Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A Public Service Announcement

There is a great evil among us. No, it is not UMass Parking Services; although, of course, they are quite evil too. But this is not about yellow paper shoved crookedly under the wipers of an unsuspecting car. This is about the beverage vending machine the lobby of Bartlett Hall. I want to put it out there that I hardly ever purchase drinks from vending machines. Too expensive. Even the water, which is a dollar but also WATER. Water should always be free. Today, however, I was thirsty. The warm liquid that dribbles out the water fountains (Bubbler to all of you Eastern Massachusetts people, right?), is barely passable as something I can drink. I was planned to splurge the overly expensive $1.65, odd coinage and all, for a tasty Vitamin Water in a flavor with three x's on it that I have never tried. I put in my money and...nothing. That's right, the selected flavored liquid item didn't budge. And then the machine had the audacity to thank me, presumably for the purchase it presumed I had made. Anyway, I thought you all should know. That way the great evil that lurks won't get you too!

2 comments:

Leslie said...

Hilariously enough, I just had a fantastic interaction with a Bartlett beverage vending machine. Last week I was buying a diet coke, and when it popped out it had a red label, and I was all, "crap! it gave me a regular coke!" But no. It was an EMPTY bottle that contained the following:

* $1.25 (to actually buy a diet coke)...
* A cardboard piggy bank (your guess is as good as mine)...
* A coaster made of mouse pad material...and...
* A $5 give certificate to the Cinemark.

I was super excited, but I sensed that everyone in the lobby would have looked at me with some disdain if I had shouted "I WON I WON I WON!" So I did not.

In a Brett/Poker/diet coke related story, I bet that gift certificate at poker last weekend quite grudgingly, but I won it back. I rule.

Fillmore said...

What goes around gets tired and dies, eventually. Occasionally you'll get two drinks for the price of one, or even come across a vending machine that the vending machine guy forgot to close. Take these all-too-rare occasions for everything they're worth.