Providence ranking ‘least honest’ city in America, seeks redemption

Kirsten Glavin

kglavin@abc6.com

@kirstenglavin

Unmanned kiosks stocked with bottled iced tea were offered for a dollar, Wednesday, in Downtown Providence. Patronage was all done on the honor system.  Honest Iced Tea puts on the social experiment every year.

Last year, only 80 percent of customers paid for their drinks, putting Providence in dead last for “Most honest cities in America.”  This year, the city had a chance to redeem itself.  But the poor rankings didn’t come as a surprise to many locals.

"Honestly it doesn't surprise me,” said Ian Mahoney, an Honest Tea buyer.  "I'm not surprised, I'm really not. Because no one is really honest around here,” he said.

Looking inside the change box, it was evident not everyone was paying for their tea, or even the full amount.   Rebecca Quirk, an intern at Honest Tea, watched customers from afar.

"There are a lot of people spending a lot of time looking around, seeing if anyone's watching, seeing what other people are doing,” Quirk said.

But the experiment may reflect on bigger issues.

"I feel like they might be fairly willing to take it if they don't have a dollar,” suggested Mahoney.

Unemployment may contribute to the high number of people taking, without paying.  In the month of April, the unemployment rate of Providence hit 6.6 percent.  That's high, compared to nearby cities like Boston, faring at only 3.7 percent.  It is also surpassing the national average of 5.4%.

In 2013, poverty levels in Providence were nearly 3 percent higher than the rest of the country, with theft accounting for more than half of all crimes.

Although hard to pinpoint why providence was rated the most dishonest last year, with 20% of customers not paying for their drink, this year is a new year.

"I paid for the tea, and I thought it was a great experiment,” said one customer.