NEW TECUMSETH REC CENTRE, ALLISTON—-A local vending machine is drawing the ire and praise of patrons after a message prompting customers to ‘add gratuity’ began appearing in purchases.
“I almost naturally tapped ‘accept,’” Paul Short told reporters. “And then it occurred to me that this is a vending machine.”
The request appears to have rubbed a number of people the wrong way, with some even boycotting the machine.
“Have you ever had a machine drop two items instead of one? In that specific situation I might consider tipping,” Jeff Nordstrom, a local referee, told the Alliston Gerald in passing. “This vending machine, on the other hand, has not gone out of its way for me. It hasn’t given me the time of day.”
The machine in question does in fact provide the time of day free of charge. The words “HAVE A NICE DAY” also display across the screen after a purchase. Such courtesies in other sectors elicit a gratuity as a way to reward extra effort or civility while completing a task. Some of the vending machine’s supporters say there’s nothing wrong with incentivizing the very attitude and work ethic parents encourage in the arena’s younger users.
Others say coming to expect, and optionally reward, additional services creates an unfair standard for workers and vending machines.
While this is the first known incidence of a piece of arena equipment making such a request, sources indicate others may soon follow and with more and more emphasis put on working conditions. Rumours are circulating that zambonis will soon insist on working early morning or late nights—but not both. Parking meters in Simcoe County are also said to be in talks to form a union by the end of 2024.
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