Moody Vending Machines

Vending Machines and I...we don't get along. Perhaps it is because I am not a frequent patron or something, perhaps, we plain just don't like each other. This is not to say that I don't extend the occasional olive branch and feed it money in return for a cool beverage or a scrumptious snack, I just don't do it very often. But today, I decided to give it a shot.

Given that I get up so early in the morning to drive into work and I eat a very small breakfast, I try to build in a snack around 10:00 AM, usually a granola bar or something to that affect. Yesterday I ate the last granola bar in the box and when I went looking for some in the storage room at 5:30 this morning I ran into some kind of labyrinth of boxes that I could not make heads or tails of. So, I grabbed a dollar of the table and some change out of my coin machine and headed on my way. My stomach was feeling a little queasy so I doubled up and got enough for a soda and a snack.

When I arrived at the vending machine, there was nobody else in the break room...just me and ole vendy. I approached with caution, you know, as though I was about to pet a wild animal. I didn't want to startle it and not get my soda or pretzels. I went to the soda machine first. Armed with my $1.00 bill I approached and looked at the prices. $1.35 for a bottle of soda. What? $1.35? I've seen $1, $1.50, $1.25, but never $1.35. Taken aback, I put in my $1.50 (because nobody carries around an extra dime in their pocket) and made my selection. Then, 6 coins were vended back to me. Had I hit the jackpot? No, I'd just been traded a dollar for four quarters and no soda. Believe me; if change was all I was looking for, I would've gone to the arcade.

After two or three more failed attempts, I decided to try my luck at the food vending machine. What I found there was even more incredible. Many of the items were over a dollar...not a dollar or some round number, but like $1.15, $1.35, and...$.90 cents. $.90 Cents???? Seriously? At least I knew where that extra dime would come from. So, I put in my dollar and got my pretzels and called it a 50/50 kind of day.

I also stopped by this vending machine, but it wanted more than the $1.00 in change I had left.