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This is the Conversation Forum for There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch I apologize for the terminally literal-minded >> Subject: Plargarism. Posted Mar 9, 2000 by shrinkwrapped   Posting 1 "I don't belieeeeeeeeeeve it!" I too tackled this same topic... but hoped to prove it wrong. Take a look at the Quest for a Free Lunch at http://www.h2g2.com/A143146 and feel free to add any ideas. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Plagiarism Posted Mar 10, 2000 by Wand'rin star This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 2 I prefer your attitude. Have you ever walked into a dining room where there's a conference buffet?? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Mar 10, 2000 by Livzy This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 3 When I last got on the Llanfairefechan to Bangor bus there was a free KFC burger offer on the back of my ticket which I took in to KFC in Bangor and they gave me a burger thing. No money changed hands so it was completely free. And before any of you smart arses say:- "Well what about the cost of the bus ticket?" I was getting on the bus anyway so there!! Conclusive proof!! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Mar 18, 2000 by Flyboy This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 4 Where I work the boss buys pizza every thursday. He doesn't have to, but he does it anyways. The only problem I have is I work second shift, so I have to reheat it in the microwave. BUT IT'S STILL FREE! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Plargarism. Posted Apr 2, 2000 by Just zis Guy, you know? † Cyclist [A690572] :: At the 51st centile of ursine intelligence This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 5 I checked out Plargarism on the Internet and found that it was a literary movement founded by the Slovenien poet and playwright Karel Plargar. The movement had as its philosophy that nothing is true - although they were later found out to by lying. I fail to see how my illuminating little page has any collection to an obscure early 20th Century Balkan artistic movement, but I stand prepared to be enlightened. Editorial note: The author is a member of the b'Hollucks Group, an independent collective of freelance writers of short pieces for publication on the Internet. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Apr 24, 2000 by Captain John Carter This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 6 And what does your boss get for buying the pizza. Happier harder working employees. Hence TANSTAAFL. The suggestion is that somehow, someway however indirectly, the providers of the 'free lunch' is getting something back and usually the 'diner' is usually in some, often very indirect way, paying for it. Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Apr 24, 2000 by Captain John Carter This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 7 Have you ever bought anything from KFC since. Is it possible the got a little more business out of you in the long run? Subject: Free for all....... Posted Jun 2, 2000 by Livzy This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 8 Well yes actually.. I have eaten KFC since and paid for it.. And I won a raffle for a meal ofr two at a restaurant place and I didnt even pay for the ticket as I got it from a bloke at work. Another absolutely free lunch as the resaturant is on my way home anyway so no travel costs Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Oct 4, 2000 by Zathras (Unofficial Custodian of H2G2 Room 101. ACE and holder of the BBC Pens) This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 9 >free KFC burger offer Well yes it was free to you. But KFC still had to invest some resources in producing it. As a company functioning in a capitalist environment it would seek a return on those resources. This would come from the higher prices they would charge for their products than would otherwise be the case. i.e. advertising and promotions are paid for by someone. Zathras Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Oct 18, 2000 by Jim diGriz This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 10 Yeah, the principle of tanstaafl can only be applied to a generic consumer (though it can also happen to be true for an actual individual too). So if a restaurant offers a free meal to it's 1000th customer who was fully prepared to have to pay for the meal, then it really is free to him. However, the other 999 paying customers have had to pay marginally extra than if there was no free meal offer. The fictional 'generic' consumer is no better or worse off. On the other hand, the restaurant owner is presumably giving away the odd free meal as a form of advertising. If it works, then his restaurant will be more fully utilised (i.e. more packed with customers) and he can use his kitchen resources more efficiently. This will lower the cost of meals, and thus make lunch cheaper for everyone... Everyone except those who frequent competing restaurants which are now slightly emptier and thus more inefficient, so *they* start offering free lunches, and so... Complicated business this capitalism lark! Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Oct 18, 2000 by Is mise Duncan This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 11 Thought for the day: There is such a thing as a free meal, but only if you aren't a fussy eater So - I walked out the back this morning and there they were - a ganzee load of mushrooms. Assuming they can be eaten raw, there's a free meal going in South Dublin. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Oct 18, 2000 by Zathras (Unofficial Custodian of H2G2 Room 101. ACE and holder of the BBC Pens) This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 12 That doesn't make them free mushrooms. Presumably they were growing somewhere and the land they were growing on was either owned or ownable. If it was your land - You could have rented out the rights to eat mushrooms on your land hence the foregone rental income is the cost of this 'free' lunch If it was someone elses land - You have taken their mushrooms from them so it is not free to them. (Depending on your legal system and the pettiness of the landowner that might even be theft). If it was 'common' land - Eating all the mushrooms means taking away the right to eat the mushrooms that everyone else held in common. So TANSTAAFL Zathras Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Oct 18, 2000 by Is mise Duncan This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 13 It is land which I rent but a condition of this rent is that I may not indulge in comercial type activities - so legally I can only give the mushrooms away or eat them myself. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Fungii Posted Oct 20, 2000 by Livzy This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 14 "Two items of salad in the fridge and one says to the other, Bit cramped in here today. The other salad item says, Yes, not 'mushroom'in here at all " Q: Why is it that Mr Mushroom always gets invited to parties? A: Coz he's a really fun guy ha ha ha bonk plink plink plink (Thats me laughing my head off and my ribs splintering) Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Fungone Posted Oct 20, 2000 by Is mise Duncan This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 15 Would you believe it - the darned things were destroyed by the rain. This just goes to show - you should argue about whether or not a lunch is free _after_ you have eaten it Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free lunch Posted Jan 13, 2001 by Galaxy Babe This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 16 The last free lunch I had was at a funeral. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free lunch Posted Jan 14, 2001 by shrinkwrapped This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 17 That's rather morbid, don't you think? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Free lunch Posted Jan 22, 2001 by Galaxy Babe This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 18 ....sorry. Subject: Free? Oh No! Posted Oct 28, 2003 by ford_imperfect This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 19 You are quite correct, there is indeed no such thing as a free lunch, the only thing available for free is AIR. All lunches, beer, small furry creatures, etc have a cost, if not at the point of delivery, then somewhere down the line. Whenever people say that something is free, we should always ask ourself: is that free as in Air (really free), or free as in Lunch (Paid for in other ways....)? In the given example, the mushrooms on common land may cost ones soul... Subject: Free? Oh yes! Posted Aug 10, 2004 by DalisLlama This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 20 The cost of that lunch is the time and energy you would spend picking the things. Conversation list Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click on the relevant button to alert our Moderation Team. Conversation list

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