Why do you steal the Splenda packets?

Do you?

Guilty as charged.  I am a Splenda packet taker.  A taker of the packets of Splenda. When at a coffee-shop or restaurant, I may pilfer a few yellow packets of the sweet stuff.  

At the coffee-shop, I might grab a handful of packets while taking that first sip of Venti Soy Americano and realizing that it's too strong, which leads me to walk out the door with more packets to sweeten my drink.  If I do not use the packets right away, they end up in my purse, or in the husband's car, where you can find a stack of the yellow packets at any given moment.  

In a restaurant, myself and many of my dining companions (when I actually get out) tend to ASK FOR MORE SPLENDA, PLEASE!  Why?  Because we are cracked out on the artificial sweetness, and often I am dining with fellow weight loss surgery post-ops whom also use Way Too Much of the stuff.  Sometimes we are left with a pile-o-Splenda on the dining table:  and one of us inevitably ends up taking it.  Junkies will do anything for a fix, you know?

I, um, will absolutely blame the Older Generation's influence for it.

I remember various grandparents keeping the goodies from restaurants, ketchup packets, soy sauce, plastic flatware, napkins, miniature syrups, jams + jellies, shampoos, soaps,  matches, anything that was out for the taking, and sometimes things that were not for the taking.  

"Where'd you get this glass?"  

I have an extended family member whom stockpiles anything from a hotel -- all of the health and beauty products come home, miniature ketchup bottles, hot sauce, non-perishables packets of anydamnthing.  If you opened her kitchen cabinets a few years ago: you'd find a carousel filled with tiny condiments.  The bathroom often filled with baskets of complimentary soaps and other products.  

 

 

 

Other family members would grab things here and there, and I often have to smack the Mr for the WANT to grab items and take them home.  He could very easily be a keeper of the freebies.  "You can't take THAT, Bob."   Also, noted, "You can buy the bedding from the hotel, too."   Mr. is likely to consider pilfering, but also noted that he grew up with a lot less than I did.  

There's real reasons - hang your head in SHAME you packet-stealer, you!   (And, um..)  

CNN -

While every freebie opportunist has their own personal reasons for the habit, there are a couple non-pathological, generational factors as well: the current age of entitlement, and what has been identified as a Depression-era mindset.  

Entitlement issues are especially prevalent in Generation X and Y (roughly defined as anyone born between 1964 and the mid-1990s), says Doyle.

“They’re used to being told they're perfect; they deserve what they want; they get what they want. It's the ‘if it’s there, I want it’ mentality," Doyle explains.

On the other hand, the generation that experienced tough economic times, rationing and salvaging during the Depression and even up into World War II, learned to save, plan for possible need and prepare to be as resourceful as possible.

“From the Depression, it was 'we don’t have a lot, we might not have any in the future, I will gather it, hoard and reduce anxiety to ensure I’ll be OK,'" says Doyle.

And while it's easy to label younger people with a sense of entitlement and the older generation with the belief they "need" these items, clinical psychologist Noel Goldberg adds that age isn't always a defining factor.

“If you grew up with parents from the Great Depression, or grandparents from the Great Depression, they can pass on this learned behavior just like folks who have to ‘clean their plate’ when they eat," she clarifies. Same goes for people who grew up with tough socioeconomic backgrounds.

So, yes, I was born in 1978, as part of the generation X, which apparently is supposed to leave me with entitlement issues.  "If it's left out for me, I deserve it?"   Though I'm not stuffing rolls of toiletpaper down my pants in the store...

Also with older generations having had dealt with parents in the great depression, many of the habits rubbed off about being particularly frugal.  

Add that to having been quite poor at times myself as an adult, and having the reality of running out of things, nor just the fear of running out of things.  I've often found myself with no "sweetener" in the house, or no toilet paper, no shampoo, etc... and stockpiling those items for lean times would make sense for me, but I don't do it.  That means, I could see myself going out of the way to get freebies, but I haven't done it.  I also have a very strong issue with having clutter or excess IN my house, which means I tend to keep everything in low levels in the house anyway, I'll never be a hoarder.  While I'd love to have a stock of freebies, I don't like having the mess. 

http://www.meltingmama.net/wls/2012/01/why-grandma-and-you-s teal-the-splenda-packets.html

Do you take extra items from restaurants to use at home?  CNN Poll answer options:
Yes, because I’m already paying the restaurant Yes, because I grew up not having a lot. Yes, but I’m not sure why. No, but I don’t have any problem with people who do. No, I think it’s wrong. Other (please share below) View Results from Polldaddy.com

 

 

 Nope I take nothing because I find it wrong and it makes me cringe when I see people do it, I once ended a relationship with a man who encouraged his young daughter to steal a danish from a buffet and hide it and walk out.  That said I see nothing wrong with taking a few packets of Splenda to add later or more napkins, it blatant emptying out of whatever and leaving none for anyone else I find intolerable.  Don't even get me started on littering or all the ******g plastic water bottles I see near the road, I want to kill those people.  Everyone who knows me knows you aren't even allowed to toss a food item out the window of the car because it may attract animals to the road.  To me it all represents rudeness and disrespect.

I agree with Heidi. Some of our local convenience stores don't offer as many options to put into coffee because so much of it was walking out the door. I usually try to keep some splenda in my purse in case a store is out. But not into stealing.

 Ours don't even keep them out.  LOL. 

I don't take sweetener packets.

I do take the little sample size soaps, shampoo, and lotion in hotel rooms.  Those amenities are part of the room cost.  The lotions are the perfect size for my purse, and the soaps and shampoos are perfect for taking on camping trips.  I don't feel guilty about taking those. 

Never even considered it - I keep some in my handbag in case there are none available (!) but I bought them!

Hmm, I really don't use Splenda much, but will admit to taking the odd mini peanut butter after
breakfast, or an occasional pen from work  yet I HATE thieves!  I think I'mma gonna have a little

talk with myself about this behavior and my sense of entitlement, because I'm pretty sure that what

this is about!

Back in the 70's I was at a restaurant with a group of girlfriends, and one said, "Hey, everyone, order soup.  I need soup spoons."  I was absolutely appalled, and she played it off as a joke.  I suspect she wouldn't have if no one had said anything.

I used to have an aunt and uncle, now gone, both from the Depression era.  They would always ask for a take-home box (nothing wrong with that), but would then put pretty much all food items that were on the table, into the box.  Bread and rolls, creamers, jams/jellies, sweeteners, whatever, depending on the type of restaurant and the meal, there could be a lot of stuff to take home!  We used to laugh at them.  They would NEVER consider taking non-food items or plasticware - that would be stealing! - but they figured food items would end up thrown away, might as well take it.  Not sure how that applied to packets of creamers and sweeteners....

Personally I never take anything from restaurant tables.  I don't use sweeteners in my coffee or iced tea.  But I DO take the little container of lotion in a hotel room.  I don't take the soap or shampoo, I have my own preferences there, but hotel lotions are perfect for a future trip, or handy in my purse.

Hey between Starbucks and my local 7/11 the money I'm paying for a CUP of coffee (realizing how much it COST them to make said cup) yeah I paid for that splenda!!

Ms Shell

 I keep splenda in my bag so I dont take any I all ready have wayyyyyyyy tooo much stuf that I have to carry to make room for extra splenda lol