Posted on 02/06/2005 8:05:44 PM PST by mwyounce
Huckaby: Big Brother could be watching
Dan Magill owes me five bucks. And remember George Orwell's book, "1984"? Well, it's about 21 years late, but it is here.
You might wonder what those two statements have to do with one another, but as former Georgia governor Gene Talmadge used to say, "I'm a comin' to that!"
The late Lewis Grizzard used to enjoy telling about his days as a spotter for the University of Georgia football broadcast team and his days as a reporter for this very newspaper. According to Lewis, the job didn't pay much, but had lots of perks - not the least of which was getting to hang out with Coach Magill from time to time.
One of the stories Grizzard used to tell was about a stopover at a local watering hole. Coach Magill motioned the sweet young waitress over to the table and, in his inimitable drawl, said, "I'll have a Heineken's, honeykins."
I have never forgotten that line and even though I don't drink Heineken - or any other beer, for that matter - I have often uttered that very phrase, just because I like the way it sounds.
Now, I told you all that to tell you this. My lovely wife Lisa and I went away for the weekend recently. We stayed in a pretty fancy hotel for us. You know the kind. They put bottles of water on the counter for "the convenience of our guests" and then charge you $4 a shot if you drink it. These places always have a mini-bar, too, which I always keep locked because the stuff inside the mini-bar is even more expensive than the bottled water.
I noticed, upon our arrival, that the mini-bar in this particular hotel was not locked and, as we were preparing to check out - and I mean as we were on our way out the door - I decided to open the mini-bar to see what kinds of refreshments we had missed out on.
Lo and behold, there were several little silver kegs of Heineken beer. I picked one up, showed it to my wife, and said, in my best Dan Magill imitation, "I think I'll have a Heineken's, honeykins." Then I promptly put the beer back and proceeded directly to the lobby to check out.
When the girl behind the counter presented my bill, there was a $5 charge for a Heineken. Now, you've got to understand, I hadn't been out of the room more than three minutes. I said, "Ma'am. There must be a mistake here. We didn't drink any beer from the mini-bar. She looked at me suspiciously and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Positive," I said, and then explained that I had held up a can of beer to show my wife.
She then informed me that there were sensors in the mini-bar that were connected directly to her computer, and that our bill had been charged automatically as soon as I removed the can from its resting place.
The charge stayed on my bill, and I didn't even get the Heineken.
Which brings me to the 1984 thing. If the folks in the hotel know instantaneously when I pick up an aluminum can, what else do they know about me? It's a scary thought because, after all, we were there for a romantic getaway. Makes you think, doesn't it? And if the kind of place I can afford to stay in has technology that sophisticated, think what the government can do. Big Brother really may be watching.
At any rate, I'm out five bucks, and it's Dan Magill's fault. Well, maybe it's Grizzard's fault, but I'll never collect from him. But maybe, if I'm lucky, Coach Magill will take me out for a Heineken.
I rarely stay in hotels with mini-bars, so I guess I'm safe! :-)
-PJ
Well, isn't that thoughtful of them.... hope you can't knock anything over when you pull it out too!
By the time you are old enough to afford the mini bar, you're probably too old to drink from at...at least and have a couple more at dinner.
But I would not have paid for the beer if I was that guy - I can't think what's wrong with him. Tell them to count the items - if they don't know how many beers there were, they don't have a right to charge for what's gone.
Why the heck didn't he FIGHT it? It's one problem to experience an abuse of power, a travesty not to accept it.
...a travesty TO accept it.
Bold enough to author a privacy awareness article, but chooses not to implicate the hotel?
Dude...turn in your man card.
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