Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Pay To Leave

 Admission is Free, but leaving is another question.
  (+2, -5)
(+2, -5) 		  [vote for,
against]

I think it would be a great ploy for any public-related business. In stead of charging people admission, lock everyone in and then refuse to let them out unless they pay the exit fee.

Imagine all the free work you would get because of all the unknowing people that wander in because of the large sign that reads "FREE ADMISSION!" in the front, but then can't leave because they don't have the money.

You would have free labor for a lifetime!

—Raldo, Sep 24 2003

(?) Sort of halfbaked in a song http://www.supergas...html/lyrics/mta.txt
"he may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston..." [half, Oct 04 2004]

Baked in NJ http://uncyclopedia..._Gotta_Pay_to_Leave
[footzilla, Jun 11 2005]

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       The 2 other people in my Living Room who are cracking up right this moment are either easily amused, or this is a very, very, very good *and* evil idea. I choose All Of The Above. + *ding*
—thumbwax, Sep 24 2003
   

       The nugget of the idea is baked here in the UK in a lot of multi-storey parking blocks - but not the 'free admission' signs - that is a nice touch..
—yamahito, Sep 24 2003
   

       entrapment.
—po, Sep 24 2003
   

       Very baked in clip joints in Asia, among other places (I suppose) in the guise of the establishment not revealing the extent of the tab until you leave. This has happened to me in Thailand.   

       My Dad told me of a co-worker in Tokyo who went into a bar and checked his coat, whereupon, looking at the bill of fare, he realized he couldn't afford *anything* in the place. Then he realized he couldn't afford to get his coat back. He wound up having to call his employer.
—snarfyguy, Sep 24 2003
   

       You're missing the key factor here: ATMs inside which charge exorbitant transaction fees...like the five-dollar ones you find in strip clubs.
—Overpanic, Sep 24 2003
   

       "You can check out any time you like..."
...but it'll cost ya $10 to leave.
—st3f, Sep 24 2003
   

       I just misread the title as "Pay Me To Leave" and thought: "Oh no, one of the trolls has turned to blackmail!" (Not you, of course, Raldo).
—krelnik, Sep 24 2003
   

       FIRE!!!!
—RayfordSteele, Sep 24 2003
   

       (runs out of halfbakery screaming)
—Worldgineer, Sep 24 2003
   

       Overpanic: and how would you know about those, I wonder...?
Raldo: I do think the car parks yamahito mentions Bake this pretty thoroughly, albeit without the element of fraud.
—DrCurry, Sep 24 2003
   

       Or do as I did when I backpacked Europe on a low budget: enter through the museum exit and leave through the entrance.
—Pericles, Sep 24 2003
   

       If you take away the fraud part, the idea is baked restaurants as well.   

       I would vote for this idea if it was the exact opposite. That is, you go into a restaurant or bar, give them $100 (or however much you’d like to spend) and they keep bringing you food and drinks until you’ve spent all the money.
—AO, Sep 24 2003
   

       // Overpanic: and how would you know about those, I wonder...? \\   

       Forget that, what's snarfguy doing in Thailand?   

       (I jest, I jest.)
—Madcat, Sep 24 2003
   

       Baked as estate taxes.
—bristolz, Sep 24 2003
   

       This isn't funny, my Scottish Grandfather starved to death in the back of a pay as you leave bus :-(
—Peticelli, Sep 24 2003
   

       // Forget that, what's snarfguy doing in Thailand?   

       (I jest, I jest.) //   

       I just went there a couple of times on vacation is all. *With* my girlfriend. :)
—snarfyguy, Sep 25 2003
   

       The Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, CA does an even subtler version of this. Admission is free, you can walk around as long as you like, leave anytime. But if you or your screaming kids want to actually DO anything (rides, games, food), you have to start shelling out the cash.
—oxen crossing, Sep 26 2003
   

       Baked: It's called kidnapping.
—stupop, Sep 26 2003
   

       This is, sort of, the philosophy of the strip in Las Vegas. The hotels are built like gigantic mazes, you can't tell whether it's night or day and it's next to impossible to find your way out.
—DrBob, Sep 26 2003
   

       //Baked: It's called kidnapping.\\ Stupop, no... kidnapping is when you TAKE someone... when it's the other way arround. The person walks in on their free will. I hardly call that kidnapping!
—Raldo, Sep 27 2003
   

       So it's not kidnapping when you trap people by luring them with bait and then demand a ransom to release them?
—stupop, Sep 27 2003
   

       How the heck did you do that? I’ve been locked into this page all morning....Hummm, maybe if I click on the *vote for* button...
—ldischler, Sep 27 2003
   

       An Angler fish doesn't kidnap when it lures it's prey in... And if you think about it in that sort of sense, mine would be nicer to the people because the establisment wouldn't digest them.
—Raldo, Sep 28 2003
   

       While visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands in the British West Indies two years ago, when checking in to the airport to leave, I was told I must pay a Departure Tax of 15 dollars. ... I had saved 20 dollars to buy a gift for my gilrfriend in the airport giftshop...   

       she would have loved it....
—Dently, Sep 29 2003
   

       This is not kidnapping...   

       It's false imprisonment, which in most states doesn't carry the same penalty as kidnapping.   

       But it's still a crime. Fishbone on my way out.
—dbsousa, Sep 29 2003
   

       I've heard Jamiaca charges $27 cash to leave the country. Anyone know if that's true?
—Zimmy, Sep 30 2003
   

       Baked: An illegal cock-fighting club on the Thai island of Phuket used to pull this scam.
—Apache, Jun 16 2004
   

       I was in a shop in wildest north Wales, where the shopkeeper loceked the door and wouldn't let you out until you bought something. Once I'd phoned the police, he let me out fast enough.
—oneoffdave, Jun 16 2004
   

       'isnt that a female eagle'
my friends can be soo stupid at times
—slarti, Jul 17 2004
   

       Holding anyone without their consent or a court order is seriously illegal in all of the United States. The term is "unlawful imprisonment".   

       Yeah, I know this had to meant as a joke... free bone though.
—zigness, Jul 17 2004
   

       As [snarfyguy] alludes, wouldn't this just collect people with no money until the place filled up? No more people can enter, but your stuck with maintaining the rest...   

       Plus what about the generally stubborn? On finding this out, I'd could see myself plopping down in a chair, arms crossed. "Oh, yeah? Fine, you gotta leave sometime, bucko. Hmmf!" ...followed by assorted evil looks and hecklings.
—Zuzu, Nov 02 2005
   

       Everyone flitters in one-by-one. Everyone leaves at once... paying as you leave would take as least twice as long.
—flynn, Jan 06 2007
   


 

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