Las Vegas Weekly

January 30, 2013 · 9:47 AM

An exploration of saltshaker ethics

By Rick Lax

Should this be so hard to find?

I need a saltshaker.

The kind you find in diners. Big, round, glass. It’s for a magic trick I’m supposed to film next week. I can’t find one anywhere. I’ve checked Walmart and all the dollar stores. All I’m finding are plastic shakers, super-small shakers, and shakers shaped like birds and angels.

So I’m thinking of borrowing one from a restaurant. Quietly.

I’d take it, use it for the video, and then give it back. Hell, I’d even replace any salt that gets displaced during filming.

My question is, Would that be unethical? To take a saltshaker and replace it soon after? Or, more importantly, let’s say I were going to do this and I wanted an ethical defense of my actions. How would that argument go?

On a side note, as I walked through these various dollar stores and 99-cent stores, I had an idea for a business: A $1.25 store. Here’s the thinking: When people pay more for something, they perceive it was more valuable. So people would come to the $1.25 store thinking they’re getting superior products for “only a quarter more.

Foolproof, right? Who wants to invest?

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