Honesty...Honestly!!

How hard is it to be honest?

"I did not chop down that cherry tree." Ok, Mr Washington, I believe you.
"The British are coming!! The British are coming!!" Paul Revere, thank you for your honesty.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Mr Clinton...ok, so two out of three isn't that bad.

Across the street from where I work is a store called My Dollar Store, which advertises, right on the sign, "Always Just $1." You go inside, and once again, you are bombarded with signs saying everything $1 or less. Everything. The cashiers even use to greet me with the same line:

"Good Morning, everything in the store is a dollar or less!"

I use to like to go over there every once in awhile and go down the aisles, looking at the $1 tools (not that I'm that handy, but it seems like a good price for a saw) and the $1 medicine cabinet items. It set my mind at ease to know that, indeed, everything was $1. Then I would buy my soda and maybe some .50 cent cookies (the cookies are Famous Amos, not the rapper...that's Fiddy cent).

Well, all of that changed today. I walked next door and right as I stepped in, directly next to the cash register, was a sign that screamed out at me...

EVERYTHING IN THIS AISLE OVER $1

What the hell? Over $1, in the Everything is $1 Store? I glanced down at the picture frames, fancy plates, and the ugliest wooden lamp I have ever seen (for $20, no less!!). I was appalled!

"Did you see our new over $1 section?" the cashier asked.

"Don't you think that's false advertisement?" I shot back.

"Well, people buy it."

I picked up a $5 wooden duck on a stick, shook my head, and looked at the cashier again.

"This is how you guys are gonna do it, huh?" I started. The cashier looked puzzled.

I continued, starting to get a little irritated: "You start out by having everything $1. You build a pretty nice clientele, a lot of regulars start to surface, then you start integrating OVER $1 items in with the cheap stuff. People think, 'oh, that's nice, and it's only a couple dollars more.' Once they agree to that, then everything starts raising in price, til it's no longer My Dollar Store, it's My $20 Store."

The cashier stared at me for a few seconds, and then, as calmly as could be, said,

"Well, you don't have to buy any of it. Just get soda and cookies."

Suddenly, I wasn't irate anymore. I laughed...she made a good point. I guess I let the principle of the whole deal cloud my better judgment. I always do that.

And besides, how could a store stay in business by selling just $1 items?