Every now and then money has a funny way of testing our morals. A year ago I wrote about a gas station incident where people got charged 33 cents/gallon instead of $3.30, and the comments that followed were pretty freakin’ interesting.

It’s easy to think how we’d react when looking from the outside in, but until you’re caught in the middle you really never know how it’ll play out. A recent journey to the beer store reminded me of just that. We had gone for some quick restocking of beverages, returned to the car, and were about to take off when I noticed the receipt was awfully low. Only $11 dollars for a 6 pack and a bottle of Fort? (by Dogfish Head which runs around $20) I’m no math genius, but that sure as hell wasn’t right.

This is where the dilemma comes in. Do you:

1. Take off and save that $20? After all, it was their mistake and you’re already in your car. And would they even notice it anyways? or…
2. Go back like a good little boy & have them swipe your card again? Money-wise this blows, but then again we should have been charged for it from the beginning.

At $20 a pop, I was ready to slam on that pedal and get outta there as fast as I could ;) That was, of course, until Mrs. Budgetsaresexy stepped in and slapped me back to reality. Of course they’d notice $20 missing! Plus, we LOVE that store, as well as the person/possible owner who rung us up. There’s no way we could dick him around like that.

So we went back in (or, I should say the Mrs. went back in) and got it all taken care of. And I must admit it felt good. I’m pretty sure I would have gone back by myself anyways, but you never can tell sometimes. It’s an excellent reminder to double check your conscience and make sure your actions are matching up with your morals. Would you all have done the same?