#1124 Harvesters

Not long ago I was at a trade show. One of those events where lots of businesses show each other and the public the things they do. One-on-one advertising.
At such events businesses offer giveaways. Little doodads with the company’s logo on them, meant to occupy space in the recipients’ life, on a desktop perhaps, or in a coffee cabinet. That company logo will find its way to the intimate corners of the doodad holder’s existence and the doodad holder will be subtly and continually reminded what a great company the doodad giver is.
But trade shows are also a microcosm of the spectrum of greed in humanity. Because some doodad takers see the trade show as a field of unharvested wheat, and they’re there to make hay while the sun shines.
As one of the doodads given away by companies is often a reusable shopping bag, the whole event soon turns into trick-or-treat for adults. Except the adults aren’t even reduced to the simple slightly semi-polite request of actually saying trick or treat.
They just take. And take. And take. Some of them are so bold they’d actually sweep the offering company’s table clean of doodads if an attendant wasn’t present. I guess they justify it in their minds as, “Well, the company is offering, I should take.”
But here’s the thing they don’t seem to get. I could offer you a free baptism too, that doesn’t mean I expect you to bathe at the church every Sunday. There are 20 items on the table for 20 different people. Not 20 items for one greedy grandma doodad taker who wants to fill up all her grandkid’s Christmas stockings.
The same person who no doubt has forty grandkids because she and her children—who she trained to be like her—probably never exercised any restraint in the reproductive aspects of their lives either. Sex is free—take all you want and damn the consequences.
I’ve even had the harvesters pilfer non-doodad stuff from my table when I’m not looking, pens, notepads¾notepads with actual notes on them...
Harvesters is probably too kind a word. What’s the animal that steals eggs from henhouses? Oh yeah. Weasels.
A new human sub-species. Doodad weasels.
America, ya gotta love it.