Midwestern Honor System – Honesty Story #32

Back in January of 2007, I wrote one of my first blog posts about honesty in Scandinavia, namely in Finland where I was doing my undergraduate studies. In it I told about how there was a little kiosk with an assortment of snacks at my university. If you wanted something, you simply took it and left the correct amount in a box. You could say it was like an open vending machine that the student body maintained. It was a great idea and really worked well.

This story from my days in Finland came to mind last week when I was visiting my wife’s family in Minnesota. We were talking about how great this time of the year was to stop and pick up corn and other produce along the country roads. My wife then told me about one stand in Loretto, Minnesota, which she thought had the best produce. They also happened to have a very unique payment system. She told me that when someone was not attending the stand, they relied on people’s honesty to pay for what they take. So if you want an ear of corn to grill later that evening, you just take it and leave the money.

1 comment September 7th, 2011