Bad Apple

I went to the grocery store today here in Bagdad. Typically, I just buy anything that is on sell along with staples such as bread and eggs. Today’s deal was gala apples for 59 cents per pound. I carefully picked through the pile to narrow it down to 8 or 10 of the best apples. Meanwhile, I noticed a spectacular Macintosh apple in the next pile over. It had zero imperfections. Its skin was smooth, uniform, and plump. I wanted to sink my teeth into it. I had to have this apple. But the price tag read 1.79 cents per pound. I hesitated for just a second before reasoning that the chances of the cashier looking at the PLU code of this apple and not the nine on-sale gala apples is truly less than 10%. I even put it at the bottom of the bag and tried to surround it with galas so the odds picking that apple were far below that 10% level. . So by now you probably are pretty confident how the story will end- That the cashier picks the one Macintosh apple to price the entire bunch. Well you are wrong. My plan worked and I got that apple for the same price as the on-sale gala apples. Yes I win. Well OK. Truth be told, you are right, she picked the apple. So that apple cost me 4 extra dollars. But what could I have said, “That’s not the right price, you picked the wrong apple.” In the end I got what I deserved. Moral of the story, don’t try to be a sneaky grocery shopper or else you will pay the price…Unless you do self-checkout.