:40 pm

    that was a nice ‘reward’ for such honesty :)
    Hi Jayred, I hope you and your hubby are having a relaxing Sunday.

  6. Jayred on May 11th, 2008 8:01 pm

    Yes, Thess, it was. :-) Hope all is well.

  7. Sining on May 17th, 2008 8:25 am

    How aptly said. Honesty is truly the best policy. I remember reading the interesting results of an honesty survey somewhere. The Swiss consistently ranked as the ones whom other Europeans would trust most.:)

  8. Jayred on May 19th, 2008 1:00 pm

    Sining, the Swiss in general are trustworthy alright. However, they can be seriously xenophobic. :-)

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