Rural honesty

[oggbashan]

Today my wife and I went to visit a country house and its gardens on the last day, this year, that the house is open to the public.

When we arrived, the gardens were open but the house wouldn't open for another hour. We paid to enter the gardens.

What was unusual was HOW we paid.

There was a cash box resting on a small table at the garden entrance. Visitors were expected to pay the correct fee for the entrance, making change if necessary from the contents of the unlocked cash box. The cash box and table were not overlooked in any direction so what you paid, or if you paid at all were not recorded.

We walked around the gardens on our own, not meeting or seeing anybody. We decided to visit the tea room. In the tea room there was a notice 'Self Service'.

It was self service. There was a kettle, tea, coffee, biscuits, cakes, soft drinks and a price list and another unlocked cash box. We made coffee, ate some cake and left the correct amount in the cash box. When we left the tea room we saw one of the gardeners crossing the courtyard. He was the only person we had seen since arriving two hours earlier.

We could have taken both cash boxes, or the contents of both, or not paid at all.

When we went on the guided tour of the house I asked the guide about what they call 'honesty boxes'. Her response:

'We don't lose money. We tend to get more put in than the charges justify.'

Where else would this happen?

Og

 

[Aurora Black]

'We don't lose money. We tend to get more put in than the charges justify.'

Where else would this happen?

Og

My God, that is rare.

 

[English Lady]

That's lovely Og. I wish it were commonplace but it is nice to hear that honesty still exists now.

 

[R. Richard]

When we went on the guided tour of the house I asked the guide about what they call 'honesty boxes'. Her response:

'We don't lose money. We tend to get more put in than the charges justify.'

Where else would this happen?

Og

In a previous life, I was often forced to visit remote military bases to install computer software. Each of the bases had an Officer's Club. The small bases didn't have enough customers to permit the hiring of a bartender. Thus, they had "honesty boxes" where a thirsty officer could get a beer or canned cocktail when he got back from a mission. The officer was morally bound to pay for his drink. They found the same thing as your guide stated. Often an officer would come back from a mission and find himself without money in his pocket. He would go into the bar and have a drink or two and then come back later and put some money in the honesty box. The officers liked th idea of having a drink at "zero dark hundred" and they tended to overestimate how much they owed, so that there would always be a place to get a drink at zero dark hundred.

 

[scheherazade_79]

Lots of the farmers where I live sell their produce on the side of the road - unmanned self-service stands where you put the money in the tin and take what you've bought. It doesn't happen on the main roads, though - just on the back of beyond type places where everyone knows everyone else. I guess it's harder to steal in small communities, because the chances are that you'll actually know your victim.

 

[kendo1]

Malleny House, just up the road from me in Balerno.
It's a National Trust site with a pay as you enter box.
You pay so much if you are a member, or so much if you are not. It's up to you and the cash box is unattended. There's always money in there.
We always pay.

 

[only_more_so]

Actually, I remember reading an article about a gas station in New England somewhere (at least if memory serves, maybe CT). Anyway, the story went that the gas station attendent who had the overnight shift, just left. He locked up the booth, but left the pumps on. The next day the gas station manager was surprised to find that they were actually ahead something like 2 dollars since people had been putting money in through the slot.

 

[MagicaPractica]

LOL, yes, we have that around here. People frequently leave vegetables, jams, other things out for sale with a can for money and you make your own change. Used to do the same where we picked blueberries.

 

[izabella]

Today my wife and I went to visit a country house and its gardens on the last day, this year, that the house is open to the public.

When we arrived, the gardens were open but the house wouldn't open for another hour. We paid to enter the gardens.

What was unusual was HOW we paid.

There was a cash box resting on a small table at the garden entrance. Visitors were expected to pay the correct fee for the entrance, making change if necessary from the contents of the unlocked cash box. The cash box and table were not overlooked in any direction so what you paid, or if you paid at all were not recorded.

We walked around the gardens on our own, not meeting or seeing anybody. We decided to visit the tea room. In the tea room there was a notice 'Self Service'.

It was self service. There was a kettle, tea, coffee, biscuits, cakes, soft drinks and a price list and another unlocked cash box. We made coffee, ate some cake and left the correct amount in the cash box. When we left the tea room we saw one of the gardeners crossing the courtyard. He was the only person we had seen since arriving two hours earlier.

We could have taken both cash boxes, or the contents of both, or not paid at all.

When we went on the guided tour of the house I asked the guide about what they call 'honesty boxes'. Her response:

'We don't lose money. We tend to get more put in than the charges justify.'

Where else would this happen?

Og

That's so wonderful to read. Thank you for telling us about it.

 

[Huckleman2000]

My parents live in a small rural town, and they constantly relate stories that, if not similar, at least show the trust people have in one another in places where business owners know most of their customers.

They came to visit for a few weeks, and the post office saved up their mail and sent it to them a couple times, in bags my folks addressed before they left. My Dad had some banking thing where someone was supposed to deposit a check, but there was a glitch since he was out of town so he was able to get a neighbor to make the deposit of the check, and he let the bank know, and they were all okay with it.

The office where my Mother worked until she was well over 70 had a coffee and snacks table with an honor system payment. Each year, they had enough to have an annual fancy dinner for everyone and their spouses.

There's definitely something to be said for a small town lifestyle.

 

[amicus]

Interesting thread...and leave it to me, I suppose, to make a political point of it...rather the opposite what what the thread implies, most people are basically and intrinsically honest, they know one must return compensation, there is no such thing as a free lunch...and people all over the world respond, naturally, in quite the same way.

Honesty, since humans know the effort required to produce goods, is almost a part of us from the moment we begin to learn.

I have heard it said that perhaps a maximum of one percent of any population is criminal, and that perhaps a maximum of five percent are dishonest and without principle.

That leaves the 99 percent who are not criminals and the 95 percent who are not unprincipled, thus the aforementional anecdotes are common, not unusual.

But it must be taught and passed on...just recently my 20 year old son pushed a grocery cart out with unpaid merchandise in the lower rack, overlooked and uncharged...I sent him back into the store and explained why he should either pay or return the objects...

amicus...

 

[Huckleman2000]

Interesting thread...and leave it to me, I suppose, to make a political point of it...rather the opposite what what the thread implies, most people are basically and intrinsically honest, they know one must return compensation, there is no such thing as a free lunch...and people all over the world respond, naturally, in quite the same way.

Honesty, since humans know the effort required to produce goods, is almost a part of us from the moment we begin to learn.

I have heard it said that perhaps a maximum of one percent of any population is criminal, and that perhaps a maximum of five percent are dishonest and without principle.

That leaves the 99 percent who are not criminals and the 95 percent who are not unprincipled, thus the aforementional anecdotes are common, not unusual.

But it must be taught and passed on...just recently my 20 year old son pushed a grocery cart out with unpaid merchandise in the lower rack, overlooked and uncharged...I sent him back into the store and explained why he should either pay or return the objects...

amicus...

I don't doubt you, Amicus. Most people are decent sorts, I think. Still, it is the impersonalization of much of today's society, especially in areas of larger population, that contributes to dishonesty. Many rural folks who would never raid the cash box in the sort of situations described above, would nonetheless shoplift small items from Wal-Mart, for example.

The impersonalization that leads to such massive supply-chain and point-of-sale efficiency also creates a mindset that cutting corners has no effect on anyone in the worker class.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I can only think of two cases where I've seen this. The first was while I was living in a houseboat. They sold ice in the summers and had a sign that read "ICE $1.00" and a mason jar. Everyone always paid.

The other is Spada's farm near Troutdale. The always have a large field of pumpkins. At the gate was a wooden box with a slot with a sign. $1.00 for small pumpkins and $2.00 for large. It worked for several years. I can't say it's still done since I haven't been out there for a few years now. (Wow... Halloween Story too )

 

[McKenna]

Reading this thread gives me the warm fuzzies.

 

[only_more_so]

Interesting thread...and leave it to me, I suppose, to make a political point of it...rather the opposite what what the thread implies, most people are basically and intrinsically honest, they know one must return compensation, there is no such thing as a free lunch...and people all over the world respond, naturally, in quite the same way.

Honesty, since humans know the effort required to produce goods, is almost a part of us from the moment we begin to learn.

I have heard it said that perhaps a maximum of one percent of any population is criminal, and that perhaps a maximum of five percent are dishonest and without principle.

That leaves the 99 percent who are not criminals and the 95 percent who are not unprincipled, thus the aforementional anecdotes are common, not unusual.

But it must be taught and passed on...just recently my 20 year old son pushed a grocery cart out with unpaid merchandise in the lower rack, overlooked and uncharged...I sent him back into the store and explained why he should either pay or return the objects...

amicus...

I really wish I could believe those percentages. But I really think the ratio of honest to dishonest varies by location based on the local mores and family situations. At least part of that is what is considered "honest" behavior.

I have done the unpaid stuff in the cart. The checker was actually shocked that I came back in for less than $2 worth of stuff. Same thing when the cashier gives me the wrong amount of change.

Actually the cashier giving the wrong amount of change amazes me sometimes. I have seen people get bent out of shape about getting 5 cents less change than they should, other people patiently hand back ten dollars because the cashier thought they recieved a 20 instead of a 10. Basically, everyone is honest when it costs them money, a much smaller percentage are honest when they are the beneficiary.

 

[Guest]

Lots of the farmers where I live sell their produce on the side of the road - unmanned self-service stands where you put the money in the tin and take what you've bought. It doesn't happen on the main roads, though - just on the back of beyond type places where everyone knows everyone else. I guess it's harder to steal in small communities, because the chances are that you'll actually know your victim.

i dont know if that is the premise behind it or not but i have seen many of those in CT. infact, i used to have a stand out front of the house with soaps and baskets. sometimes,i would sell, sometimes not. nothing was ever stolen.

i do believe that it depends on the area. if i were to do that where we live now, i have no doubt that someone would take something without 'donating' for it.

i love this ideal. i really do. i have to agree with R.Richard. .. it must be a morally binding issue.