At lunchtime today, I realized that I had forgotten to bring anything to eat.  Usually that sends me scrounging in my car for enough quarters to go to the cafeteria and eat whatever the kids are eating, but today, I had a Starbucks gift card burning a hole through my glove compartment, so I raced out to get myself an overpriced coffee and sandwich. 

At the drive-through window, I presented my gift card.  The friendly Starbucks employee gave me my food and drink, then handed back the card and receipt.  When she told me how much cash was left on the card, I realized that she had not charged me for one of my items.

“Wait,” I said.  “I don’t think you charged me for both.”

“Yes I did,” she said.  “The coffee and the panini.”

I looked at the receipt.  “No,” I said, noticing that it said 0.00 next to panini.  I turned the receipt toward the Starbucks window and pointed to the 0.00.  “Look.”

“It’s right there,” said the Starbucks employee, now showing signs of annoyance.  “See?  There’s the coffee – there’s the panini.  It’s a fifteen dollar gift card,” she added, as though trying to help me understand that, mathematically speaking, she was officially correct. 

I guess I could have gone one more round, for the sake of being Truly Honest.  I could have demanded that she look closer.  I could have called for a calculator.

Instead, I drove away, and now I have extra coffee money.

I tried, right?