h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Here at work someone is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so vending machines are a must. Many years ago the entire line of six were bolted to the wall.

Until a few years ago we had a canteen at work staffed by a team of kitchen staff preparing meals for the workers. They have been replaced by vending machines selling food and drink at expensive prices. We have been denied cheap meals. The kitchen staff have lost their jobs and incomes . Is that stealing.

If a snack is hanging in a way that makes it obvious that the snack has been purchased, who ends up with the snack was determined by the one who paid. He or she has essentially said, 'Oh, well. I've paid my money, but I'm leaving the product there.'

I come along and say to myself, 'Oh, there is a paid-for snack here. Someone must not have wanted it enough to shake the machine and take it. Perhaps they had second thoughts, changed their mind, decided to skip the calories.' I don't care if it dropped and they left it in the slot, or it hung up and they left it. They owned it and they left it.

The vending machine company certainly has no more claim on it; and, in fact, should be held culpable for employing machines that are not better designed to dispense upon purchase. If the original payee gets their money back from the vending company, then the compensation is for the inconvenience caused through the vending company's machine.

You may think this is rationalization, but that's because I'm a rational towel.

Well these snack machines have overrated prices anyway compared to shops so even if you did take it the difference between the shop price n the snack machine price would cover for any losses.

Snack machines don't employ anyobdy (apart from the people who stock it) n don't exactly take up much resources (electricity must be minimal). So i would take it depending if i liked it!

If it was a twix i wouldn't take it cus i don't like them but if it was a snickers i would!

Diddy!

Nah, Twix are good. And you`re right, it must be cheaper to sell them from vending machines rather than shops. Yet they cost more.

Vending machine food? Now that`s usually quite disgusting.

The answer is surely at


http://www.hmso.gov.uk

Has anyone tried a sandwich from a vending machine?

Trust me i'll save you the bother, don't!

I wonder why these snack machines do charge extra. I don't think anyone is gonna run off with the machine are they?

I can't quite work it out cus the ones i now off the top of my head at my local train station, people are queueing up to buy things out of there.

It's been known to empty within a few hours of stock.

Apart from twix's cus i don't like em!

Diddy!

I can't tell you what that does to my emotinal state.

-- DoctorMO --

I got to laughing at this conversation. I know it is not meant to be funny overall(well in spots, yeah) but it's because it's just so h2g2 like.

AND I mean that in a good way!
DoctorMO

Well, I really was curious what people would think. I was surprized it turned into such a long conversation.
I like Twix.

I'm curious about this vending machine near Diddy! Why does it run ut of everything except the one you don't like? Can I assume you buy the entire contents of the vending machine every time they restock it? I thought I was bad with 2kg chocolate in my weekly shopping.

I remember a guy I know wanting to apply for a job filling vending machines, as he was getting a bit desperate for money. But they wanted you to have three years of work experience in order to get the job. Sheesh, it can`t be that complicated.

It runs out of the one thing people don't like because no-one likes it and buys the machine out of everything else.

This is a good thing as those who are _really_ starving will still be able to purchase food, while those that aren't won't bother.