So, the flu has been slowly creeping up on us, and today everyone just woke up with either the sniffles, a cough, a runny nose, sneezing or a combination ?. So, off we went to go top up on meds and then popped into the shops for some soup ingredients, and vitaminC-loaded foods.
So, when I get to the till, the lady rings up my stuff and it comes up to R188 odd, and I actually just had R189 on me *close!*….so I hand her the cash and then realise that the box of chicken stock cubes is still in the trolley ?…then I tell her ‘Ag, I’ll just leave it’…….And Then she says “Thatha, ngiyakupha” (Take it, I’m giving it to you)
It seemed like time froze for a while as I was debating it in my mind….’Should I, shouldn’t I?’…….hesitated a bit, then I nervously smiled, said ‘Thanks’ and chucked it into my plastic bag……but I still can’t help but wonder whether it was the right thing to do ?.
I mean, it’s not her store for her to be giving away stuff for free….I mean if I was the owner of that store, I don’t know how happy I’d be with my staff just giving things away……but at the same time she’s the authority that’s been put there by the owner/s and her word is good, she is in charge…….where do we draw the line between favour and a shady exchange (not that I gave her anything in exchange or even asked for it)……..
Was taking it ok or not so ok? Thoughts?