Charity, by its nature, is something each and every one of us chooses to do, or not to do as the case may be. If we want to give our time or money to what we feel is a worthy cause, we elect to do so.

Or at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

Supermarkets have started to experiment with the concept of peer-pressure-forced giving. You know what I’m talking about. When paying your bill the cashier innocuously asks if you would like to help children with muscular dystrophy today. You, the customer who just finished purchasing items from this store, are left with two options: Yes or No (and the implied, “I would not like to help children with muscular dystrophy today.”).

Seems some hotels, and big name hotels at that – think Hilton and Starwood – have taken this even one step further and actually slip a “donation” to their charitable foundation into the bill!

Shocked? Amazed? I was.

But so far the FlyerTalk community seems generally unfazed, as this revelation has only motivated a few replies as of this writing – and of those a couple note that the practice has been standard in Europe for years.

Then again, what is there to say but “Shame, SHAME” (bonus points if you can guess from which popular TV show I pilfered this quote).