Cookie dilemma
 

Today at the supermarket I met up with a small moral dilemma that I thought interesting enough to mention here.

I picked up and looked at a package of Oreo Dunkers, which are Oreo cookies in a long oval shape for dunking. I put the package back, then picked up a package of normal Oreos to purchase. As I did so, I knocked the Dunkers package off the shelf and onto the floor. The corner hit the ground and obviously broke some of the cookies inside.

My immediate reaction was to put the Dunkers back and keep my intact Oreos. I walked three aisles away and then became overwhelmed with guilt. I ran back and took the damaged package instead. I kept thinking of children being disappointed at not being able to dunk their Dunkers.

Am I crazy? Was I responsible for the broken cookies, or was my guilt center on overdrive? I felt much better knowing I had "done the right thing".

It was a little bit of both. I must admit that I have done the same thing.

It was kind of you to take the broken package. On the other hand, by posting this, you have made me want to run out and buy dunkable Oreos. (it doesn't take much.)

I wouldn't want to dunk them, mind you. i just want to check out what it's like to eat a differently-shaped Oreo.

I used to just eat the insides, so the shape really doesn't matter. I will say that while I am generally a very guilty person (raised Catholic) I would not feel guilty about breaking a few cookies. If a store employee was standing there I might take the broken ones, but I totally would ditch them in another aisle.

I probably would have done the same thing.

If I knocked something off the shelf that I had no intention of buying I have brought it up to the store with my stuff and explained that I knocked it off the shelf, and it broke. They probably put it back on the shelf but I felt like I did the right thing.

Even if that was the brand you wanted you shouldn't feel any obligation to buy the broken ones. But letting the store know about that package is just common courtesy to them and any customers coming after you. Stuff gets spilled all the time and stores are used to dealing with it.

What concerns me more is the necessity of Oreos in a more streamlined shape for dunking. Just pour your milk into a decent sized glass for heavens sake. There are so many products that fulfill a need that never existed. Case in point are Go-Tarts which I'm embarassed to say are on a shelf in my kitchen. Apparently too many people complained about the lack of portability of regular Pop-Tarts.:rolleyes:

It's not going to bother me over taking a package with a few broken cookies. Broken cookies taste just as good as unbroken cookies. And they don't have calories since they all fell out when the cookie broke. :D

I was at Henrys a few weeks ago, opened up a container to get some bulk item and knocked a bottle of Italian soda off the shelf.

Well duh! They were too wide to be portable! :rolleyes:

My biggest complaint about different shapes of the same product is that there is less room for the obscure stuff I still like once in a while. Where's my Flakey Flix?

Oh, and taking the broken whatever to a stock person or cashier is the obvious thing to do. It's not like anyone breaks things on purpose.

I blame Apple Computers and the evolution of the iPod - expect Nano iTarts in your future.

Oh, and I would totally ditch the broken cookies.

OH YUM!!!!!!!! I hope they are still in the store! I'm going to have to look tomorrow. I loooooooove those!

What are Flakey Flicks? (It sounds more like my video collection than a snack product.)

I bought some a few months ago...a total let down. They were not a yummy as I remembered.

Ooooh. I want to know if wendybeth meant she's guilty of a lot of juicy things or if she is guilt ridden about a lot of minor things... :D

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My mantra for myself: Guilt is a useless emotion. (I think that's a New Order song title...)

If it was me, I guess there would have been a little guilt. But that would fade because I didn't do it on purpose. I probably would have put it back or told someone about it, but I wouldn't feel obligated to buy it.

As for the hypothetical kid that would have received broken Oreos... Well, children need to learn about disappointment. Sometimes cookies break. Life's tough, junior. If you left it, you may have taught a child a valuable lesson. :D

(ie. After we told a husband and wife that their daughter shouldn't pet Frodo while he was on-leash, the husband let the kid do it any way. The kid began to poke Frodo in the face. Frodo snarled and barked at her. The kid cried. We felt horrible, but we told them not to let the kid pet him and they let her do it any way. So I didn't feel too bad. The kid was fine. Not only that, the kid learned that not all dogs are Lassies. Some are short legged Cujos... ;) )

Flky Flix
 

You can see the flaky flix here apparently also in a chocolate flavor, as well. I've never had them. For Mothers cookies, my favorites always were (and probably always shall be) the simple but yummy Circus Animals.

Oh, as for the guilt factor. As a former Safeway employee, if I drop something, I let them know, and go on my merry way without guilt.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like Chips Ahoy. I've even started eating the Reduced Fat ones so I can eat twice as much... :D

This is totally weird, but I like eating Chips Ahoy cookies after they've been open for awhile. Then they get kinda soft. But I don't like Chewy Chips Ahoy because they're too chewy and too sweet...

I'm high maintenance...

I can't stand store bought cookies. Any of them. If I'm going to indulge in a cookie, it's going to be hot out of my oven.

When I say store bought, I don' mean a bakery. I mean out of a package.

Mothers stopped making Flakey Flix after some investment conglomerate bought the company. :mad:

Mother's doesn't appear to have a website, but you can contact the owners, Catterton Partners, here.

I can't imagine life without flaky flix! :(

That's quite the super-sphincter they installed in ya, Leo.:eek:


Can you also bake brownies in that thang?

Would you like me to package up a hot steamy one and send it to you?

I used to love Keebler Soft Bake Cookies. As well as Keebler Tato Skins. Those TGIFridays ones just aren't the same.

I agree. We can mourn together.

Interesting. I never would have thought to report it to them, as I would have felt guilty about that as well. "Hey, I broke your merchandise, but as I prefer whole cookies I'm going to let your store eat it." I always thought "you break it, you buy it" was the standard line.

I did not mean to drop them, but I did. As I actually did want Oreos, it wasn't that much of a stretch for me to buy them. If I opened a package of broken cookies as a kid I would have been bummed.

Ah well, at least I erred on the side of caution :) and these are fun to dunk.

Foodlocker.com has some Flaky Flix for $17.99

I would probably have glanced around to make sure no one saw, then put the broken ones back and grabbed a fresh pack. Just being honest. I think what you did was noble, CP.

This just brought to mind another moral dillemma. Just how much trouble will you go to to ensure that you got the correct change? If a cashier gives me too much change and I notice it at the register or on my way out of the store, I'll go and let them know. If I'm already at my car or on my way home, their loss, unless I'm feeling particularly honest that day.

I always make sure to give it back to them. I used to run registers in past jobs, and it truly sucks when the till doesn't add up.

Clearly the fault of the broken Oreos is the engineers of the packagin department, they know the rigors of transit and handlin of their goods - if they really cared they'ed desin some sort of inpenetrable tin like those Danish Coookie Meisters.

Don't forget the crinkly cookie cups, aka cookie airbags.

Yeah, I've done lots of registers too. I try to make sure I got my correct change when they give it to me. But a couple of times I've realized I was overchanged (by like a dollar) when I was already putting the keys in the ignition. It just wasn't worth getting everyone out of their carseats again to correct someone else's mistake.

I never count my change.

Me neither.

I've got a habit of paying attention to how much change I get. Surprisingly, I can't recall more than one or two times I've gotten the wrong change ever. I think it might be because when I see they've gotten the wrong change, I don't automatically reach for it, which gives them an extra moment to notice. Or maybe I do some other semi-subconscious body language thing that subconsciously alerts the cashiers that they might want to recount.

Maybe you just look shifty. :p

I want cookies now. Thank you so much.

Psst - don't get the dunkers, they're always broken

I don't really count change, but if I sense they're way off, I'll say something. If I'm already in the car and it's under a buck, forget it.

If I'm not at the register, I'm not going back. But I have corrected $20 mistakes in my favor at Panera before.

Can't do math (or find buttons on a screen)? Work at Panera!

Sheesh, I can do my total AND compute the tax in my head while the kids there find the right button to push. This is not something I do very easily. Something's wrong at my Panera.

I thought it was just my Panera. It seems to you need to flunk a basic logic test to be hired there.

And it's CPs fault. :D

Do you let the cashier know when you've been undercharged?

I generally buy the same thing at my favorite coffee place so I know how much it should cost. When they tell me a lower price I always point it out. But it's not so much because of honesty as concern that I get the drink I wanted. Maybe they misunderstood my order and that's why the price is different. Besides they take good care of me so I feel some obligation to return the favor.

I had to correct a particularly clueless employee at this same place after she gave me back change that was more than I'd given her in the first place. Actually I gave it back to another employee because I thought she needed to know the other employee needed some, uh, help.