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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LLCF who wrote (13815)	8/25/2000 10:24:53 AM
From: pater tenebrarum	Respond to of 436258

oh yes, i forgot about Nader...any communists candidates around too?

To: LLCF who wrote (13815)	8/25/2000 10:27:46 AM
From: pater tenebrarum	Respond to of 436258

The Cheater Principle Americans are indulging in old-fashioned petty cheating like never before. By EILEEN DASPIN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL For Mike Murray, a recent cross-country flight was business as usual: He boarded the plane early, found his seat in coach and overhead bin. He then moved back up the aisle and settled into a plush leather post in first class. "It was exhilarating," says Mr. Murray, who works at a TV network in Los Angeles and has self-upgraded four or five times recently. "I felt like I robbed a bank." Americans may have fatter wallets these days, but you'd never know it from the way they're nickel and diming the system. In what may be one of the oddest aspects of the New Economy, businesses across the country are reporting an upturn in old-fashioned petty cheating. Instead of doing well by doing good, many people are doing well by acting badly: barreling through toll booths without paying, sneaking onto expensive golf courses, even stiffing restaurants for the bill. Often, these are consumers who could easily afford to pay but view their actions as a kind of protest over high prices or poor service. Others simply fret that this might be the tail end of the economic boom -- and want to grab what they can now. So they're resorting to a new brand of self-help. The National Association of Convenience Stores says that, even after adjusting for higher gasoline prices, there has been more than a threefold increase this year in the amount of money lost to people who drive away from the pump without paying. Another scheme: buying items such as a party dress or a power tool, using them and then taking them back; retail consulting firm Doneger Group estimates that practice has jumped about 15% over the past few years. At many restaurants, theft of everything from silverware to bottles of wine is also up; Aureole in Las Vegas says it lost $10,000 in Limoges ashtrays alone in its first two weeks of operations last year. "The taking-advantage people have gotten worse," says Bud Konheim, president of designer Nicole Miller. "There used to be a mentality that I don't take something that's not mine. Now, it's, 'Look at everyone getting rich. How about me?' "