jmcquown wrote:

> If the store isn't offering "samples" then eating a couple of pieces of
> fruit without paying for it then calling it "sampling" is tantamount to
> theft, IMHO. His excuse was he'd gotten some iffy fruit from them in
> the past. So what? Produce is always iffy.

I was wavering until I read the article. My local fruit stand offers
samples of some things. The owner actually stands there and hands them
out. A local grocery store often has samples of fruit. And I sympathize
with people who buy a bunch of fruit and get home and find that it is
not very good. However, this guy's excuse lost credibility by sampling
two apricots. One might have been a sample, but taking two was theft. I
won't try to fend people who have cup of sugar with their coffee.

On a similar vein, I was eating in a restaurant when the people at the
next table asked for another bottle of ketchup. The waitress pointed
out that there was more than half a bottle on their table, but the
mother said that their son would need at least a full bottle on his
fries. IMO they would have been justified to refuse. The condiments
would have cost them more than they made on the fries.