An interesting article in the Seattle Times about a coffee shop in Kirkland, Washington.
The coffee is free, but only if you are willing to suffer the guilt of not having paid for it and the scorn of other customers.
(Hat tip to Jason Kenealey.)
At this coffee shop, the coffee is free
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Well, it’s just by volunteer donation (price). Not strictly free. Maybe the scones are free.
.lermit
Well, it’s just by volunteer donation (price). Not strictly free. Maybe the scones are free.
.lermit
It’s a great country. Every notion is revisited eventually. I wonder if hitting your thumb with a hammer still hurts?
It’s a great country. Every notion is revisited eventually. I wonder if hitting your thumb with a hammer still hurts?
Did he read about your donut seller? Maybe, if he had, he’d have located more blue collar than Izod collar!
Did he read about your donut seller? Maybe, if he had, he’d have located more blue collar than Izod collar!
A restaurant in New York tried a similar thing – it was profiled in the New Yorker. It wasn’t free, but there were no set prices. You paid what you thought the meal was worth. The owner said there were far fewer freeloaders than she had expected, and that the average amount people paid was far higher than she would have had in the menu.
I think its an interesting sociological experiment – peer pressure & guilt is only part of it. There’s also an element of the reciprocity impulse, and darn it, just plain old decency.
A restaurant in New York tried a similar thing – it was profiled in the New Yorker. It wasn’t free, but there were no set prices. You paid what you thought the meal was worth. The owner said there were far fewer freeloaders than she had expected, and that the average amount people paid was far higher than she would have had in the menu.
I think its an interesting sociological experiment – peer pressure & guilt is only part of it. There’s also an element of the reciprocity impulse, and darn it, just plain old decency.