I was visiting a boyfriend up north some years ago and we were walking around Pier 39. I bought giant long stemmed strawberries (they are SO GOOD there) and chocolate sauce for dipping and he went into a nearby (very crowded) ice cream shop to get a cup of ice cream for us to share.

When he got back I asked him "How much was it?"

"I don't know." he said, looking at me wide eyed.

"You don't know?" I replied, puzzled "How much did you pay for it?"

"It was free." he said.

"How did you get it for free?" I asked.

"It was just there on the counter and no one told me how much it was."

"So you just took it?" I peered into the ice cream shop. It was utter madness in there, the counter was swarming with people. I guessed our ice cream had somehow gotten lost in the shuffle. In the end I managed to convince him to go back and pay for it, but I was slightly put off by the whole situation. I know some people think that if a service worker messes up, too bad for them, but I just can't do that without feeling horrendously guilty. But...that's just me.

Last night VV and I did our weekly grocery shopping. When he got into the car he put a package of swiss cheese on my lap. "They didn't charge us for this."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"It was wedged in the child seat." he said "Check the receipt." I dug the receipt out of my back pocket and squinted at the long list of groceries we had just purchased. VV had already started to drive back towards the entrance of the grocery store.

"No...it's not on here...I don't think."

VV parked the car, picked the plastic package up off my lap, and walked back in to pay for the cheese.

Photo above has nothing to do with this post. It's just some pretty shadows I saw in the parking lot after work one night.