WASHINGTON – It wasn’t enough for the District of Columbia to show itself as the least honest place in America. A thief added to the area’s reputation by swiping the bicycle of the person conducting the honesty survey.
Earlier this month, the beverage company Honest Tea set up a kind of social experiment to test the honesty of every state in America.
In each location the company set up unattended kiosks stocked with chilled bottles of tea. A sign requested $1 per bottle, but it was all on the honor system.
Nearby, workers secretly recorded the results.
D.C. came in dead last in the honesty index.
But that’s not all. When Seth Goldman left Dupont Circle following the experiment, he realized his bike had been stolen.
“The whole bike was gone, so the lock had to have been cut,” said the Honest Tea CEO. “It was not the best show of honesty for the D.C. area on that day.”
Goldman had left his bike at the Bethesda Metro station. Maryland, also, finished near the bottom in honesty.
Nationwide, the informal survey found 92 percent of customers voluntarily paid for the tea.
| State/City | % HONEST |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 100 |
| Hawaii | 100 |
| Indiana | 99 |
| Maine | 99 |
| Iowa | 98 |
| Nevada | 98 |
| Oklahoma | 98 |
| Tennessee | 98 |
| Alaska | 96 |
| Arkansas | 96 |
| California | 96 |
| Nebraska | 96 |
| New Jersey | 96 |
| North Dakota | 96 |
| Oregon | 96 |
| Washington | 96 |
| Ohio | 95 |
| Vermont | 95 |
| Virginia | 95 |
| Illinois | 94 |
| Minnesota | 94 |
| South Carolina | 94 |
| Wyoming | 94 |
| Colorado | 93 |
| Georgia | 93 |
| Massachusetts | 93 |
| Montana | 93 |
| New Hampshire | 93 |
| Rhode Island | 93 |
| Wisconsin | 93 |
| Florida | 92 |
| Michigan | 92 |
| Missouri | 92 |
| New York | 91 |
| Pennsylvania | 91 |
| Idaho | 90 |
| Kansas | 90 |
| New Mexico | 90 |
| North Carolina | 90 |
| South Dakota | 90 |
| Connecticut | 89 |
| Maryland | 89 |
| Delaware | 88 |
| Utah | 88 |
| Kentucky | 87 |
| Texas | 87 |
| West Virginia | 85 |
| District of Columbia | 80 |
| Louisiana * | * Not large enough Sample Size |
| Arizona * | * Not large enough Sample Size |
| Mississippi * | * Not large enough Sample Size |
| TOTAL AVERAGE | 92 |
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