It was early in the morning on Tuesday, March 16. A group of SXSW-attendees were standing on the walkway that connected to the hotel pool. Erik Benson said he'd pay $10 to whoever'd jump in the pool right then. Now, people say a lot of silly things early in the morning, but this was a serious offer. We double-checked that. Alison jumped in right away. After confirming that the offer was good for everyone who jumped in, not just the first, Shaun took off his shoes and followed suit. So, eventually, did Jared and Ryan.
None of us received the promised $10. Erik left without making any sort of arrangements to pay us—he even jokes about it on his website. $10 may not seem like a lot, but there are principles involved. We, in good faith, jumped into the pool, but he did not fulfill his part of the agreement. Alison said that she didn't want the money, but the rest of us were, we thought, pretty clear that that only applied to her.
We have made it very easy, Erik: the Amazon honor system accepts almost any method of payment that exists. Alternately you can send us checks (we'll have to trust you that they're good) or money orders. You can pay any one of us the full $30 and we'll divide it up ourselves. If you need to make arrangements, our e-mail addresses are all down at the botom.
We don't want to make a big deal out of it, or be difficult, but you made a promise, Erik. We kept our end of the bargain—ask witnesses Rusty Foster, Andrew Huff, Leonard Lin, or Cam Marlowe; look at the photographic evidence. Now it's your turn.
Don't be a deadbeat.
