The Soda Fountain Model

While sitting at a once local sandwich restaurant earlier today, I reflected on The Soda Fountain Model of distribution. This model relies on the efficiency of allowing the customer to serve themselves. It is based on the assumption that the customer can be trusted to be responsible with a resource (soda) that is being provided in a way that they can choose how much to take. This model rejects the idea that customers can not be trusted. The reassuring thing is that business chooses this model meaning that in the current environment it is more cost effective to accept the loss that might be generated by irresponsible customers than to pay the wages of an employee filling up that soda.

I believe that this model can and should be applied more often in education and in raising children. Instead of focusing our time on micromanaging tasks, we should guide our children through these tasks and leave them to manage themselves. This is not done in a haphazard manner. We must place the figurative soda fountain in a public place, hand out the cups and be ready to step in when (and only when) extreme abuses occur. We need to have an environment where our children see others respecting the "soda fountain" on a regular basis. And we need to be sure that they have enough of what we need, often the child who cheats the soda fountain is not being as much deviant as reflecting a skill set that is often necessary for survival. This is not an excuse, but as a reason why I have seen less well off children abusing soda fountains.