My girlfriend and I shop at the Whole Foods headquarters in downtown Austin, usually a couple of times a week. Today we had our goods on the conveyor when my girlfriend ran off. Right after I finished paying, she came back with an açaí sorbet and said she had to try it.

“Then it’s on us,” said the clerk.

“Really?”

“Yeah, they encourage us to give away things.”

“Cool, thanks!”

I know Whole Foods has had some controversies recently regarding CEO John Mackey’s surreptitious forum posting habits, and we’ve had our complaints about the quality of their lemons, but I can’t fault the freebie policy. It’s especially appropriate when customers are paying a premium for boutique foods.

Now if they would only get some castelvetrano olives — California stores have ‘em, so why can’t we?