Not just pretending you're military to get free stuff intended for those folks.  How about the friends/family members at sporting events (like marathons or triathlons) who pig out on the food intended for the participants while they're waiting for their runner/competitor to come in?  That's slimy behavior -- taking the food that the sponsors intended the runners to consume.  I've finished way too many marathons or 10Ks and found that there was absolutely nothing left, only to see the family members of participants sitting around with platefuls of food and tote bags of giveaways.

As the operator of a restaurant that offers free food to customers on their birthday, as well as other special events, FREE brings out some of the WORST customers.  The intent of the free product is a goodwill gesture and a way to get our product into the mouths of more people.  But often time customers try to get more than they are entitled to, fraudulently use multiple coupons (when they are only entitled to ONE) and then complain about what they received for free.  It makes you want to give nothing away to anyone.  The minority ruins it for everyone.

Thanks for this article.  Haven't seen one like it.   I work out in the field with the homeless who sleep on the grates, bus-stops, bushes, etc.   The org. I work with feeds out of a mobile van every evening.   I do the social work and securing materials as needed (as well as a lot of other stuff).   Too often I hear people complain, and/or take more than what they need.  Someone asks me for a tshirt, I pull out a green one and they will say, "that's the wrong color..."  I kid you not.    I think it's because we have become too greedy and gluttonous as a nation.  EVERYBODY (rich and poor) feels "entitled".   We've forgotten how to say "please" and "thank you".  We've forgotten how to be thankful for what we have.  And yes, we are an unhappy country.    How do I cope?    I take a (small) vacation every four months.   I allow only one item or pkg per person (none for your mythological friend).    If it's not the right color, I tell people "take it or leave it".    I've learned to read who among my clientale are truly handicapped/elderly/profoundly mentally ill and make exceptions for them.  Thanks for listening.

A few cosmetics companies recently settled a class action by giving away freebies at department stores. Since I had bought some of the brands before, I called Bloomies to see if they still had items available. The sales lady said no, and that I was lucky that I had avoided the store on that day. Apparently, the lines snaked around the store, with many people getting their freebie and getting right back in line for another! She also said the people were rude and demanding. I suppose the legal class members had some claim to the giveaway, although I suspect most of us lost out to people that had never purchased from either the brands or the stores before, as well as the double-dippers.

It made me wonder who the heck would take time off work to stand in a block-long line for a free lipstick. This post is spot on. Give someone a free cosmetic item and they spend their entire morning on it. Offer a package six free items if you spend $25 and the response rate is much, much lower. (Yes, I realize that not everyone can afford to spend $25 on makeup, but in that case, you should NOT be accepting a class action settlement from Estee Lauder). And for crying out loud, pretend your mother is watching - wait your turn, take ONE and say thank you!

Free?  That is like the stimulus checks, they aren't free, they're hand-outs like the goverment cheese and the welfare trap.  They're even talking about another boost in stimulus money, this year.  That's not free, that makes people dependant on Uncle Sam, and not Independent.  There are people waiting around for the next, welfare-type hand-out, from the government pulling a rabbit out of the hat by borrowing from China, and even making the government dependant.  Who in the heck wants government cheese, you feel like a welfare recipient, and not clothed in dignity, forget the stimulus check, and demand alternative energy legislation, that gets you off the grid, and gives you a life-long independence, in your pursuit of self-sufficient living.  Stay away from the energy stocks too.  I was reading today it's like three card monte, when the price of oil goes down, then there's less demand fore hybrid "green" energy, and alternative energy stocks tumble down, that sounds like a racket of either way you just can't win, and gamble lemons for more lemons, and come up craps.  You know why you don't here to much about alternative solar panels and such, the electric company buys your excess power you produce, and instead of paying the electric plant, their sending you a check each month.  People don't say this is great, they keep it a secret, like their going to own a mini solar farm some day and live off the communities needs for power.  Trust me solar energy is great, but not at $50,000 dollars, to be off the grid, with the government footing half-price incentives, another hand-out.  But who can even afford $25,000 dollars?  But it's like this, when they chip-dumped, computers went from $4,000.00 to $400.00 dollars, and why we got conned into HDTV in beyond me, but that was the fad, that went from, $3.000 dollars, to $699.00.  So here's the plan of independence, demand mass, mass, production of photo-voltaic cells, and get off the grid for about $5,000 with government incentives still, or $2,500.00 dollars and be independent of electricity, heat and air conditioning for the rest of your life.  But if every one has them, there will be no checks from the homeland back-up power plant? or will there? with hybrid electric cars.  Say cheese, or go suck a lemon.  It's up to you.  God Bless!

I've never really seen the "grabbers,"  but I know they exist. When a job fair comes to my school, most people only take one (maybe two) of the freebie being given from each company: pencils, pens, sticky notes, t-shirts, stress balls, etc. However, this works the other way around too: I heard one of the company reps whining that people were taking his freebies and not giving him resumes (and no, people weren't grabbing all of his stuff, just taking one and walking away). That's what the stuff was for! Advertising! But the whole point of the article is not lost on me: people who take more than their share are just greedy. It really ruins it for those of us who feel a tad sheepish taking even one!

LOL, the article chastises the behavior without analysis the cause.  We jump at freebies because we are so used to getting ripped off most of the rest of the time!  We live in a culture of deceptive bait and switch advertising, advertised low prices that mushroom with add ons and hidden fees, expensive but short lived electronic goods, and pervasive automated or outsourced customer service accross all industries that leaves consumer complaints unsatisfied or resolved only at great expense of the customer's time.  Anyone still wondering why we charge at a weak spot in the corporate machine?

You all call it greed, I say recession. when you have people trying to save there homes, feed there children pay the neccssary bills. I say that this is a free meal think free for the day or evening. If our government will stop giving money to the banks and special interest groups, and give to the people that really need it. You would not have to wonder if it's greed or just survival.

Most of these freebies are useless pieces of ****. I never understand why people are so insane over a little piece of plastic that has some company name on it.  Most of these items get tossed by the wayside  within hours or scambling for them.  more garbage to fill up the landfills is all they are!

"I've seen other folks who sign up their mother, mother-in-law, children, and every other relative under the sun so that they can get extra coupons for products or free samples"

Most of these offers have no rule against doing so.  The companies must not be terribly bothered by it -- after all, someone is still using those coupons to buy their product.