American businesses do all sorts of crazy things to prevent people from giving them money: they refuse cash, they refuse credit cards, they say “no” when people offer to pay up front, etc. And online — arghhh — how many times do eStores ask us to provide a ton of superfluous information before they let us buy something? (Even worse: some charitable organizations make us provide tons of registration info before we can DONATE with a credit card!)
But you’ve got to love this bathroom attendant I spotted on a recent trip to Mérida, Mexico. His job is to collect 3 pesos (~25 cents) from each person who visits the toilet. I saw him miss out on at least four customers (like the lady pictured above) because he was sleeping.
Nota bene: while he’s clearly violating the “don’t make it hard for people to give you money” principle, he may well be adhering to a higher economic ideal: “spend your time on the thing that returns the greatest value.” :-)
