To have made DD give back the vending machine freebie?

[BlowDryRat]

DH thinks I am.

I allowed DD to buy some crisps from the vending machine at the swimming pool after her lesson. I paid for one packet. It dispensed two. I made her give the second one back to a nearby member of staff.

The leisure centre staff look after the vending machines and could restock it, so it would have felt dishonest to walk off with both packs. I wouldn't be bothered if it wasn't obvious who to give it to.

Was I right or a right mean mother?

any siblings ?
could have suggested she eat hers and take home extra one to offer to sibling/friend.
certainly not give back.
your husband is right.
there's being honest and there's being ridiculous.
what do you think the staff member did.

The rules of the vending machine state if you get a freebie you take it and skip away happily, enjoying every bite of freebie

Have you never been ripped off by a vending machine, OP?

The best thing about vending machines is the little surprises they sometimes deliver.
I wouldnt have even thought about it -just enjoyed the bonus packet . makes up for ll of the times the machine delivered the wrong thing or nothing.
BTW The staff ate the crisps and thought you were weird.

@OneEpisode

With DC I would have handed back. At work we would have shared the bonus packet.

It does feel different when the kids are there! Especially when they tell their teachers/family members/ friends' parents/ random strangers absolutely everything. DD was celebrating her 'win' until I stepped in.

You did whaaaaaat?! Vending machine surprise bounty is one of life's greatest small joys!

Do you take BOGOF or leave the free one behind?

Why else do they think you’re weird? I’m intrigued

@SeaTurtles92

Do you take BOGOF or leave the free one behind?

I'd argue that isn't the same situation at all.

is there anything else you would like to tell us, OP ?

@FelicityBeedle

Why else do they think you’re weird? I’m intrigued

They know me as the trans man who made a great big hoo haa about being validated but intriguingly still has long hair and wears the occasional skirt.

I also arrived with DD in swimming gear when swimming lessons had finished for the term, not just once but two weeks in a row.

And now I'm the mad woman who steals crisps from her children.

Oh bless she was celebrating the vending machine 'win' and you made her give them to the staff☹️

They'd have eaten them before you strapped the kids into the car or got them on the bus.

Yabu. I would of let her Keep it
Teaches a valuable life lesson. Sometimes life gives you lemonade! It's not all doom and gloom

I think DD deserved the second packet of crisps

Vending machines are usually managed by seperate companies - thats what the staff say when things get stuck or money goes missing! There is no way a staff member kept the packet safe for the next time the vending machine person popped in to top it up. The staff would have eaten them. Vending machine companies know they get extra money for stuck items and lose a bit for double purchases - yes sorry I think you were being a bit mean! It was a bonus.

The staff looked at you like you had two heads, looked at one another with dumbfounded looks, and then tucked into their treat. They don’t have they keys to unlock the vending machines.

I would have kept them! The staff probably ate them.

Definitely have kept it. Now a member of staff will eat them. I can’t see them fannying around arranging for them to go back in the machine.

what a joyless meanie you are! I mean who is not thrilled at an unexpected freebie!

I think you were totally unreasonable here for the sake of proving yourself to be a superior parent.

@LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow

what a joyless meanie you are! I mean who is not thrilled at an unexpected freebie!

I think you were totally unreasonable here for the sake of proving yourself to be a superior parent.

Yep

Many years ago I lived in Notting hill (before it was the stomping ground of the rich and famous) and there was a chip vending machine. Put your money in, it cooked chips. Simple, delicious. One night I was waiting for the bus to go clubbing up west and wanted chips. Just as the machine was about to dispense them my bus arrived. I shouted to someone that they could have the chips if they wanted and got on the bus. Chipless.

Since then I have believed in the cosmic karma of vending machines, sometimes they go against you, at other times you are rewarded. It is random, like life itself.

Mind you I made DS hand in a fiver he found on the floor in Tesco, but they kept it behind the till and gave it to him a week later when nobody had claimed it, so it was a win. But they thought we were odd.

Some people just love to ruin a child’s fun.

The staff definitely ate those crisps.

This is one of the unwritten rules of the world.

The staff definitely ate those crisps.

YABU. You owe your DD some crisps!